Chapter 287 The World Cup officially begins, a reenactment of the final, Spain VS Netherlands!

The Spanish Football Association's protest achieved a certain effect. With the intervention of FIFA, the Brazilians had to restrain themselves and sent people to disperse the Brazilian fans who were making trouble outside.

However, this incident caused a rift between the fans of the two countries.

"Aren't the Brazilians too classy? As the host, you can't afford to lose if you engage in such an unexpected move?"

"Haha, we haven't even met them yet, and they've already done these dirty things. If we really meet them in the knockout stage, then they still have to send people with guns to attack all our players?"

"Don't tell me, I really think we can't rule out this possibility!"

"That's right, given the security situation in the slums of Brazil, it's entirely possible to bribe a few gunmen to cause such a terrorist attack!"

"Why are you getting more and more scary the more you talk about it? Such an outrageous thing shouldn't happen, right?"

"Who knows, it's such a mess here, it's not surprising what happens!"

This matter was discussed very hotly on the Internet and had a bad impact on this World Cup.

Brazilians hope to use this World Cup to improve their country's image, attract tourists to travel, and thus boost their economy.

If such negative news prevents tourists from coming and even damages the image of the country, then it will be totally worth the loss.

As a result, their police department had to come forward urgently and stated that they would strictly protect the life safety of the players attending the Brazil World Cup and would not subject them to any threats.

However, Spain still seems to be distrustful of the Brazilian's statement.

Del Bosque issued a ban on the players, telling them not to run around casually. Even if they want to go shopping, they cannot move alone, let alone go to places with poor public security.

In fact, the security situation in Brazil is not that bad. In the wealthy areas, the police have sufficient manpower and patrols are very intensive, so the security situation is not too bad.

But in the slums, things are completely different.

Fortunately, the Spanish players are not here to travel. They usually train and compete, so they don't have much free time.

With the enemy in front of them, they had no intention of going out for fun.

Time flies by quickly, and in a blink of an eye it’s the opening game of this World Cup.

As usual, Brazil, the host nation, will take the lead.

The opponent they will face is the Croatian team from the Balkans.

The Brazilian team is not only the host of this World Cup, but also the favorite to win the championship.

Their opponent, Croatia, is not a traditional strong team. Among many strong teams in Europe, it is probably only ranked third-rate.

Therefore, in the predictions of all parties before the game, the outside world is more optimistic about the Brazilian team winning at home.

Since the Group B match will only start tomorrow, Del Bosque asked the players to watch the opening game collectively.

At 5 o'clock in the afternoon on June 12, the opening match of the 20th World Cup started at the Corinthians Stadium in Sao Paulo.

The popularity of this game was so high that more than 80,000 people were squeezed into the stadium that can accommodate 75,000 people, many of whom were Brazilian fans without tickets.

Looking around, the scene is almost a sea of ​​green.

The morale of the Brazilians was very high. With the cheers of more than 80,000 fans at home, they launched a fierce attack on Croatia after the opening game.

As the favorite to win the championship, Brazil's opponent is just a little-known underdog. Isn't this kind of game a sure thing?

However, the course of the game exceeded everyone's expectations.

Croatia turned away and threatened Brazil's goal twice in the 4th and 6th minutes.

It's a pity that their forwards failed to seize the opportunity and convert it into goals.

However, Croatia's attack paid off.

In the 11th minute of the first half, Croatia sent a cross from the left. Brazil's full-back Marcelo accidentally scored an own goal and sent the ball into his own goal.

The score became 0:1, and the Brazilian team fell behind shortly after the start!

This goal is the first own goal scored by the Brazilian team in 98 World Cup games. It is also the first time in the history of the World Cup that the first goal is an own goal.

Marcelo accidentally set two records!

Seeing their own player score an own goal, the Brazilian fans at the scene were in an uproar.

The Croatian players were also a little confused. It was just a cross that didn't pose much of a threat.

The result was turned into a goal by the opponent's defender. Can we overthrow the powerful host in the away game?

Affected by this, the morale of the Croatian players was greatly boosted.

They played more proactively in subsequent games, making the Brazilian team very passive for a time.

The Brazilian fans at the scene were extremely worried. It was so difficult to play against the Croatian team, how could they win the championship?

Being behind in the score made the Brazilian players a little impatient and they played in a hurry.

In the 14th minute, Brazil launched a quick attack on the right wing. Oscar's cross slipped in front of the goal. Unfortunately, the ball was a little too high. Neymar jumped up very hard but still failed to touch the ball. Brazil missed the equalizer. Chance to score.

