Countdown to World Cup 2014 begins

RIO DE JANEIRO, Sept. 17 (UPI) -- Brazil's president this week declared the official countdown to the 2014 World Cup to be under way.

The tournament begins June 12, 2014 and will be followed up two years later with the Summer Olympics, also in Brazil.

Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff said the needed construction and upgrading of a dozen stadiums for the World Cup would be completed on time even though the projects have already run into delays.

"Investing in infrastructure is a way of saying no to the international crisis affecting countries in the Eurozone and the U.S.," Rousseff said.

The BBC said a lot of work also needs to be done on Brazil's transportation infrastructure for the World Cup, however many of those air and road projects were needed regardless to accommodate Brazil's growing middle class.