Brazil and Argentina are two of football's most iconic names. But their preparations for the Women's World Cup in Australia and New Zealand have been wildly different. DW's Tom Gennoy went to find out why.
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00:00 It wasn't chance that brought Brazil to the Gold Coast.
00:04 The Selesau's base in Australia was chosen for its weather, its isolated location and
00:08 its world-class facilities.
00:10 It is the ideal springboard to a World Cup campaign.
00:14 We have planned this for a very long time and we went here pretty early actually if
00:20 you compare with a lot of other teams.
00:22 So we are very happy.
00:25 Last year, assistant coach Lily Pearson was part of the reconnaissance mission sent over
00:30 to Australia to scout hotels.
00:32 Trips like that are luxuries to which not every federation will stretch.
00:37 Whereas Brazil's squad flew to Australia in a chartered plane some three weeks ahead
00:41 of their first game, their old rivals Argentina had a different experience.
00:47 The last of their players only arrived in New Zealand on Thursday, just five days out
00:51 from their opener.
00:53 Not much time to recover from the inevitable jet lag.
00:57 Former Argentina keeper Gabby Garten is disappointed in her federation but far from surprised.
01:05 They couldn't fit all the players into business or first class so they sent them in three
01:10 different trips.
01:11 As a professional athlete and heading into the biggest competition that you'll probably
01:17 be a part of in your life, if you're not getting a good night's sleep before the game, it's
01:23 going to affect your performance.
01:25 These problems would be familiar to many teams at this World Cup.
01:30 The first rate conditions enjoyed by the Brazilian squad make them the outlier among South American
01:35 sides.
01:39 Argentina is much closer to the rest of South America than to the rest of the world, which
01:43 is crazy considering the amount of resources that they have coming in, especially following
01:49 winning the Men's World Cup.
01:52 The gulf between the pre-tournament programmes of these two neighbouring nations is, at least
01:57 in part, a reflection of the importance their federations ascribe to the women's game.
02:04 It also demonstrates the stratification of the sport, seen right across this year's competition,
02:10 where the gap between the haves and the have-nots seems wider than ever.
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