An official count showed her rival, centrist candidate Aecio Neves, taking just over 48% of the vote.

In her victory speech, Ms Rousseff said she wanted to be “a much better president than I have been until now”.

She faced protests last year against corruption, record spending on the football World Cup and poor services.

Ms Rousseff, who has been in power since 2010, is popular with poor Brazilians thanks to her government’s welfare programmes.

Scolari, 65, won the tournament in 2002 but his side could only finish fourth when hosting this year’s event.

His team were thrashed 7-1 by Germany in the World Cup semi-final, their joint-heaviest loss ever and first home competitive defeat for 39 years.

He originally took over the Brazilian team in 2001 and guided them to World Cup success a year later, beating Germany 2-0 in the 2002 final in Yokohama, Japan.

But after spells in charge of Portugal, Premier League side Chelsea, Bunyodkor of Uzbekistan and Brazilian club Palmeiras, he returned to take over the national team in 2012.

They hosted and won the Confederations Cup in 2013, beating Spain 3-0 in the final, and were favourites to win a sixth World Cup.

Brazil finished top of their group after two wins and a draw from their three matches, before edging past Chile on penalties in the last 16.

They then beat Colombia 2-1 in the quarter-finals, but that victory came at a cost as top goalscorer Neymar suffered a spine injury and key defender Thiago Silva picked up his second booking of the tournament to miss the Germany game through suspension.

]]> https://en.armradio.am/2014/07/13/world-cup-2014-netherlands-beat-host-brazil-3-0-to-finish-3rd/ Sat, 12 Jul 2014 21:58:05 +0000 http://www.armradio.am/en/?p=30847 Robin van Persie and Daley Blind scored early goals to help give the Netherlands a 3-0 win over host Brazil in the third-place match at the World Cup on Saturday, AP reports.

Van Persie converted a penalty kick three minutes into the match after Arjen Robben was brought down by Brazil captain Thiago Silva. Blind added to the lead in the 17th with a shot from near the penalty spot after defender David Luiz made a mistake while trying to clear a cross in front of the goal. Georginio Wijnaldum rounded off the win in injury time.

With the result, the Netherlands finishes a World Cup unbeaten in regular play for the first time. It lost to Argentina on penalties in the semifinals.

The loss added to Brazil’s frustration at the home tournament following the disastrous 7-1 defeat to Germany.

The hosts were 5-0 down by half-time in Belo Horizonte as Germany reached the final in emphatic style.

“I will be remembered as the coach to lose 7-1 but I knew that risk when I took the job,” said Scolari, a World Cup winner with Brazil in 2002.

“The person who decided the line-up, the tactics, was me. It was my choice.”

Scolari described the result, which surpassed the 3-0 defeat by France in the 1998 final as Brazil’s heaviest World Cup loss, as “catastrophic”.

“My message for the Brazilian people is please excuse us for this performance,” added the former Chelsea manager.

“I’m sorry that we weren’t able to get to the final and we’re going to try to win the third-place match. We still have something to play for.”

Brazil, the first team to concede seven goals in a World Cup semi-final, will play either Netherlands or Argentina in Brasilia on Saturday.

Brazil were unbeaten in 14 games ahead of the meeting with Germany and Scolari played down the absence of striker Neymar, who fractured a vertebra during the quarter-final victory over Colombia.

He said: “Let’s not try to find an excuse in Neymar.”

Thomas Muller’s opener was the first of five goals in 18 first-half minutes, with strikes from Miroslav Klose and Sami Khedira sandwiching a Toni Kroos double.

Substitute Andre Schurrle added two more after the break before Chelsea team-mate Oscar netted a late consolation.

Scolari said: “We did our best – but we came up against a great German team.

“We couldn’t react to going behind. Not even the Germans can tell you how this happened – but it’s because of their skills and you have to respect that.”

Thomas Muller volleyed home following a corner before Miroslav Klose swept in to become the World Cup’s all-time leading scorer with his 16th goal.

Toni Kroos drove in the third and then tapped in his second before Sami Khedira made it 5-0 from 12 yards.

Andre Schurrle added two more after the break before Oscar’s late consolation.

Germany will play either Argentina or Netherlands – who face each other on Wednesday – in Sunday’s final.

Brazil will host 2014 FIFA World Cup from June 12 to July 13. Brazil will play the opening match on June 12 at the Corinthians Arena in Sao Paolo against Croatia. The final will take place at Maracana Stadium in Rio de Janeiro. Speaking to reporters in Yerevan, Brazil’s Ambassador to Armenia Edson Marinho Duarte Monteiro said all 12 stadiums will be reconstructed according to FIFA standads.

Forty-eight countries will participate in FIFA World Cup, and Brazil’s Ambassador regrets Armenia will not be among them.

“I arrived in Yerevan just six months ago, when the qualification round was under way. I still can’t understand why you didn’t beat Denmark. Please, note that 2018 FIFA World Cup will take place in Moscow, which is not far from Yerevan. Therefore, I hope you’ll qualify for the next World Cup,” the Ambassador said.

“We are proud to host the 2014 World Cup. Everyone knows that Brazil is a country of football,” he said. Asked whether Brazil will be able to guarantee security, the Ambassador said a special commission has been set up to address security issues.

The pontiff will be greeted by some two million young people from all over the world at the Roman Catholic World Youth Day festival in Rio de Janeiro, reports BBC.

The first Latin American Pope will also celebrate Mass on the famous Copacabana beach and visit shanty towns.

Some 22,000 security staff will be on duty during the visit of the Pope, who is not using his armoured Popemobile.

Ahead of his week-long trip, the 76-year-old Pope from Argentina called on his followers to join him spiritually on his journey through prayer.

The pontiff is due to arrive in Brazil – the world’s most populous Catholic country – later on Monday, and huge crowds are expected to greet him at Rio airport.

The Vatican says it has full confidence in the ability of Brazilian security forces to protect the pontiff during his visit.

The President praised activities of the Ambassador and her personal input to the strengthening of the Armenian-Brazilian relations and noted that during her tenure in office the agenda of the bilateral relations has been augmented with new programs and initiatives. Serzh Sargsyan expressed hope that the next ambassador of Brazil to our country will be carrying out duties with the same vigor and dedication for the benefit of the Armenian-Brazilian friendship. The President of Armenia wished all the best to the Ambassador in her future activities and expressed hope that she will remain Armenia’s friend and will put her rich experience and knowledge into further strengthening of the Armenian-Brazilian relations.

The Ambassador of Brazil spoke with satisfaction about the efficient cooperation with the friendly Armenia in the framework of international organizations. In strengthening the Armenian-Brazilian relations, Mrs. Marcela Maria Nikodemus hailed the role of the Armenian-Brazilian community which according to the Ambassador has made a significant and serious contribution to the advancement of Brazil.

The parties stressed the importance of deepening bilateral economic relations based on the high-level political dialogue and friendship of the two nations.