On Thursday, June 12 every soccer lover on the planet needs to be glued to their television sets to witness the World Cup opener between home nation Brazil and Croatia. For Brazil, the match will be the first World Cup match on home soil since 1950. That tournament saw their neighbor, Uruguay, upset Brazil in the final on their own soil. This year, Selecao will seek to avenge that defeat 64 years ago.
Brazil is the overwhelming favorite this year to win the World Cup so in this opening match they will have to set the tone. It is absolutely crucial for Neymar and the rest of the Samba superstars to dazzle at home in Sao Paulo, in what is sure to be a loud and raucous crowd in the newly built Arena Corinthians stadium. Brazil assistant coach Carlos Alberto Parreira knows the importance of getting off to a good start in the World Cup, stating, “The opening game generates enormous pressure. Win the first match and you are well on the way to making it through.”
The breaths of the host nation were collectively held earlier this week on Tuesday when it had appeared that the Brazilian superstar, Neymar had injured his ankle after awkwardly falling during a training session. Thankfully after being attended to by medical staff, Neymar was back running with his teammates and is expected to be fully fit for the opener vs. Croatia.
As for Croatia, Coach Niko Kovac has some injury concerns of his own. Firstly, Croatian striker, Mario Mandzukic is suspended for the match. Secondly, Croatia will also be without Danijel Pranjic who suffered a nasty ankle injury in a warm up match vs. Australia. Croatian defender, Ivan Strinic is also supposed to be on the sidelines for the opener. With all the injuries to Croatia you would think the Croatians would be looking ahead to their second group A matchup against Cameroon on June 18, but coach Kovac believes his team can win despite the injures and thinks all the pressure is on the Brazilians, “It is a pressure for the host which could be to our advantage.” He told the press ahead of Thursday’s opener. “Croatia never parked the bus against anyone and we won’t start doing that now.”
Despite the added pressure of performing well in front of their home crowd, history stands on the side of Brazil. The host nation has never lost an opening match in the World Cup. Over the span of 80 years, the previous 20 World Cup hosts have won 14 openers and 6 were a draw. In 1950, Brazil opened the World Cup in Sao Paolo and defeated Mexico 4-0. Brazil has won eight of their last nine games in World Cup group play including a 1-0 defeat of Croatia in 2006.
Look for an excellent opening match to the 2014 World Cup. Croatia struggles on defense and the Samba superstars of Neymar, Fred, Oscar and Hulk are sure to find the back of the net. The game is set to kick off at 4 p.m. (EST) and can be seen on ESPN. Univision and ESPN3.com.
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