Sydney – Veteran Mark Bresciano said on Wednesday the Socceroos plan to “shock the world” as they departed for Brazil to headlines asking: “Will Australia be the worst team at the World Cup?”

The inexperienced Australians, the lowest ranked team in the World Cup at 59, face a daunting task against Spain, the Netherlands and Chile in Group B.

Bresciano, the 34-year-old former Parma and Lazio midfielder, said he was excited about heading to his third World Cup and believed the team could hold its own.

“It’s always a dream going to a World Cup, regardless if it’s your first or third,” he told reporters at Sydney airport where hundreds of fans saw off Ange Postecoglou and his squad.

“I guess the expectation is maybe a little bit high (this time) because, in the last nine or 10 years, we’ve been very successful as a nation.

“Saying that, we know that we are going to Brazil in a very tough group but we’re going to go there and just try and do our country proud and do ourselves proud and try and shock the world.”

His confidence is in stark contrast to the nation’s media which has largely written off their chances with the Sydney Morning Herald on Wednesday suggesting the Socceroos would be the worst team in Brazil.

“The bookmakers regard Australia’s World Cup possibilities as something worse than a snowball’s survival chances in hell,” said chief football writer Michael Lynch.

“As do the world rankings, which place Australia last of the World Cup qualifiers in 59th spot (between Mali and Burkina Faso).

“And judging by the social media response to the Socceroos’ stuttering 1-1 draw against a less-than-fearsome South Africa on Monday night, large numbers of the Australian public share that pessimistic view.”

The Australian newspaper’s Ray Gatt said the team were leaving “with the sound of doom and gloom ringing in their ears” and bookmakers offering in excess of 750-1 for Australia to win the tournament.

“One former captain (Paul Wade) believes they’ll be smashed, few fans hold out any hope they’ll get through the knockout stage and the critics believe they’ll be lucky to score a goal, let alone get a point,” he said.

The Socceroos will be one of the first teams to arrive in Brazil ahead of the showpiece tournament and Bresciano believes it will work in their favour.

“I think it’s worth getting there as early as possible – just to get the feel of the World Cup, get a feel of the atmosphere and get to know where we’re travelling … so you can focus on your training leading up to the friendly game and obviously the World Cup,” he said.

Australia’s squad of 27 will be reduced to 23 on June 2, before they face Croatia in a warm-up on June 6 ahead of their World Cup opener against Chile on June 13.

AFP

Johannesburg – Voting stations opened at around 07:00 for municipal by-elections across four provinces on Wednesday, the Electoral Commission of SA (IEC) said.

Twenty candidates representing nine political parties in six wards are set to contest the by-elections in Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo, and the Western Cape, IEC spokeswoman Kate Bapela said.

Voting stations would close at 21:00.

Two by-elections would take place in Gauteng.

Ward 27 in Tshwane metro [Pretoria] would be contested by the African National Congress (ANC), the Democratic Alliance (DA), and the Pan Africanist Congress of Azania (PAC).

Ward 58 in Tshwane metro would be contested by the African Independent Congress, the ANC, the DA, and the PAC, Bapela said.

In KwaZulu-Natal, one by-election in ward two in Umvoti [Greytown] municipality would be contested by the ANC, the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP), and the National Freedom Party (NFP).

Limpopo would only have ward four in Lephalale [Ellisras] municipality contested by three candidates from the ANC, the Congress of the People (Cope) and the DA.

In the Western Cape, ward 25 in the City of Cape Town would be contested by the ANC, the DA, the First Nation Liberation Alliance (Finla), and the Patriotic Alliance (PA).

Ward 6 in Matzikama [Vredendal] municipality would be contested by the ANC, the DA, and the PA.

A total of 58 053 people were registered to vote.

SAPA

Braslia – Brazilian police fired tear gas on Tuesday to break up a protest by bow-and-arrow wielding indigenous chiefs who joined forces with anti-World Cup demonstrators to condemn the money spent on the tournament.

Wearing traditional clothing including feather headdresses and face paint, about 500 chiefs mainly from the Amazon basin joined another 500 protesters rallying for various social causes in Brasilia’s government square and began marching toward the capital’s World Cup stadium.

As mounted police moved to block the march, some of the indigenous demonstrators rushed their horses and one fired an arrow in their direction – hitting an officer in the leg, Globo TV reported.

Some of the indigenous could be seen throwing stones at some of the 700 police encircling the stadium. Protesters also blocked streets around the government plaza, where the congress, presidential palace and Supreme Court are located.

Earlier, the aboriginal leaders climbed onto the roof of the congress building in a protest they said was aimed at protecting their rights.

The protest, which brought together 100 ethnic groups from across Brazil, included Kayapo chief Raoni, an 84-year-old leader famous for fighting to protect the Amazon rainforest alongside pop music star Sting.

“Climbing onto the congress building was an act of bravery, it shows we’re warriors who defend our rights,” said Tamalui Kuikuru, an indigenous leader from the Xingu region in the western state of Mato Grosso.

They soon came down from the roof and rejoined the rest of the protesters along the main avenue where Brazil’s government ministries are located.

“Who is the Cup for? Not us!” shouted demonstrators. “I don’t want the Cup, I want money for health and education.”

Anti-Cup protesters align

Full-blooded indigenous people in Brazil – who make up 0.3% of the country’s population of 200 million – have staged a series of protests in recent months, accusing President Dilma Rousseff’s government of stalling the demarcation of their ancestral lands and pursuing policies that favour large-scale farming.

In the run-up to the World Cup, which opens on 12 June, Brazil has also faced a wave of demonstrations by protesters angry over the more than $11bn budget for the tournament, which they say should have been spent on programmes to benefit the poor.

The indigenous leaders, who opened their protest with traditional prayers and drumming, aligned themselves to the broader anti-World Cup cause.

“Before organising the World Cup, Brazil should have thought more about health, education and housing,” said Neguinho Truka, a leader of the Truka people in the northern state of Pernambuco, who was wearing a headdress of red and blue feathers.

Last year when Brazil hosted the Confederations Cup – a World Cup dress rehearsal – protests brought a million people into the streets and turned violent at times, to the embarrassment of tournament organisers.

Since then the protests have drawn smaller numbers but grown more radical. In recent weeks they have mainly been organised by established unions, leftist parties and activist groups such as the Landless Movement (MST) and the Homeless Workers’ Movement (MTST), which was present at Tuesday’s protest.

Brazil has also been hit by a series of strikes ahead of the World Cup and a presidential election in October. Police, teachers, bus drivers and bank security guards have all gone on strike in recent weeks.

Bus drivers in Rio de Janeiro have called a new 24-hour strike for Wednesday. Two weeks ago they trashed hundreds of buses and caused traffic chaos during a similar strike.

Strikes have also paralyzed the bus networks in World Cup host cities Bahia and Sao Paulo recently.
AFP

Pretoria – The North Gauteng High Court has ordered an investigation into how best to deal with a recent discovery that two children were allegedly mistakenly swopped at birth in an East Rand hospital in 2010, The Star newspaper reported on Wednesday.

The two girls were born in Boksburg Hospital.

The mistake was discovered recently when one of the fathers requested a paternity test after the child’s mother sued him for maintenance.

The paper reported that both parents’ blood tests did not match the child’s.

The woman then reportedly wanted her biological child back, but the other woman did not want to give her daughter up, The Star reported.

The Centre for Child Law was tasked with investigating the facts and to make a decision on what was in the best interests of the children

It was not yet clear how the children were allegedly swopped.
SAPA