Neymar tried his best for this ball. He jumped up and didn't touch the ball. He almost fell to the court from a height of more than one meter. It hurt just looking at it.

In the 26th minute, something happened on the field. When Neymar and Modric were fighting for a spot, he elbowed the opponent's neck and was shown a yellow card by the referee.

This was a collision between two No. 10s. Both were suspected of fouling, but Neymar's movements were faster and more ruthless.

At the critical moment, Neymar stood up.

In the 29th minute, Neymar relied on his personal ability to force himself to the top of the arc in the penalty area. Despite the interference of the defensive players, he used a sudden cut to the ground to penetrate the Croatian goal, helping the Brazilian team equalize the score and let the two teams return to the goal. Same starting line.

The Brazilian fans at the scene burst into huge cheers, Neymar's name rang in the sky, and countless Brazilians began to sing his praises.

Neymar himself was also extremely excited. After scoring the goal, he ran to the corner kick area, opened his arms toward the audience, and accepted the cheers and applause of the fans calmly.

After this goal was scored, the morale of the Brazilian team was greatly boosted.

Their players played more and more relaxedly, and the game gradually fell under their control.

In the 69th minute, Brazil's forward Fred fell in the opponent's penalty area. The referee awarded a penalty kick and gave the Croatian defender a yellow card.

The slow-motion replay at the scene showed that the ball was very controversial. Croatian defender Lovren did not make any obvious pushing action. It was more like Fred slipped.

After the penalty kick was awarded, the Croatian players surrounded the referee emotionally and forced him under the billboard on the sidelines.

The head referee Nishimura Yuichi from Japan is also a good-tempered person. Being surrounded by so many Croatian players, he was stunned and did not get angry. He just recorded the previous yellow card of Lovren. Without maintaining his authority, he added yellow cards to other players. the meaning of.

Neymar stood in front of the penalty kick and calmly converted it.

2:1, Brazil overtook the score.

After scoring this goal, Neymar scored twice, making him the second Brazilian player to score twice in the opening game of the World Cup.

Judging from Neymar's performance in this game, he seems to have lived up to the high expectations of Brazilian fans.

As long as he can lead the team to win this World Cup, he will undoubtedly become a hero in the hearts of Brazilians!

The Brazilian team played more and more smoothly. In the 91st minute, Oscar scored another goal with a kick in the counterattack, helping the Brazilian team set the score at 3:1.

In the end, the Selecao reversed Croatia and got off to a good start.

In this game, if Neymar is the well-deserved MVP, then Oscar, who contributed one pass and one shot, and sent many threatening passes in the offense, is undoubtedly the second best player in the Brazilian team.

It is very incredible that such an outstanding player will go to the Chinese Super League to hunt for gold in the future, and he is still in the golden period of his career.

The reason can probably only be explained by 'they gave too much'!

After the opening game, the World Cup group stage begins.

At 13:00 on June 13, the second game of Group A starts.

After 90 minutes of fierce battle, Mexico, a traditional strong team from Central America, defeated Cameroon, a team from Africa, 1:0.

The first round of Group A has ended. Brazil is currently at the top of the list with a goal difference advantage, and the qualifying situation is excellent.

Mexico followed closely behind, Cameroon and Croatia ranked second from last and first from last respectively. The promotion prospects of both teams were very bad, because judging from the process of the first game, when they met the first and second teams, they were in big trouble. There is no chance that he can't be kicked.

The Brazilian team's good start has excited the fans of the host country.

On the Internet, fans of the Brazilian team were in jubilation, and some optimistic Brazilian fans even began to look forward to the scene of the team winning the cup.

The schedule of the World Cup is not too long. For teams aiming to win the championship, they only need to play 7 games at most.

The Brazilian team has now won one game, and for them, there are only 6 games left.

This optimistic and even arrogant behavior has attracted criticism from many people on the Internet.

Needless to say, the fans of the teams who come to participate in this World Cup and aim to win the championship do not think that their team is weaker than the Brazilian team. Naturally, they will not think that Brazil can win the championship just because of one game.

Some neutral fans who do not have a home team, such as fans in China, cannot stand the bragging behavior of Brazilians.

"Isn't this too optimistic? It's just the group stage, what can this tell us?"

"That's right, Croatia is not a traditional strong team. Isn't it normal for the Brazilian team to beat them?"

"The strongest teams in Group A are Brazil and Mexico. If Brazil can defeat Mexico in the next game, that will prove their strength!"

Mexico is a strong team in the World Cup. They have participated in 15 World Cups. In the previous five World Cups, Mexico has qualified for the group every year. Their current world ranking is 25th.

