Today the world stops! No not because the Heat take on the Spurs in game four....Or the U.S. Open golf tournament is taking place....or because the Rangers won a game in the Stanley Cup Finals. No! Today the world stops because Brazil kick-off the biggest tournament known to man. The World Cup and all its glory gets underway today. The host nation Brazil will be taking on the Croatians. The World Cup isnt just about the players. Its about national pride, friendship, and competition. Every person around the world will be watching, closely, hoping and praying their team has what it takes to win it all. In Brazil, though, not everything is peaches and roses. Airport workers in Rio are striking, police are clashing with protesters, and soccer pitches arent quite ready for the slate of games heading there way. Nevertheless today will be a joyous occasion...for Brazilians that is. The opening ceremonies will take place before kick-off....and sorry folks J-Lo wont be there, that in itself is quite unfortunate. But forget all the pre-game hoopla. Lets get to the real thing. Brazil vs Croatia to open the tournament. Brazil are the heavy favourites, they are expected to win the tournament on home soil. The pressure for these guys to preform is immense. Neymar will never feel as much pressure as he will during this tournament. Julio Cesar will need to be his old Inter Milan self between the pipes. Captain Thiago Silva will have to be the best defender in the world during this tournament. If everything goes right, Brazil will be crowned champions. If the pressure, and the bright lights gets to them, then....well they wont win and thats obviously stating the obvious. A whole nation rests on the shoulders of the 23-men slated to represent Brazil. In the midfield, Luiz Felipe Scolari has a ton of options to choose from. Chelsea trio Oscar, Willian, and Ramires, while Tottenhams Paulinho who had a breakthrough Confederations cup in 2013 is another strong option. Defensively Dani Alves and Marcelo will be counted on to help provide width down the flank with overlapping runs with Hulk and Neymar. Hoping to create chances for Jo or Fred in front of goal. Croatia on the other hand is coming in with no expectations. A draw would be a huge coup, but a win would be even bigger. Luka Modric and Ivan Rakitic are two in-form players for their respective clubs and will be hoping that this will be a coming out party. Even though Croatia were drawn into a tough group with El Tri(Mexico) and Cameroon they have a strong chance at advancing through to the knockout stages. Ivica Olic will be hoping to create a few chances against Brazil as he will take over the starting role from Mario Mandzukic who is serving a suspension. When Mandzukic does draw back in, he will be hoping to link up with Rakitic and Modric in an effort to score some goals. Croatian captain Darjo Srna will have to make sure all the defenders are in order against a potent Brazil attack. Man marking and offside traps will have to ever present in order to keep the likes of Neymar, Hulk, Fred, Jo, and Paulinho from putting the ball into the back of the net. Even with all the pressure Brazil should find no problem winning this game. Neymar will put on a show and prove to the world that he is in fact one of the top players in the world.
Posted on: Thu, 12 Jun 2014 15:55:28 +0000
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