Thursday, 12 June 2014

BRAZIL V CROATIA: WORLD CUP 2014 MATCH PREVIEW




Read the full match preview including team news of all the World Cup MATCHES STILL TO COME on this blog www.adekeemmanuel.blogspot.com
 

Thursday, June 12, 2014 
BRAZIL Vs CROATIA
ARENA:         Corinthians, Sao Paulo
Kick-Off:         21.00 BST, 9P.M Nigerian Time
Brazil (Possible, 4-2-3-1): Cesar; Alves, Luiz, Silva, Marcelo; Gustavo, Paulinho; Hulk, Oscar, Neymar; Fred.
 Croatia (Possible, 4-2-3-1): Pletikosa; Srna, Lovren, Corluka, Pranjic; Vukojevic, Modric; Perisic, Rakitic, Kovacic; Olic.
Out: Mario Mandzukic (suspended).

TEAM NEWS
Brazil Manager Luiz Felipe Scolari should field a 4-2-3-1 formation for the tournament opener.
Croatia could suffer from the absence of Mario Mandzukic, who is suspended following his red card in the play-off game against Iceland back in November.
One man in their squad was born and bred in Brazil. Eduardo has played for Croatia for a long time, though he admitted recently he might even sing both national anthems.

Match Notes
So here it is! After years of build-up, and weeks of anticipation, Brazil begins the 2014 World Cup against underdogs who could still pull off a shock.
Granted, the Croats are not a patch on the team that boasted the likes of Davor Suker and Robert Prosinecki, but hosts do not always start well.
It is important Brazil score first and, possibly, early. Great attention will be focused on Neymar, the young man many compatriots believe could be the star of the World Cup.

Stat. of the game: In the build-up to the World Cup, Brazil averaged 2.58 goals per game, scoring two or more goals in 84 per cent of those matches.

“The most popular Brazilian team of the last 40 years was the 1982 Selecao of Socrates, Zico and Falcao. However, Tele Santana’s team did not reach the final. A dozen years later Brazil won the trophy on penalties after a sterile goalless draw.”

Luiz Felipe Scolari is no different. His 2002 winning team was more entertaining than expected given his club background at Palmeiras where he encouraged the art of tactical fouls. The current incarnation was encouragingly attack-minded in lifting the Confederations Cup last year.
In truth, a Brazil team playing at home has to go on the offensive, especially when an undercurrent of dissatisfaction with the whole FIFA shebang threatens to explode at any moment. Nevertheless, results matter as well as style and Scolari will ensure his side retains a defensive rigour.

Nominally playing 4-2-3-1, Brazil will usually look more like 2-3-2-3 with the full-backs pushing on and one of the wide players, usually Neymar, coming inside. Behind him Oscar, with his passing and movement, is likely to be as influential as Neymar, while Luiz Gustavo and Paulinho guard the defence.

This is, in fact, the XI that defeated Spain 3-0 to win the Confederations Cup last June, which shows how well-honed Scolari’s team should now be. That win was part of a run of 15 victories in 16 matches since being held 2-2 by England in the Maracana last summer.

Brazil should be confident and can be expected to start fast, pressing Croatia and looking for an early breakthrough to calm nerves and intimidate the Croatians. For their part Croatia should look to counter-attack into the space behind Brazil’s adventurous full-backs, and try to quieten the crowd. ‘Easier said than done, of course’

What can we expect from an opening game?
Probably not much, but you never know. The first World Cup started with two matches kicking off simultaneously, France’s Lucien Laurent scoring the first goal in a 4-1 win over Mexico. The next in 1934, began with an eight-match programme.

By 1938 there was an “opening game”, Switzerland v Germany, an odd choice since neither were hosts or holders. It was a 1-1 draw setting something of a trend for stalemates that reached a nadir between 1966 and 1978.  Four successive tournaments were launched with goalless draws, the sequence kicked off by England and Uruguay at Wembley.

More recently, they have been worth watching. Scotland gave Brazil a decent game in Paris in 1998 before losing 2-1, holders France were stunned by debutants Senegal in Seoul in 2002, and Germany beat Costa Rica  4-2 in Munich four years later. By then hosts were again kicking off the tournament rather than the holders, and the 2010 finals started with a lively 1-1 draw between South Africa and Mexico.
Perhaps the most dramatic start was in 1990 when rugged newcomers Cameroon shocked holders Argentina 1-0 despite being reduced to nine men. Argentina still reached the final.

How important is a team’s start?
Very important! There have been 10 World Cups in which the top two in a four-team group have progressed to the second stage without play-offs being involved (1962-1982 & 1998 onwards). Eighty per cent of teams winning that first game have qualified (68 out of 85), 85 per cent of teams losing that first game have not. Settle for a draw? Taking a point gives a team a 56 per cent chance of progress. Four years ago, however, Spain lost their opening game to Switzerland 1-0, but won the tournament while the Swiss went out at the group stage.

Is Brazil ready enough?
The sight of Sao Paulo’s stadium still undergoing safety tests is worrying. The appetite is whetted, anticipation is bubbling, but at the back of the mind there is concern. Eight workers have already died in stadia construction accidents. Whoever wins, whatever the football is like, it is to be fervently hoped there are no more deaths in Brazil directly related to the World Cup.

Referee: Yuichi Nishimura (Japan).
Japan’s Yuichi Nishimura has been assigned as the referee for the opening match of the 2014 FIFA World Cup™ between Brazil and Croatia on Thursday 12 June. He will be assisted by compatriots Toru Sagara and Toshiyuki Nagi, with Alireza Faghani of Iran designated as the fourth official.

Nishimura, 42, is set to become the third Japanese referee to have officiated at two World Cup finals after Shizuo Takada (1986 and 1990) and Toru Kamikawa (2002 and 2006). At South Africa 2010 he handled four matches, including the quarter-final encounter between the Netherlands and Brazil.

Since making his international refereeing debut in 2004, Nishimura has been assigned to numerous other finals tournaments: the FIFA U-17 World Cup 2007 (including the final between Spain and Nigeria), the FIFA U-20 World Cup 2009, the FIFA Club World Cup 2010 (including the final between TP Mazembe and Internazionale), the Olympic Football Tournament 2012 and two editions of the Asian Cup in 2007 and 2011. In addition, Nishimura was selected for the finals of the CAF Africa Cup of Nations 2008.
In 2012 Yuichi Nishimura was named AFC Men’s Referee of the Year.

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