Football Club

Brazil will play friendly matches in both Zimbabwe and Tanzania in the build-up to the World Cup.

The world’s top ranked side will be in Harare on 2 June and in Dar es Salaam on 7 June as part of their preparations for South Africa 2010.

The deals for both games have been signed and were announced at separate news conferences on Thursday.

“You are talking about the best team in the world,” the President of the Tanzanian Football Federation said.

“It is a very good promotion for our country,” Leodegar Tenga said.

“This is one of the steps we are supposed to take to develop the game, it will promote the game, bring excitement and encourage our boys – the impact of this to our football will be huge.”

Both countries have agreed to pay an appearance fee to Brazil – but the sum has not been disclosed.

The man who negotiated the Zimbabwe game for Brazil, Paul Leisegang of sports agency Kantaro, said it was a deal worth doing.

“It’s a figure that Zimbabwe are happy with,” he said.

“In my heart I believe that the ordinary people of Zimbabwe deserve to have a taste of the World Cup, and I believe that Zimbabwe will never be the same again.

“For Zimbabwe it was an impossible dream, but they were so persistent and they have proved that nothing is impossible.”

Brazil will become the first international side from outside Africa to play in Zimbabwe since the country’s independence in 1980.

North Korea will not be preparing for the World Cup finals with a visit to Zimbabwe, ending fears over a potentially controversial trip.

The Zimbabwe government had suggested the Asian side would stop in the country on their way to South Africa.

That sparked protests in Matabeleland, where rights groups say a North Korean-trained army unit killed thousands of people during the 1980s.

But the government now say they have heard nothing from the North Koreans.

“I will check on the progress of the North Korea team but I don’t think that they will stop in Zimbabwe,” Tourism Minister Walter Mzembi said.

Sports Minister David Coltart added he no longer expected the North Korea team to come.

The country’s football association, Zifa, said it had never invited the team to come and train.

North Korea are expected to play Greece, DR Congo and Nigeria in the build-up to the World Cup – they are in Group G along with Brazil, Ivory Coast and Portugal.