Maria Soledad Lorenzino/Multimedia Editor
On June 12, soccer fans from all over the world will cheer as the 2014 World Cup begins.
Host country Brazil will play against Croatia in the first game, and students at the Biscayne Bay Campus are invited watch the historic game at a kick-off party.
The 2014 World Cup Kick-Off is a collaboration between the BBC Futbol Club, the Comics Club, the Wine to Water club, the International Students Club, the Office of International Students & Scholar Services, the Student Government Association and the Recreation Center at BBC.
“Soccer is the number one sport in the world. We want students to feel the passion of the sport,” said Fernando Ottati, advisor of the Comics Club.
Ottati encourages students to wear their national team’s colors and bring their Panini World Cup sticker books to trade stickers.
There will also be food, music, giveaways, a bracket prediction challenge and a few surprises, according to the BBC Futbol club advisor Steven James.
The event will take place from 2 p.m to 6 p.m in WUC 221.
The Panini World Cup sticker books are for many students an essential part of the World Cup.
“Ever since I was a kid I used to watch my father play soccer and then one year he showed me the world cup album in ’02 and ever since then I started collecting them,” said David Schiumerini, a junior in computer science.
On June 2, Schiumerini and several other students attended a sticker trading day in AC II hosted by the BBC Futbol Club, the Comics Club, the Wine to Water club, and the International Students Club.
Along with sticker trading, students received gifts from the organizations and met special guest Jorge Ottati, a sports announcer for beIN SPORTS.
The organizations also plan to have games playing in the Wolfe University Center throughout the World Cup, and to show both semifinals on July 8 and 9 in WUC 221 at 4 p.m.