Let the games commence
There’s been a lot of speculation and waiting but finally on Thursday night the first match of the 2014 World Cup kicks off when Brazil, the hosts, take on Croatia. This means that the office sweepstakes around the world are being drawn.
The main contenders
But who are the best teams to draw? Undoubtedly, the team who most think have the best chance of winning is Brazil: home advantage, five times past winners, star players throughout their team … How could they possibly fail to win it? Too much pressure maybe? It was probably too much pressure which cost Brazil the World Cup when they last hosted it in 1950 and were similarly favourites to win it.
Argentina are second favourites. As well as the best player in the world with Messi, Argentina have many other talented players, and are tipped by many to win their third World Cup. They’ve certainly got the attacking players but do they have the defensive players?
Germany and Spain are joint third favourites. Germany are nearly always in the final stages of any tournament they play in, and always seem to be able to raise their game for the big events.
Big question: can Spain defend their title and win their fourth consecutive tournament title? Victory here would make them indisputably the best international team ever. They have proven experience of winning when it matters and their style of play suits conditions in hot and humid Brazil. However, key individuals in the team are possibly past their best, and teams are beginning to find ways past the tiki-taka methods.
There are plenty of teams with chances beyond these four – Italy, Netherlands, England, France, and Portugal have all got good World Cup records. However, European teams have never won one of the seven previous World Cups on the American continent. So, Uruguay and Chile could be good teams to get in the office sweepstake too.
The first matches
Over the next seven days, all 32 teams will play their first matches of the group phase. Here’s the list from Thursday to Tuesday:
Thursday 12 June
Brazil vs Croatia
Friday 13 June
Mexico vs Cameroon
Spain vs Netherlands
Chile vs Australia
Saturday 14 June
Colombia vs Greece
Uruguay vs Costa Rica
England vs Italy
Sunday 15 June
Ivory Coast vs Japan
Switzerland vs Ecuador
France vs Honduras
Argentina vs Bosnia-Herze
Monday 16 June
Iran vs Nigeria
Germany vs Portugal
Ghana vs USA
Tuesday 17 June
Brazil vs Mexico
Belgium vs Algeria
Russia vs South Korea
The most interesting clashes look like being Spain vs Netherlands on Friday 13 June; England vs Italy late on Saturday in the Amazon jungle; and Germany vs Portugal on Monday 16 June.
Spain vs Netherlands
Things tend to get pretty ugly when Spain and Netherlands mix. The game on Friday is a replay of the Final four years ago which was a very fractious game, albeit with a positive outcome. Even outside of football the results of mixing Spanish and Dutch can get ugly – look at this clip of Dutch singer George Baker singing ‘Una Paloma Blanca’: music, clothes, hair, teeth and lip synching – I can’t imagine anything more ugly! In the 1970s the Dutch gave the world the aesthetic delights of Cruyff and total football but in the music world they burped up this mess and ‘The Smurf Song’. Let’s hope for something more appealing on Friday.
England vs Italy
England and Italy have met on several occasions before with Italy usually coming out on top. There have been reports in the English media about the poor state of the pitch in the stadium, which means that excuses for England’s defeat are already being made before they’ve begun. Manaus has to be one of the oddest places a World Cup match has been played – it is in the middle of the Amazon rain forest and is a very long way from any other cities. If anyone there wants a distraction from the football there is a spectacular Opera House. It might be the best place to see any drama as I predict a dull match as the heat and humidity saps energy from the players during the match.
That’s it for now – game on!