Usain Bolt tips Brazil to win 2014 football World Cup

The Jamaican flag has become synonymous with athletic events. Ask the world's fastest man and he will tell you that the Brazilian flag may similarly fly high in the next football World Cup.

An avid soccer fan, Usain Bolt was at the FIFA headquarters in Zurich on Wednesday where he said he expects hosts Brazil to triumph in the 2014 edition of the World Cup.

"I've been watching a few matches this year and I'm impressed by Brazil," he said when asked to pick his favourite. "They have a young team and can win it at home."

While Jamaica will always be his absolute favourite, Bolt admitted that developing football in island nation is not the same as competing in track and field events.

"There is a lot of talent in Jamaica, natural talent just like in athletics. It's important to try to teach (Jamaican players) skills though. Football is more difficult and it takes a lot more time (to develop) than in athletics, but if we are getting the young guys and teaching them properly, it would be great."

A self-confessed football fanatic, Bolt - the man known world over for running 100 meters in just 9.58 seconds - said that it was an honour for him to be at the FIFA headquarters and that seeing the World Cup trophy for the first time was an outstanding experience. "For me, it's an honour to be here. I follow football and I saw the World Cup Trophy for the first time."

So, is football his next calling? Perhaps, but for now, the 27-year-old champion sprinter just wants to emulate sporting legends in other fields. "I would like to become a legend like Pele, Maradona, Muhammad Ali or Michael Johnson," he said.

With the fastest and second fastest times in 100 meter racing, an average speed of 37.58 km/h, as many as six Olympic gold medals and a recent photograph of him racing in Moscow against a backdrop of lightening going viral on the internet, Usain St Leo Bolt is surely on the fast-track to reaching where his heroes are.

As for football, expect him to wave the Brazilian flag with as much intensity during the World Cup as he displays while setting tracks on fire with his speed.