Agencies
Di Caprio is watching
In The Wolf of Wall Street, Leonardo DiCaprio let loose in his portrayal of a hard-partying Wall Street trader. Now, he’s in Brazil for the World Cup and ready to party in real life. DiCaprio and 21 of his friends jetted into Rio de Janeiro on Wednesday, where they will stay on a mega-yacht and watch the World Cup, Brazilian media reported. The Oscar-nominated star and his friends will luxuriate on the Topaz, a 482-foot yacht that belongs to Abu Dhabi’s Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed, owner of the Manchester City football club, the newspaper Folha de Sao Paulo reported. The Topaz is the fifth-largest yacht in the world and is bigger than all but one ship in the Brazilian navy, the aircraft carrier Sao Paulo, Folha said. It said DiCaprio would be in Sao Paulo for the opening match between Brazil and Croatia.
Colombia united
They proclaim Marxism on the battlefield, but Colombia’s largest rebel group is all nationalism come World Cup time. In a public letter to Colombia’s national team and its Argentine coach, Jose Pekerman, officials for the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia say they are behind the country’s football team. A statement read: “We’ll be with the national team in the good times and bad times.”
The ‘gooooaaal’ man
Andres Cantor is a Spanish-language announcer from Mexico who is well-known in North America for his lung-bursting “goooooaaal” calls. (At South Africa 2010, when Landon Donovan scored the winning goal for the US, versus Algeria, Cantor did three successive “goal” calls that, collectively, lasted 41 seconds.) In Brazil, he will be broadcasting for his own radio network, at fdpradio.com.
Watching from space
For many fans, the experience of seeing their team in the World Cup will be out of this world, but for the American and German astronauts aboard the International Space Station, it will literally be the case. Americans Reid Wiseman and Steve Swanson and German Alexander Gerst will be watching from 370-kilometre above the earth when their teams meet in their final Group G game at the Pernambuco arena in Recife on June 26. The trio were featured in a YouTube video posted on the Nasa website encouraging fans around the world to enjoy the spectacle before showing some acrobatic football skills carried out in zero gravity conditions. “We want to wish all the teams and fans on the ground in Brazil a great World Cup,” said Gerst, decked out in his German national team shirt. Not to be outdone, fellow astronaut Reid Wiseman had donned a Team USA jersey before imparting a similar message. “Have fun, play hard and we’ll be watching on the International Space Station,” he said.
Free viewing in Thailand
As part of its “happiness” campaign, the junta that overthrew Thailand’s elected government has engineered a deal that will allow the country’s football fans to watch the whole of the World Cup for free. RS International Broadcasting, the exclusive rights holder, had planned to air only 22 of 64 games free, but the National Broadcasting and Telecoms Commission struck a deal with RS for US$13 million (Dh47.8m) so that the entire World Cup can be shown on free TV.
Tight security
The Brazilian military have sited anti-aircraft missiles on the 15th floor of a residential building just 600m from Rio’s Maracana stadium, which will host the World Cup final. No-fly zones have also been set up around team hotels and all 12 host cities.
