Now that's a real stick-up...

Sao Paulo - Brazilian police say gunmen have stolen hundreds of thousands of stickers for World Cup photo albums.

The Sao Paulo Public Safety Department says five heavily armed men held up the company that distributes the stickers and got away with 675,000 of them. No one was hurt and the assailants are still at large.

Police said Friday that the stolen stickers were worth 101,000 reals ($57,386).

Sticker book albums are highly popular in Brazil, where they are sold at newsstands.

Police say the stolen goods might be traded on the Internet. - Sapa-AP

Brazil's President plans for World Cup Final

BRASILIA, Brazil -- President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is he's so confident of Brazil's chances in the World Cup that he is already planning to be at the final on July 11.

“I'm so optimistic that when I was in Mexico with President (Felipe) Calderon and he asked me if I was going to the opening game of the World Cup, I said I'm not going to the opener — I'm going to the final,” Silva said in an interview with The Associated Press on Tuesday.
Of course, Silva said he would have to attend the final match in Johannesburg anyway — at least for ceremonial reasons — since Brazil will be the host country for the 2014 World Cup.

The twelve cities to host soccer in Brazil for the World Cup 2014 are:

World Cup 2014 and Brazilian Football

On Oct. 30, 2007 FIFA announced that Brazil had been chosen as the host country for the World Cup 2014, the 20th World Cup in FIFA history. Most tournaments involve eight to ten different cities in the host country, but Brazil petitioned to spread the games among twelve different cities across the country. FIFA World Cup officials gave permission for this change in protocol.

Soccer in Brazil and FIFA

The twelve cities to host soccer in Brazil for the World Cup 2014 are:

• Belo Horizonte
• Brasília
• Cuiabá
• Curitiba
• Fortaleza
• Manaus
• Natal
• Porto Alegre
• Recife
• Rio de Janeiro
• Salvador
• São Paulo

Infrastructure and Planning

Transportation networks between the cities, all of which are the capital cities in their respective states, include air, train, and car travel, with billions of dollars invested in upgrades. Brazil's 67 airports will all receive some form of remodeling and infrastructure update, while Natal will open a new international airport in 2010.

The country plans to unveil a new $9 billion high--speed rail project, called the Rio-São Paulo High Speed rail, connecting Campinas, Guarulhos, São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. The 322 mile project is expected to move passengers at over 150 miles per hour and complete trips between São Paulo and Rio in under 90 minutes. The infrastructure, viability studies, and groundbreaking for this line have already occurred, and the projected line will be ready for World Cup 2014 and the later 2016 Olympics.

Read more at Suite101: World Cup 2014 - Soccer in Brazil: Brazilian Football, FIFA, Infrastructure and Planning http://brazil.suite101.com/article.cfm/world_cup_2014_soccer_in_brazil#ixzz0iHBPx5ZA

FIFA World Cup Brazil 2014