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Enlarge PhotoBrazil's national soccer player Kaka (R) walks with fellow players and officials on the tarmac... Brazil, one of the favourites to win the World Cup, will play a warm-up match against Zimbabwe on June 2 in Harare, the Brazilian ambassador said on Thursday.Raul de Taunay told reporters Zimbabwe's proximity to South Africa, which hosts the month-long finals from June 11, was the major factor in Brazil's decision.
"Zimbabwe was chosen because of its technicality and being close to Johannesburg," he said. "I want to congratulate Brazil for taking such as decision."
At nearly 1,500 metres above sea level, Harare is a similar altitude to South Africa's highveldt region that will host a number of games, including the final in Johannesburg.
Zimbabwe's Tourism Minister Walter Muzembi said the Brazil game could be a major boost for tourism, which had suffered for a decade due to a long political and economic crisis.
Zimbabwe, ranked 110th in the world, was meant to play North Korea in a pre-World Cup friendly but the game was scrapped last month after protests over North Korea's role in training an army unit accused of killing thousands of people in the 1980s.
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