We are going to Brazil!

World Cup 2014 Guide

Soccer Fans!

Many friends have asked me to help them understand how to best prepare to take on planning a trip to Brazil for next years World Cup Finals Festivities. As I was writing a message to friends I thought I'd share my research here in case folks are interested: 

there are a few parts to this so i'm going to try and break it up for maximum clarity. 

• Overview:  We are in the final phases of qualification for the World Cup Finals. Once qualification is over for each federation the final draw for group round seeding will take place in Rio de Janeiro on Dec 3 2013.
• What does that mean? Although ticket sales have begun (see match tickets section) fans will not know whether and/or where their teams will play until the qualification rounds have finished and the draw has taken place. 
• Why does that matter? Brazil is a big country! If you are planning on following the US and/or other countries through the group rounds they may be playing at a few different stadiums which will include the need for travel within the country.

• Basic tournament schedule: The 2014 FIFA World Cup Finals will take place between June 12 and July 13th 2014. 
• Group round: June 12- June 26
• Round of 16: June 28- July 1
• Quarter finals: July 4 & 5
• Semi- finals: July 8 & 9
• 3rd place match: July 12
• Final match: July 13

• Match tickets:  Match tickets are being sold a few ways, the first is through travel agents and soccer tour companies. This can be a good deal if you're not interested in figuring out your own logistics. I have included a few links to companies that do this. You will pay a premium for this service.  The second way to is to buy your tickets directly from FIFA. In order to make ticket purchasing fair FIFA has a whole complicated processes with phases, i'll do my best to explain. 
• FIFA has 3 ticket purchasing periods for the international public (Brazilian citizens). Each of the three phases of ticket sales, the first two rounds have a lottery round and a first come first serve round. 
• Phase 1 (lottery): Aug 20- Oct1
• Phase 1 (first come first serve): Nov 5- Nov 28
• Phase 2 (lottery): Dec 8- Jan 30
• Phase 2 (first come first serve): Feb 26- April 1
• Phase 3 (last min sales phase): Apr 15- July 13
• What does that mean?  This means that between rounds tickets can only be purchased through travel agents etc. 
• Whats the difference between lottery and first come first serve?  Lottery means you apply for tickets and FIFA will let you know if they can approve your request. First come first serve sales will indicate as you purchase whether or not your request will be granted.
• You can apply for individual tickets, ticket packages for a specific host city stadium or tickets for a specific team. Once your team has qualified team specific packages make most sense. You can buy team packages from 3 matches to 7 matches. If you purchase a 7 match package and your team only makes it through the group round you can still attend the round matches for which you purchased tickets.  Here is a table with general costs for tickets per match round. 
• If you're confused read this ticketing guide from FIFA to get even more confused.

• Travel & Host Cities: Depending on where your team is playing you'll likely have to travel around Brazil on domestic flights, trains or busses. Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo are both centrally located in relationship to the other host cities. See map of all host cities here.

My two cents. 

The best bang for your buck is attending the group rounds through the round of 16. you get games every few days and you can either follow your team around or hang out in a specific host city and catch all the games that take place there. 

Don't wait until the Dec 6 drawing to try and buy tickets if you really want to go. Buy a flight to a major city and figure out lodging and domestic travel later, its not worth tickets selling out or being forced to pay way more for tickets from agents. 

If you have the funds I would apply for USA specific match packages now. Now that we have qualified it's going to be a rat race to get tickets. If you can't do it now my best advice is do it before the Dec draw. 

Nate and I haven't made final plans yet and our visit is a little more complicated because we are trying to follow 2 teams but as we settle on plans i'll let you all know in the event you want to make adjacent plans. As of right now we are planning to be in Brazil for the group round and the round of 16 and will travel around Brazil and Argentina for a week or two maybe coming back for the semi or final match if things work out. 

It's a lot of info I know but shit is complicated! 

USA! ARGENTINA!

Vamos a Brazil!

Centennial Success!

