World Cup Preview: Brazil vs Croatia

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The World Cup is finally here and the opening match on Thursday will hopefully offer plenty to see.

With the hosts being one of the favourites to win the tournament, they will be turning on the Brazil flare and excitement to get the world cheering.

It is likely that Brazil are going to start with the same eleven that started in four of the five games that they played in the Confederations Cup last year. With Hulk in an attacking midfield position, he will offer power and great link up play, hoping to help break the Croatian’s down. Hulk offers a great presence on the field and with Neymar on the field, he is the one player who could really make the difference. The world is watching and the Brazilians are expected to turn on the magic, which is traditional of the Selecao sides.

Croatia on the other hand have selection problems and Danijel Pranjic is unlikely to make a start after damaging an ankle in a warm-up friendly. The defender joins an ever increasing list of injuries with the left-back Ivan Strinic being on the touchline.

The Hull City forward Nikica Jelavic is more than likely to start up front off the back of scoring the only goal of the game against Australia. Croatia are also missing Mario Mandzukic, who is suspended after being sent off in the play-off.

Croatia do have the potential to cause an upset, as they are a hard team to play against. They will have Luka Modric in midfield, who has experience of playing in big games with big players. If he can boss the midfield and control the game for Croatia then he could really be the difference.

Brazil have a stronger squad and more players to pick from, but this is the World Cup. However, bear in mind that Brazil has never lost an opening game.

Mwanasports prediction: Brazil 3 – Croatia 0