[Video] "The World Cup No One Sees"

The 2012 Olympics will be taking place next summer in London, and the city is preparing for the thousands of athletes and the millions of fans that will converge on the City.


Looking ahead, the 2016 Olympics will take place in Rio de Janiero, Brazil and, again, many are preparing to make the pilgrimage to Brazil to experience the games firsthand.

Well, before the 2016 Summer Olympics can take place in Brazil, the country is currently preparing to play host to the 2014 FIFA World Cup.  


After the perceived success of the 2010 FIFA World Cup that took place in South Africa, there is a lot of talk about the 2014 games being attended by 2-times the number of people that attended the matches in South Africa.


While this will be good for Brazil, and the various businesses in the country, there is a dark side to the country playing host: The people that are some of the most marginalized are being forced from their homes, and left to fend for themselves, while the country takes over entire towns and villages to building stadiums, train stations and apartment buildings in time for the games.


In the short film, "The World Cup No One Sees", filmed in Brazil by the Worcester-based cooperative- Future Focus Media Coop- addresses the...

attempted displacement of tens of thousands of residents. But in Fortaleza and other host cities, people are resisting this social cleansing and demanding their rights to housing and their right to the city.

On October 1, 2011, in Boston, the film was shown for the first time at the International Congress of Right to the City alliance.

World Cup 2010

If you're a soccer fan, this past weekend was your Superbowl, NBA Championship, the World Series, the Stanley Cup all rolled up into one big Jabulani soccer ball.



There were some exciting games to be watched:

South Africa vs. Mexico- This was the first game of the 2010 World Cup games and it was an exciting one from start to finish. South Africa scored at the 55-minute mark and it appeared that they would hold on to win the game, but Mexico scored at the 79-minute mark, to tie the game.

South Africa had a final chance to score and win the game when the balled was tracked down and shot that hit the left post minutes before the final whistle was blown.


Uraguay vs. France- Both teams played tough defense and had good shots on goal but neither team scored. Final score, 0-0.

Argentina vs. Nigeria- Argentina won in Diego Maradona's first appearance as a coach and one of the most talented players, Lionel Messi, had some great shots on goal. Argentina won 1-0.

Korea vs. Greece- South Korea played great defense and scored 2-goals that pushed Greece on their heels and they couldn't bounce back. Korea won 2-0

England vs. USA- England scored in under 5-minutes and then it appeared that the USA players calmed down and went onto play some tough defense. Team USA scored on a simple shot on goal by U.S. right winger Clint Dempsey that was fumbled by England goalkeeper Robert Green, in a goal that has been remarked as one of the worst goals thus far in the tournament. The match ended in a tie, 1-1.


Algeria vs. Slovenia- Slovenia won a tough match and scored a winning goal on what I would call a goalie error. Slovenia won 1-0.

Germany vs. Australia- Germany destroyed AUS by scoring 4 goals. Germany won 4-0.

Serbia vs. Ghana- Ghana won the game with a goal on a penalty kick and South Africa was celebrating the first African team to win in this year's games. Ghana won 1-0.

As with all World Cup matches, there is always some bit of controversy.

This year it seems to be the Jabulani soccer ball from German-based Adidas that many of the players and goalkeepers have said, “It’s rubbish,” England backup goalkeeper David James said in a June 12 interview in Rustenburg. “It’s just not a very good football. But everyone’s gotta play with the same ball and those who can manipulate it the best have an advantage.”

As the games continue to be played, I'm interested to see what adjustments the teams make to deal with the Jabulani, which means “to rejoice” in the Zulu language, which is said to be very unpredictable in the air.