"If you win half to zero, that's good", says Lula about Brazil's game
President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) declared, this Wednesday (10), that if the Brazilian team defeats Morocco "by half-nil" next Saturday (13), "it's already good".
The opinion was given by the head of the Executive during a meeting of the Council for Sustainable Economic and Social Development, the so-called "Conselhão", in Brasília.
"I want Brazil to win. If it wins half to zero, that's good. But I think Brazil will win, okay?", said the PT member.
The team debuts in the 2026 World Cup at 7pm (Brasília time) this Saturday against Morocco at the MetLife Stadium, in New Jersey, in the United States. The team led by Italian Carlo Ancelotti is in Group C of the competition, alongside Haiti and Scotland.
Lula criticizes protests in Mexico
Throughout his speech at the "Conselhão", the president criticized the wave of protests hitting Mexico, the country that will host the World Cup together with the USA and Canada.
"Right now, in Mexico, a little of what happened here in 2013 is happening," said Lula in reference to the June Days. "Everyone remembers that a simple demand for a R$0.20 increase in transport was the pretext for the extreme right to take over the streets using green and yellow", added the president.
On the eve of the opening of the World Cup, protests led by teachers threaten to interrupt the start of the tournament. The demonstrations have been taking place for just over a month, after the CNTE (National Coordination of Education Workers) presented a list of demands to the government of President Claudia Sheinbaum.
"Everyone knows that R$0.20 wouldn't cause any revolution anywhere in the world. It's just that, from that movement, they invented the 'black blocks', which created a riot in São Paulo and, from there, the extreme right took advantage, impeached Dilma, even elected a president of the Republic. So, my conversation with Claudia [Sheinbaum] is why I think this is happening in Mexico now", said Lula.
Finally, the head of Planalto said he believed in external involvement in the issue. "Sometimes I think it has someone's finger on it. And maybe it's not even Mexican," he concluded.
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Source: CNN