Judging from the Mexican team's ranking and past record, they are not considered a top team, but can only be regarded as a relatively strong second-tier team.

However, the gap between the second-tier teams and the first-tier teams is not that big. If the Brazilian team makes mistakes when facing them, they will still be in danger of losing.

Moreover, both teams currently have 3 points. If the Brazilian team wants to qualify first in the group, it must strive to win the next game against Mexico.

If the Brazilian team can easily defeat the opponent, it will prove that they indeed have the strength of a top team.

If they lose or are tied by Mexico, then their prospects of winning the championship will be a big question mark.

After the match of Group A ended, it was Group B's turn.

The first game of Group B is a focus battle - the defending champion VS the runner-up of the last World Cup!

This is a replica of the World Cup final in South Africa four years ago!

It is also the first time in the history of the World Cup that the two sides in the last World Cup final met in the first round of this group stage.

The two teams have met 10 times in history, with Spain having a slight advantage with 5 wins, 4 losses and 1 draw.

The last time the two sides met was on July 11, 2010, the World Cup final in South Africa.

In that game, the two teams were tied in regular time. Iniesta's buzzer beater in overtime helped Spain defeat the Netherlands 1:0 and win the World Cup in South Africa.

Four years later, the two teams met again, also on the World Cup stage. Everything seemed to be an arrangement of fate.

Four years later, things have changed. Compared with the lineup four years ago, the Dutch team has undergone huge changes in personnel.

Only 7 players who participated in the last World Cup participated in this World Cup.

Spain has 16 players who participated in the 2010 World Cup. From this point of view, the Dutch team's lineup is younger, while the Spanish team's lineup seems a bit older!

But even so, the outside world is still more optimistic about Spain's victory.

Among the betting made by several betting companies before the game, more than 60% of the fans believed that Spain would win, while less than 40% of the fans believed that the Netherlands would win.

It is worth mentioning that the odds of Spain losing to the Netherlands 1:5 are as high as 700 times. Anyone who dares to take a gamble might make a fortune.

Although it is not the opening game, this game has received no less attention than the opening game.

On the Internet, the number of people discussing the match between Spain and the Netherlands far exceeds that of other matches.

At the press conference before the game, hundreds of reporters from various countries poured in.

Faced with such high attention from the outside world, Dutch coach Louis van Gaal confidently stated in an interview with reporters that he had found a way to deal with Spain and firmly believed that his team could win this game.

Faced with Van Gaal's bragging, Bosque responded calmly:

"In the past four years, countless teams have claimed they have found a way to deal with us, but in the end, they all failed."

Del Bosque has the confidence to say this. His team's record in international competitions in recent years is obvious to all.

World Cup, European Cup, Confederations Cup...

One championship trophy after another, Spain's hands are weak.

Countries have not taken targeted countermeasures against them, but without exception, all have failed.

Van Gaal is not the first person to say this, and he certainly won't be the last.

As for whether his big words can be fulfilled, it depends on how his players perform on the court.

On the afternoon of June 13, the Spanish team set off early to the New Water Source Stadium in El Salvador, the competition venue.

When the bus they took arrived at the stadium, they happened to meet the Orange Legion Dutch team's bus.

Players from both teams noticed each other's arrival, looking at each other from a distance, and there was a strong smell of gunpowder in the air.

No one's encouragement was needed, the fighting spirit of the players from both teams was already burning.

During the pre-match warm-up session, the players from the two teams did not communicate at all. Even some players who were teammates in the club or had been teammates had no intention of saying hello to each other.

On this occasion, there was no room for them to reminisce in private.

During the coin guessing session before the game, Casillas chose the right to kick off.

The Dutch team took advantage of the situation and chose the right half as their own half.

For today's game, both teams chose away jerseys.

The Spanish players are wearing a white-on-red striped uniform, which looks a bit like Real Madrid from a distance.

The Dutch team chose a blue jersey, which is slightly darker than Chelsea's jersey.

I don’t know if it’s because of the jerseys, but the Spanish team looks particularly tall today, and the players look taller than usual.

Against their background, the players of the Dutch team are like dwarfs, and the gap is very obvious.

This scene made Del Bosque frown a little on the sidelines. He confirmed that this was not an illusion. The average height of the Dutch players on the field was indeed not as good as that of Spain.

This phenomenon proves that Van Gaal chose fast players today, and their attack from the wing will definitely be very fierce!

The chief referee responsible for officiating this game is Rizzoli from Italy.

At 16:00 sharp, with the referee's whistle, the first round match of Group B of the 2014 World Cup officially started.