14 DAY TRIAL // The 2013 World Cup is just around the corner, much to the joy of every football fan around the world. Until then, however, you can take the time to visit the stadiums, thanks to Google’s Street View.
The company has introduced imagery of all 12 World Cup stadiums, as well as of the surrounding areas, to make sure that people get the complete view of the new constructions. Additional images from other sites around the country, such as the Iguaçu National Park and St. Michael of the Missions, have also been included.
“The world's biggest soccer tournament is here. Whether you’re watching from the comfort of your couch or packing your bags for Brazil, Google Maps is your ticket to the games. To kick off the tournament, starting today you can explore all 12 stadiums and the iconic painted streets, one of Brazil’s tournament traditions, in Street View—a digital legacy of the 2014 games for years to come,” writes Deanna Yick, program manager of Street View.
In preparation for the sporting event, Google has also made sure to update other Maps features. For instance, there are transit maps available for all 12 host cities in Brazil, which should make travelling by bus or train that much easier.
The service also supports indoor maps for over 100 venues across the country, including airports, shopping malls and the tournament stadiums, so if you can’t figure out which end is up, you can also take out your smartphone and fire up Google Maps.
Furthermore, Google Maps also includes turn-by-turn navigation for Brazil, which means that you can safely travel by car if that suits you better. Incident reports from Waze have been added for an even more accurate experience.
While the rest of the world rejoices for the World Cup, there are many Brazilians that are not too thrilled about the fact that they’re hosting the football event.
In fact, activists and regular citizens have been protesting for days, marching on the streets, asking the government to spend billions on healthcare, education and social matters rather than for building so many stadiums that will likely remain unused after the World Cup is over.
With days left until the kick-off, tens of thousands of people continue to protest and clash with the police, much to the concern of everyone that’s about to go visit Brazil for the event. President Dilma Rousseff has assured everyone that thousands of extra police and soldiers will be deployed to make sure that the protests don’t interfere with the World Cup.