The grand opening ceremony of the FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup Azerbaijan-2012 was held at the Republican stadium named after Tofig Bahramov in Baku.
President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, his wife Mehriban Aliyeva and President of FIFA Joseph Blatter attended the ceremony as the honourable guests.
At the ceremony the world-famous “Cirque du Soleil” performed their show specially prepared for the World Cup.
Acrobats, dancers and local volunteers taking part in the show performed athletic, football and cultural components that were correlating with ancient Azerbaijani traditions. The composition was accompanied with the music specially composed for the show including elements of Azerbaijani national musical traditions and typical for the “Cirque du Soleil” shows.
The following magnificent performance of world-famous singer Jennifer Lopez warmed up the festive mood of the football fans.
Then national Azerbaijani and Columbian teams of female players aged under 17 came to the football pitch.
President Ilham Aliyev and President of FIFA Joseph Blatter congratulated and wished success to the players of the teams and referees.
Shortly after the anthems of Azerbaijan and Columbia were played out, the game started.
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