The BRIC nations were the ones tagged to drag the globe out of economic despair. But, as the world struggles to recover from the credit boom and bust, they too are stumbling.
Rio de Janeiro's Maracana Stadium was packed to the rafters: 200,000 expectant spectators prepared to celebrate Brazil's first World Cup triumph and its arrival as a football superpower. But what happened next has left a burning scar in the nation's psyche.