World Cup Stories: Brazil-2

Brazil hosted the World Cup in 1950. It was perfect timing¹ for a young republic eager to make a mark on the international stage.

In Europe, the most significant days of the 20th century are the days of the world wars. Brazil has never really been in the war, doesn’t really have any significant days like that. The days when Brazil feels most like a nation are the World Cups. So it divides its history into World Cups and Brazil has been in every single World Cups, the only country to have done that. Brazil had great potential, a vast multi-cultural country with huge natural resources, but it also had serious problems, not pleased with poverty.

Football was the big unifier² in Brazilian life and the World Cup became the vehicle through which the successive governments hoped to move the nation forward and show the world what it was capable of.

At the time, winning the World Cup was a way to find out if Brazil was or wasn't a great nation. It’s where the union of nation and football began. Football wasn't just a national sport, it was the country itself.

The eyes of the world would be on Brazil as never before. And they were determined³ to impress. The concrete manifestation⁴ of their ambition was the decision to build a new stadium to host the Cup. The Marakana Stadium in Rio would not be just the biggest ground Brazil had ever seen, but the biggest in the world.

The very construction of the stadium was a status symbol for Brazilians because it was such a huge project,a stadium built for 200,000 people, that was 10% of the population of Rio de Janeiro, the capital of the Republic.
The Marakana, a citadel⁵ of football was ready in record time for the opening of a tournament.

On the 24th of June 1950 in the opening game, Brazil defeated Mexico 4:0. Other big victories followed, 7:1 against Sweden, 6:1 against Switzerland. This tournament had a unique format⁶ with group matches for every stage. But the last game was still the deciding one and Brazil reached it needing only a draw to win the Cup. It was a game no one who was there would ever forget.

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unifier: n.联合者，统一者
manifestation: 显示
citadel: n. 根据地，大本营

1 timing   

n.时间安排，时间选择

参考例句：

• The timing of the meeting is not convenient.会议的时间安排不合适。
• The timing of our statement is very opportune.我们发表声明选择的时机很恰当。

2 unifier   

联合者，统一者，使一致的人（或物）； 通代

参考例句：

• Herb is the unifier of the people. 喷鼻草是人平易近的融合剂。

3 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

4 manifestation   

n.表现形式；表明；现象

参考例句：

• Her smile is a manifestation of joy.她的微笑是她快乐的表现。
• What we call mass is only another manifestation of energy.我们称之为质量的东西只是能量的另一种表现形态。

5 citadel   

n.城堡；堡垒；避难所

参考例句：

• The citadel was solid.城堡是坚固的。
• This citadel is built on high ground for protecting the city.这座城堡建于高处是为保护城市。

6 format   

n.设计，版式；[计算机]格式，DOS命令:格式化(磁盘)，用于空盘或使用过的磁盘建立新空盘来存储数据；v.使格式化，设计，安排

参考例句：

• Please format this floppy disc.请将这张软盘格式化。
• The format of the figure is very tasteful.该图表的格式很雅致。