It’s Official !!!

Yup, that’s right, as of yesterday Spain and Portugal have put in a joint bid for the 2018 World Cup.

There has been speculation of this since last summer when we won the European Championships in Austria and Switzerland, but now it’s official.

I really have mixed reactions about the whole thing, one side of me is ecstatic that we finally get to host the biggest footballing event in the world, but the other side of me is asking why the hell we bid with our little brothers Portugal and not just gone solo… Sure it’s good and all for countries like Austria and Switzer land who don’t necessarily have the facilities or investment, or even when Japan and Korea did the World Cup in 2002 because of the physical size of the countries themselves but Spain is and always has been a footballing nation with numerous locations to host matches.

I mean If there were only eight venues between Austria/Switzerland for Euro 2008, we could definitely support a tournament of this stature seeing as we have larger venues, with greater capacities.

Let’s take a look at the probable venues if we were to host the tournament alone.

Camp Nou – Barcelona – Capacity: 98,772
Santiago Bernabeú – Madrid – Capacity: 80,354
Olímpico Sevilla – Sevilla – Capacity: 57,619
Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys – Barcelona – Capacity: 55,926
Vicente Calderón – Madrid – Capacity: 55,005
Mastalla – Valencia – Capacity: 52,469
Manuel Ruiz de Lopera (puta Betis o e!!) – Sevilla – Capacity: 52,132
Estadio Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán – Sevilla – Capacity: 45,500

Clearly we have the resources to do this thing alone, does the RFEF think by submitting a bid with Portugal that we have a better chance at getting it? It’s annoying really, but whatever, I’d be happy to at least see the biggest football tournament in my country.

FIFA will not read the official result for who will host the tournament until December 2010, probably after we win the World Cup and then FIFA will be convinced to give it to us. Apparently if we fail in this bid to host it in 2018 we’ll immediately bid again right after to host it in 2022. We deserve to host it considering the hell of a tournament we had last year and also since we haven’t hosted any major football tournament for several years now.

Apparently the other countries that have bid so far are:
England – Don’t deserve it, make them actually qualify !!!
Japan – Just had it, give someone else a chance, we’ve seen what you can do
Belgium- Netherlands – Possibly, both passionate about football and have the money and facilities to do so, also in a very convenient location so fans would be able to attend maximum amount of games.
China – Just had the Olympics… NO!!
Qatar – Who? Just kidding, too small, no way they can host it.
Mexico – I’m sure public safety would be an issue, but I’m sure they have the resources to do so.
United States – Had it in ‘94, the country is way too spread out and for fans to follow they’re team they may have to take a couple flights, they did it before, but in my opinion it’s not a practical choice.
Russia – Maybe, they’ve showed recent success both on the International front and in their national league with Zenit winning the UEFA Cup and such.
Australia – May actually be a good choice, although I’m not sure they have the resources to do so, I may be wrong, I know Aussies are crazy about their sports and would build the stadiums in no time to accommodate the matches, just maybe aren’t ready as of yet. Although 9 years from now should be good enough to get ready.

So clearly by looking at this list we look like the strongest candidates right? I hope FIFA sees it the same way as any logical person would. Then again, FIFA haven’t exactly been known for making logical decisions.

Well, I’ll have updates as they happen..
¡Qué Viva España!