A friendly tournament will be taking place between the 12th and 24th of June at the Broadcaster’s facilities in Manchester, with England facing their FIFA World Cup opponents
Bringing the beach to the heart of Manchester… And making Quay Street look like Copacabana. That’s ITV’s objective with the ITV Fever Pitch taking place at the network’s facilities during the FIFA Wolrd Cup 2014. And what a better way to do so than bringing one of the most eye-catching spectacles one can ever see while walking along the Brazilian promenade: Beach Soccer!
Beach Soccer Worldwide, in collaboration with Sportcel, will set up a top-flight tournament, paralleling 11-a-side England’s matches in Brazil and bringing them to the sand. The Three Lions will be competing in 3 games against Italy and both Uruguay and Costa Rica, their contenders in the group stage on the grass during those days. They will also play 2 extra games against arch rivals Germany, making it 13 non-stop days with beach soccer. The third match against Italy will kick off as close to the actual World Cup equivalent match in Brazil as possible, and the same will happen for the third game against Uruguay and Costa Rica.
Also, Women Beach Soccer will also be a main protagonist on the grand stage, as the England Ladies national team will play their first ever international Beach Soccer game in the stadium during the group stage as well. The experienced Swiss National side will be their first challenge.
The former car park at Granada’s old HQ on Quay Street will be transformed into a fan park, with a state-of-the-art beach soccer stadium at the heart of it. The venue will be complete with huge screens to watch World Cup matches.
So, throughout the group stages in Brazil, fans will be able to watch professional international Beach Soccer between some of the world’s best teams, and then settle back on the sand and watch the best of the action live from Brazil 2014. In addition to the beach soccer stadium, there will be The ‘Little Copacabana’ beach area, offering fans the chance to enjoy the atmosphere and relax before games.
pic by ITV.com
