Preview: Brazil-Croatia 2014 World Cup Opener

MANILA, Philippines – When Brazil kicks off its World Cup campaign against Croatia in Sao Paulo, the entire world will be watching.

By virtue of their 2013 Confederations Cup victory and their being the hosts, the Selecao are massive favorites to annex their sixth World Cup trophy and snatch it from the hands and feet of Spain, which has pretty much won everything in sight in the last several years.

If Brazil crushes Croatia, it will send a strong message that Felipe Luiz Scolari’s eleven are every bit the machine that went 16-4-2 (including all five home matches in the Confed Cup) when he took over in November 2012.

In those 22 matches, Brazil was dominant in the first half, outscoring foes 24-1. In the second half, they did even better offense-wise by finding the back of the net 35 times although they gave up 12 goals.

If Felipao’s men score first their confidence skies.

If Brazil draws or worse, loses, the pressure will mount.

As if it is a burden already.

While England may have invented football and Spain may be the current rules of the sport, the beautiful game will always synonymous with Brazil.

There will only be four players in the squad that was rudely sent packing by the Netherlands in the quarterfinals in South Africa. That’s goalkeeper Julio Cesar, defenders, Thiago Silva and Dani Alves as well as forward, Fred.

The squad is almost entirely new although composed of players who led the Selecao to the Confederations Cup over Spain last year. But that will be an unacceptable excuse for a side that is so used to winning.

Incredibly, this most populous country is relying on a young man who is only 22 years of age to channel Tostao, Bebeto, Jairzinho, Garrincha, Romario, Ronaldo, and Pele – Neymar da Silva Santos Jr.

Neymar has had the Confed Cup and a season at La Liga with Barcelona to prepare him for football’s biggest stage. But he won’t have to do it alone as he’s got a virtual who’s who in football backing him up.

If Felipao sticks to his Confed Cup eleven, then it’s going to look like this (4-2-3-1):

Fred

Neymar    Oscar    Hulk

Gutavo    Paulinho

Marcelo                Dani Alves

David Luiz     Thiago Silva

Julio Cesar

It is a young and talented but wholly inexperienced side that Felipe Scolari will parade at Sao Paulo against Croatia (who can give them a run for their money in terms of big game experience).

Under Scolari, the Selecao have become more attack minded with the link up from Gustavo to Oscar to either Fred or Neymar as their bread and butter nine goals between the two in the Confed Cup). They like to quicken the pace and catch opposing teams off guard. But should a pass be picked off, anyone trying to sneak in a goal in the counter will find their paths blocked by some all-world defenders in Dani Alves, Thiago Silva and David Luiz.

The Vatreni are a very inconsistent side. They are 8-3-4 since last season and sorely lacking in international experience. They will need to draw terrific performances from midfielders Luka Modric and Ivan Rakitic and forward Mario Mandzukic to really compete. The three form a triangle from the midfield to the forward position and are arguably some of the best in the world.

Mandzukic

Rebic    Kovacic    Olic

Rakitic    Modric

Pranjic     Srna

Corluka    Lovren

Pletikosa

If head coach Niko Kovac can get his side to play great defense and then trio of stars get going they could be tough and inspire images of those great 1990s runs in Europe and the World Cup. The Croats cannot be tentative and wait to hit Brazil on the counter. They will have to work hard defensively and push that ball. If they allow Brazil to dictate the pace of the match, they will be in for a long evening.

However, when Croatia gets on a roll, they do well. Conversely, when they plunge into defeat they slide real hard losing consecutive matches; something that is akin to the kiss of death in the World Cup. How is this team’s confidence heading into the World Cup?

Said Kovac, “Second place is wide open.”

So much for confidence.

Look for Brazil to destroy Croatia in this World Cup opener.