Solomon Kurukuru has arrived safely in Brazil for the FIFA Futsal World Cup after a marathon journey from Sydney that began on Thursday evening two weeks ago and continued until late Saturday night.
The team first flew fourteen hours to Dubai before waiting a further four hours in transit and then continuing on to Sao Paulo, Brazil, which took a further fourteen hours. Another plane trip, this time for only two hours, from Sao Paulo to Brasilia was next before boarding a bus for four hours to reach the town of Goiania. The team exited the bus bleary-eyed but excited to finally reach their destination.Kurukuru will be guests of the Goias Esporte Clube for the next two weeks, using their facilities and playing a number of practice matches against local Brazilian Futsal teams.
'We're excited to be here,' said Coach Victor Wai'ia, 'for the next couple of days the boys can rest and get used to the different food and the time difference. We are close to twelve hours behind the time in Honiara so we need to get our body clocks aligned to Brazil. The climate here seems to be the same as home though, so that's an advantage.'
The World Cup tournament begins on September 30 in Brasilia and Rio de Janeiro. All of Kurukuru's games will be in Brasilia.
Press Release (James Ruhfus, Kurukuru Team)