Zico to visit Bangladesh soon: Brazilian ambassador
Former Brazilian coach and footballer Arthur Antunes Coimbra, better known as Zico, will arrive in Dhaka after the FIFA World Cup as Brazil is looking for stronger sports ties with Bangladesh.
Brazilian ambassador in Dhaka Joao Tabajara de Oliveira Junior made the disclosure at a press conference in a city hotel on Wednesday.
“We’ve many names in mind. We’ve contacted Zico who is free to come after the World Cup,” the ambassador said while responding to a UNB query.
Mentioning other big names in Brazilian football history, the envoy said they will discuss whether they can arrange a match between Bangladesh and Brazilian seniors or retired players in Bangladesh to promote football here.
The ambassador said this is going to be a beginning of discussion on how Brazil can help develop football engaging young players.
He said they will also discuss building a football academy in Bangladesh and meet state minister of youth and sports Biren Sikder on Thursday.
Three journalists from the biggest Brazilian TV Channel - TV Globo - who came to make a documentary on Brazilian supporters in Bangladesh were also present.
They are producer Igor Abreu, reporter Clayton Conservani and cameraperson Mikael Bento.
Sharing their Bangladesh experiences, they said they have never seen such huge supporters in other countries. “Brazilians don’t know about Bangladesh fans. We’ll show this for the first time. Over 30 million people will watch it,” Clayton said.
He said Bangladesh and Brazil have very sports connection. “It’s incredible. You know all players’ names of Brazil. It’s really incredible for us.”
Sharing his visit to places outside Dhaka, Clayton said, “We feel like at home. We want to share our experience here through TV programme on Sunday morning.”
Brazilian ambassador Joao Tabajara said there is nothing like sports which can bring two countries closer.
The three journalists from TV Globo who came to Bangladesh on 15 June visited a number of places outside Dhaka to see Brazilian supporters.
The journalists, who will leave Dhaka on June 24, will visit Narayanganj on Thursday and watch the next match of Brazil from there.
An important moment of their trip will be a gathering to be organised by the Brazil House in Narayanganj for a thousand people on Friday next when Brazil will play against Costa Rica.
The aim of their trip is to broadcast the impressive support that Brazilian national soccer team receives from Bangladeshi people during the FIFA World Cup.
To give to Brazilian spectators a complete idea of what happens in Bangladesh during the World Cup - the rivalry between Brazil and Argentina’s supporters, the decoration of buildings and streets, and the strong interest about Brazil among people, supporters-the three journalists did not stay in Dhaka only but also travelled places where those manifestations are particularly interesting such as Manikganj and Chittagong.