2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil™ Official Book
5. The Costa-Rican side had to make a change in their squad, as the injured Heiner Mora of Saprissa was substituted by Dave Myrie of Herediano.
4. The strikes in Sao Paolo made the teams of Belgium and USA to cancel the
friendly match between the two World Cup participants. This was meant to be the last preparation of the teams for their first matches. But hopefully the strikes will affect only friendly matches, and not any of the 64.
3. The stadium of Manaus, to host the clash between England and Italy on Saturday, looks too dry to be able to host a football match within three days. The England camp is worried, and they will keep on sending inspectors to evaluate the process of preparing the pitch to the match. This is how it looks now.
2. Croatia has arrived to its 4th World Cup, after missing the previous edition of the tournament. The team coach Niko Kovac has got everything to hope for successful results, at least in the group stage. Dropping experienced Simunic and Krancjar, Kovac will hope for a team consisting of plenty of start of European calibre. The 35-year-old Pletikosa will probably be Croatia’s main goalkeeper for the tournament, defenders Srna, Pranjic and Lovren will work behind superstars Luka Modric and Ivan Rakitic, while the front will normally consist of Mario Mandzukic and Nikita Jelavic, although the Bayern-star will not take part in th opner due to a disqualification. Ivica Olic and two Croatian Brazilians Sammir and Eduardo are ready to do it for the Balkan team. The player to watch is going to be the 20-year-old youngster from Inter, Mateo Kovacic, who might not start, but has surely got the talent for a great breakthrough.
1. It is not too easy to be a Brazilian national team player nowadays. Anything other than victory will be a tragedy, while the win can be considered as business usual. Luiz Felipe Scolari, compared to his players, has already got such an experience, when his team won the gold medals 12 years ago. Despite leaving legendary players like Kaka, Robinho and Ronaldinho away from the World Cup, Scolari still has got a team full of football giants. Thiago Silva, Dante, David Luiz, Marcelo and Dani Alves are some of the defenders of the hosts – indicating one of the strongest Brazilian defences of all time. Oscar, Hulk, Fred and, of course, Neymar, will be on the opposite side of the pitch. The country has won the World Cup 5 times since 1950, when the tournament took place in Brazil for the first time, but the defeat in the final of that tournament 64 years ago was never forgotten. This World Cup means too much for Brazil. This is why Scolari said the following during his last press-conference before the historical opener: “The time has come. This is our World Cup.”The Official 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil™ Fact File
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