Brasília – More than ten heads of state are going to watch the World Cup final, Germany vs. Argentina, next Sunday in Maracanã Stadium, alongside Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff and Fifa’s president, Joseph Blatter. Before the match, at 1pm, the president will offer a luncheon to the international authorities. The presidents of South Africa, Jacob Zuma, Russia, Vladimir Putin, Congo, Denis Sassou-Nguesso, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Joseph Kabila, Hungary, János Áder, Haiti, Michel Martelly, and German chancellor, Angela Merkel have already confirmed their attendance.
The attendance of heads of state from Gabon, Trinidad and Tobago, Antigua and Barbuda, Equatorial Guinea and Finland is almost certain, as the only thing missing is to arrange the final details of their visit to Brazil. Before the match starts, from 2pm on, there will be the closing ceremony, with performances by Colombia’s Shakira, Brazil’s Ivete Sangalo, Alexandre Pires, Carlinhos Brown, the Mexican guitar player Carlos Santana and Haitian rapper Wyclef Jean, besides samba school Escola de Samba Acadêmicos do Grande Rio, which will pay homage to the final match’s host city.
During the World Cup, German chancellor Angela Merkel, Chilean president Michelle Bachelet, Colombia’s president Juan Manuel Santos, and the United States vice president Joe Biden visited Brazil to support their teams, and some of them also took the opportunity to meet with president Rousseff. On June 12th, the opening of the World Cup, in São Paulo, Rousseff has also offered a luncheon to the heads of state who came to watch Brazil vs. Croatia.
*Translated by Rodrigo Mendonça