W C Special 6 : The Opener
The anticipation mounts. On Friday at 4 am we can watch live on TV in bars and cafes in China, Brazil kickoff the World Cup 2014 from Arena de Sao Paulo against Croatia. I will be up for it! The result has to be a good win for Brazil. While there is the old saying that "3 points is 3 points", the fans will expect goals and in my two games in a stadium watching Brazil they treated me to 4 goals each time. Surely there will be a few this time too.
The stadium in San Paulo will be full at 65,000 fans, overwhelmingly Brazilian for the opener.
The history of games in the World Cup for Brazil v Croatia is short. One game in Germany in 2006 where Brazil edged it 1-0. However the current Croatia team is not as strong as a decade ago and Brazil seems as strong as ever. On their own patch, it will be more comfortable. Indeed, NEVER in the history of the World Cup has the host nation lost the opening game, and only 6 times has the result been a draw. Although Brazil has not had the competitive honing of their match readiness by qualifying games, they did have last season's Confederation Cup where they hammered Spain 3-0, with two goals from Fred and 1 from Neymar. A similar team will surely start on Friday, with Oscar or Willian competing for the slot behind the front strikers.
Both teams can ultimately progress in the tournament
Does this mean the Croatia will be looking at an early exit from the World Cup? No, because Brazil can go on to beat all the Group A rivals and create a level playing field for the 2nd spot going forward to round of 16. There is not much to choose between Mexico (who struggled to qualify) and Cameroon (whose players were threatening not to come unless bonuses owed were paid) and Croatia. However, the European side have a new coach, Niko Kovac, who is undefeated in 5 games in charge with three wins. They might just sneak into that runner up place in the group and it probably rests on the result of the Mexico v Croatia game.
Well, that is how it all looks on paper. However, as has been famously said : Football is not played on paper!
We enter the fantasy world of the World Cup and a great escape from daily life. Yet reality is all around us. Sadly, Brazilian Coach Big Phil Scolari lost his nephew to a car crash this week after losing his brother-in-law last month. Yet he will be focused on the job in hand. The local transport workers have suspended their strike and it is game on!
By ColinSpeakman
International Educator, Economist, goal of helping to increase understanding of China by the West
(Opinions of the writer in this blog don't represent those of China Daily.)