International Friendly USA v. Germany-- Sunday June 2nd:
what a match! amazingly beautiful goals from Jozy and Clint, world class finishes. unfortunately celebratory smiles quickly turned into anxious nail biting in the last 20 min. germany is my absolute least favorite team of all time so that win was especially significant to me but we had to suffer and sweat it out at the end there.

gearing up for the qualifying match with Jamaica in Jamaica i'm hoping to see more of Zusi and the most recent version of Jozy also i'm obviously i'm rooting for some PT for Edgar Castillo (NM Reppin').

pretty amazing shot

a history of rivalry

usa v. mexico, estadio azteca-- tonight

not so pura vida

fifa rejects costa ricas appeal to replay last weeks match v. usmnt. 

so gangsta

us fans are just as cra as any other international fans

blizzard conditions can't stop those yanks

i watched the usa v. costa rica match in a crowded manhattan bar on friday night thinking to myself "they are going to call this match at any moment". but they never did. 

i even posted this on facebook:

 "esos ticos no estan preparados para toda esta nieve! vamos yankees"

they say it ain't over till the fat lady sings..... 

 

deuce face!

pretty damn awesome! usmnt go on the hexagonal CONCACAF world cup qualifiers round. 

when it really counts....

it's been a while amigos! but i'm back... just in time for world cup qualifiers for CONMEBOL and CONCACAF.

last friday messi provided a master class against uruguay in my beloved mendoza while the US made every minute count in a lack luster performance against antigua and barbuda. 

today, i am not watching the argentina game but we were up 2-0 at half time with another gol by messi and the US is bouncing back from a crappy start with a convincing lead against guatemala.

it's amazing to see a US dominated crowd in the heart of the country (sporting kansas city). that's how our boys should get rooted on every single time they play on american soil... that's how the rest of the world does it. 

on a last note, i think i finally forgave deuce for leaving fulham.

de guatemala a guatepeor: USA v Guatemala WCQ thoughts

yikes! last night was not a convincing showcase by the #usmnt. i love those guys but we were playing a team whose best players are aging MLS starts. our players play for the best leagues in the world! we had 5 club captains on the field last night many for successful European 1st division sides. 


we looked much better in the first half but after the equalizer late in the second half,  the last five minutes of the game looked like a game of Foosball with the ball was being whacked all around the field. with so many amazing players we just need to get into the habit of establishing our possession game and not sinking to whatever level the other team brings to the table.


i have to say the ref played a large role in this game as well. he let the Guatemala fouls slide way too much. I agree with Clint Dempsey who said if the ref had put a lid on that hacking to start off with the match would have been different. i totally agree, they were hacking because they didn't have the skill to compete with our guys any other way.

Tim Howard gets the man of the match in my opinion, he had some clutch saves for us and kept some calm in the back. 


at any rate, if the rest of qualifying looks like this i'm going to need some tranquilizers and and EMT on standby. 


click here for the official match report from US Soccer.

support my buddies at one goal usa

the ny times take on the USA performance in their first qualified last night.

kind of true...

my buddies at One Goal USA say:

http://www.onegoalusa.com/2012/06/united-states-vs-antigua-barbuda.html

uninspired: usa v. canada

usmnt and canada ended in a 0 -0 draw in montreal. overall pretty subdued match given that we are about to move into world cup qualifiers. 

does the usmnt look ready to take on CONCACAF? what do you think?

new mexico represent! las cruces native edgar castillo gets the start in us v. canada

heartache at the hands of jugo bonito- usa v. brazil

difficult loss at the hands of the samba boys. watched a lot of coverage after the game and the bad calls from the referees that seemed so obvious from the stands seemed less flagrant on the replay at home. in the end, that's the beauty of futbol... no do-overs... no rewinding the film. 

fantastic atmosphere. man of the match for me was steve cherundolo; he was everywhere and played with immense heart. props to edgar castillo from las cruces, new mexico; we are big fans. lastly, i heard landon donovan isn't sure if he is really feeling the love for the game right now. i have love for him but sorry to say his lack of gusto shows big time. i hope he has a change of heart before the world cup qualifiers. 

outlook for today

landon donovan- fedex field, landover, md

the weather is beautiful.

clint & jozy are available.

we are coming off of a dream result against scotland.

tonight is going to be amazing.

the yanks are coming!

casi casi

confederations cup rematch

so freakin' pumped! 

landover, md here we come.