World Cup Preparation
A month before the start of the competition, the Brazilian national team took quarters in the small Swiss town of Weggis, at the Weggis Park Hotel. The objective was to get the team accustomed to Germany's climate while maintaining the focus on the competition. The preparation started on May 22 and ended on June 4.
During this time, the Brazilian team played two friendly matches. The first was on May 28, against the under-20 team of the Brazilian club Fluminense, which was in Europe to play a tournament and took a detour to Switzerland to meet and play the national team. This match ended with a score of 13 goals to 1 in favor of the national team . The second match was played against the state team of the Swiss Lucerne. The match took place in Basel, at the St. Jakob Stadion and was won by the Brazilian team with a score of 8 goals to nul .
For this period in Switzerland, the Brazilian Football Confederation sold the rights to explore the presence of the national team to a Swiss events enterprise. In exchange for the declared amount of 1.2 million United States dollars, the Swiss company was allowed to sell tickets for the practice sessions — which were sold at 40 euros each, for about 5 thousand people per session —, negotiate permissions for vending points to operate within the training facility and surrounding area — which were sold for about 2 thousand euros plus 10% of the profit — and to organize and explore the friendly matches that the national team was to play during its preparation in Switzerland.
On May 31, only 13 days away from the team's debut in the World Cup, defender Edmílson was cut due to a knee injury that had manifested during the practice session the day before. São Paulo's Mineiro was called to take his place.
Upon leaving Weggis, on June 4, the national team made a stop in Geneva, on June 5, to play its last friendly match before going to Germany. There, the team played New Zealand, at the Stade de Genève (refereed by Jerome Laperriere) which it defeated with a score of 4 goals to nul .
Finally, the team went to a German town named Königstein im Taunus, which invested the declared amount of 500 thousand euros in order to prepare for receiving the Brazilian team.
Read more about this topic: Brazil At The 2006 FIFA World Cup
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