Rousseff gets election kick out of World Cup

[BRASILIA] Brazil's national team must still win two games to make it to the World Cup final. But President Dilma Rousseff has already won, scoring ahead of October's elections as the tournament so far has the whiff of success.

Protests that last year torpedoed Ms Rousseff's popularity have largely vanished. Brazil's airports, stadiums and security forces, contrary to widespread concerns, have lived up to the challenge. Discontent with cost overruns in the run-up to the games, exacerbated by bus, subway and police strikes, have given way to excitement over a tourney that has already seen more goals scored than in the 2010 cup.

The change in mood regarding the event that soccer-crazed Brazil awaited for seven years is a lifeline for Ms Rousseff, whose popularity had plummeted 27 percentage points in June from a year earlier. A slide of her approval ratings fuelled speculation that the opposition would regain power after 12 years.