FIFA named the World Cup 2014 Mascot as 'Fuleco'.
The mascot for 2014 football world cup has been named ‘Fuleco’ as announced by FIFA on Monday. In an online poll 1.7 million Brazilians chose ‘Fuleco’ for naming the mascot, a 3 branded armadillo. Armadillo being an endangered species in Brazil ‘Fuleco’ conveys the message of conservation of the species. Also Fuleco is a fusion of the words “futebol” (football) and “ecologia” (ecology). FIFA points out that the choice of the name shows how the Brazilians care for environment as much as they do for football.
“This clearly shows that Brazilians already recognize the significance of the armadillo as an important ambassador for the 2014 FIFA World Cup and his role in inspiring fans all over the world with his passion for the sport and his country,” FIFA said in a statement.
The mascot was chosen in September and in 12 host cities of Brazil huge inflatable forms of the Yellow and Blue armadillo were exhibited. But in 3 cities vandals attacked them and the authorities had to take them down. The mascot wears the colours of the Brazilian flag. The armadillo is yellow wearing green shorts and a blue shell and a white shirt with ‘Brazil 2014’ written on it. It is expected that ‘Fuleco’ will make an appearance this week at Sao Paulo at the draw for the 2013 Confederations Cup.
Interestingly, draw for the 2013 Confederations Cup has its own home page and twitter account. It tweeted – “Thanks Brazil! There were more than 1.700.000 votes. Now I have a name and it is Fuleco!”
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