聯合翻譯有限公司/聯合翻譯社

More crucial for daily life is the fact that little was delivered in terms of improved transportation. Planned upgrades to the nation's airports seem unlikely to be finished in time in many cities. This could lead to problems as millions of fans try to travel around the country, which is similar in size to the continental U.S.

The protest movement, meanwhile, began when two issues — World Cup costs and transportation problems — came to a head last June. In Sao Paulo, police cracked down on a protest against a bus fare hike. During the following week, more than a million people took part in protests, rallying for causes that included poor investments in health, education and infrastructure, and wasteful spending on the World Cup. Since then, protests have diminished in size, but they haven't stopped completely.

Officials are hoping that the smaller numbers of people at recent protests suggest that the anger may have cooled. But there is still the possibility that protests could disrupt the tournament. Complicating things is the fact that Brazil's economy has also slowed in the last few years, making the cost of the World Cup appear even more unreasonable.

Despite these problems, many in Brazil are still eagerly awaiting the start of the tournament. Once the World Cup kicks off on Thursday, Brazilians are likely to rally behind their country, which has won five previous World Cups, making it the most successful team in the tournament's history. Still, many Brazilians feel bitter and disappointed that the World Cup has not led to improvements in their country. And once the tournament ends, anger is likely to return over the government's decision to spend billions on sports tournaments instead of on Brazil's poor health, education and transportation systems.