World Cup fever is something that does not require any special effort to get carried away. This is one time that unifies people around the world promoting the sporting and indomitable human spirit. The World Cup in Asia was one of the largest occasions in the world cup history. It led to a huge fanfare, especially for the first World Cup in Asia. The opening ceremony witnessed one of the startling performance ever with scintillating fireworks adorning the night sky. It all happened in one of the largest soccer-only stadium in Asia that was constructed resembling a traditional octagonal dining table. The World Cup in Asia began with musical, cultural and visual feast. This was followed by the main course which saw the defending World Cup champions, France coming face o face with Senegal in the opener of soccer's 32-team championship tournament.
The governing body FIFA, decided to entrust the premier competition to both countries concurrently. This was one of the most rare decisions even made by the highest authority of the organizing committee of the world cup. So the Seoul World Cup Stadium was filled beyond capacity of 65,854 and inaugurated first World Cup in Asia. South Korea had the advantage of the whole stage for the opening ceremony. There was even a lead off match and a month long tournament Japan which was considered a former enemy. The two nations co-hosting the World Cup finals also happened for the first time. After national anthems rang out, opening remarks by FIFA's President, Sepp Blatter filled the stadium. This was followed by a short greeting by Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi. This was followed by a declaration from Korean President Kim Dae Jung that officially opened World Cup 2002.
There were all together about 1,000 international heads of state and dignitaries who came to witness the grand celebration "From the East," a production and arrangement that featured 2,300 artists and performers and also over thousands of lightweight souvenir soccer balls. It said that these balls were scattered among the crowd as the flags of the 32 qualifying nations were spread around the stadium perimeter. It is also interesting to note that Seoul's stadium was constructed specifically for the World Cup in Asia. The production or the arrangement format comprised of four parts: Welcoming, Communication, Harmony and Sharing. It was estimated that the occasion would have huge sponsorship and as predicted the television audience of 42 billion people followed the World Cup. It is also important to mention that 3.5 million attended matches in the two host countries. What even needs to be remembered is that the youth oriented theme became hugely popular with the fans and had great significance too. cupsoftheworld.com informs you about World Cup in Asia, to know more about other aspects do keep browsing the pages of the site!
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