In one weeks’ time it all begins… and ends. As Brazil 2014 kicks off, I will crawl into my World Cup cocoon and remain there for the next month, putting my life on hold, absorbed by the greatest show on Earth. I cannot wait to discover what the memorable moments this tournament will produce. Obviously we won’t know the answer for some time, but we can certainly prognosticate. Here’s some thoughts circulating through my mind this week, but which will hold true and be one of the defining elements of this tournament?
• Neymar. Sure it’s a little obvious, but I believe in years to come when reminiscing, we will think of Neymar the same way we think of Pele, Maradona, Rossi, Matthaus, Ronaldo, Zidane, Iniesta and Cannavaro. He will emerge as the face of this World Cup.
• Diving. Wait right there. Chill. It is not what you think. Over recent years I have been on this anti-diving crusade, and have taken much abuse throughout tournaments when pointing my finger at those guilty of this scourge. I have changed my stance in recent times; it is a battle I cannot win. I have to admit that the line between a dive and a foul is usually so small that no one can definitively judge. Therefore I will not allow it to smear my enjoyment this time around. Embellishment however? Yes, that can smear my enjoyment and likely will, especially when those theatrics are singled out on newsreels rather than all the brilliance around them.
• Underdogs. It is incredible how some real world-class performers are sliding into this World Cup well and truly under the radar. I have filled out my bracket (forgive the very non-football parlance) and have decided that Brazil will meet Argentina in the final on July 13th. Sure, I could have gone a different route, thrown in an Italy or a Germany for fun, but I’ve gone with my head on this one. Therefore the aforementioned Neymar and Messi will dominate all discussion throughout. This brings me to those ‘under the radar’ types. With Neymar and Fred likely attracting the attentions defenders, I expect to see Hulk emerge from being Brazil’s forgotten man, to perhaps being its top scorer. And seeing how brilliant he was for Real Madrid this season, living in the shadow of CR7 and Gareth Bale, who is to say that Angel Di Maria can’t fill a similar role for Argentina?
• Cristiano Ronaldo vs Lionel Messi. As I recently opined in this space, Ronaldo enters this World Cup as the best player in the world, but can he lift an already really good Portugal into being a real contender? I have Argentina beating Portugal in the quarterfinals, and for that to happen Leo Messi must be Leo Messi. Has he been holding back since his injury, in preparation for this tournament? I doubt he is able to simply turn off, but that being said if Messi is like a coiled snake about to strike, this (hypothetical) quarterfinal could well stand the company of Borg vs Connors, Gallagher vs Albarn or—dare I say it?—Davis vs Higgins. (Top marks if you get that last one.)
• The meltdown. Every World Cup at least one team falls apart utterly, or at least endures a major controversy. So who will it be? France and the Netherlands are always good bets, but that’s a little easy. How about the USA? No one is pickling Jurgen Klinsmann’s side to advance from Group G (aside from Jurgen Klinsmann, of course) but a loss to Ghana in its opening match will end any hope of a surprise. We will see just how tightly knit this squad is, and how loyal to the German they are. If not the USA, surely Belgium is odds on? As for controversy? Perhaps we’ll only see it on the field, and for some reason my gut tells me Mexico vs Croatia might get a little out of hand.
Again, these are just some thoughts cropping up in the depths of my mind this week. There will be more in the coming days as we approach kickoff, and I’ll be happy to share them with you.