The story heading into Brazil 2014
Which players were missing? Who were the title and Golden Boot favourites? FIFA sets the scene at the start of the 20th FIFA World Cup.
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The 20th FIFA World Cup kicked off 10 years ago today
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Read pre-tournament quotes from Balotelli, Messi and Neymar
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See the title and Golden Boot favourites
Squads
There were fewer surprises than usual among the 32 selections. The biggest were USA coach Jurgen Klinsmann overlooking a heartbroken Landon Donovon, and his England counterpart Roy Hodgson picking 18-year-old Luke Shaw ahead of established left-back Ashley Cole. Rackets erupted for French architect Samir Nasri and Argentinian forward Carlos Tevez, fresh off sparkling seasons for Manchester City and Juventus, to go, but they were ignored by Didier Deschamps and Alejandro Sabella. Germany starter Marco Reus was ruled out on the cusp of the tournament after partially tearing ankle ligaments, while Colombia hitman Radamel Falcao and France winger Franck Ribery were unable to prove their fitness in time. Christian Benteke (Belgium), Nico Kranjcar (Croatia), Robbie Kruse (Australia), Riccardo Montolivo (Italy), Bryan Oviedo (Costa Rica) and Kevin Strootman (Netherlands) also missed out through injury.
Title favourites
Based on average prices from the bookmakers. Brazil (3-1) Argentina (4-1) Germany (6-1) Spain (13-2) Belgium (18-1) Italy (20-1) France (25-1) Netherlands (25-1)
Two mega-stars were the talk of the sport. If FIFA World Cup™ XIX had been forgettable for Neymar and Lionel Messi – the former was left at home, while the latter was sent back there via a 4-0 quarter-final thrashing and having failed to score in South Africa – its 20th running seemed destined to belong to one of the Barcelona buddies. Neymar had Thiago Silva, Marcelo, Oscar and Hulk as back-up. Messi counted on Javier Mashcerano for security and Angel Di Maria and Sergio Aguero for attacking aid. Spain were a trophy away from an unthinkable feat: adding back-to-back World Cups to back-to-back UEFA EUROs. Critics said they were a decayed design of the all-conquering tiki-taka titans. Crusaders felt Diego Costa would give them a new dimension. Germany were also in the mix because, well, they were Germany. An all-star cast featuring Vincent Kompany, Mousa Dembele, Kevin De Bruyne and Eden Hazard carried Belgium to the carnival amid considerable hype.
England, Italy and Uruguay – all former champions – fell into the indubitable group of death. It appeared a toss up which one of them would fall at the first hurdle alongside Costa Rica. Cristiano Ronaldo had won an unforgettable shootout with Sweden’s Zlatan Ibrahimovic to get Portugal to Brazil, but doubts existed over whether they swim out of another examining pool also comprising Germany, Ghana and USA.
Youngsters being backed to wow the world included Joel Campbell (Costa Rica), Memphis Depay (Netherlands), Son Heungmin (Korea Republic), Adnan Januzaj (Belgium), Mateo Kovacic (Croatia), Romelu Lukaku (Belgium), Paul Pogba (France), James Rodriguez (Colombia) and Raheem Sterling (England).
adidas Golden Boot favourites
Lionel Messi 7/1 Neymar 10/1 Sergio Aguero 14/1 Cristiano Ronaldo 14/1 Fred 20/1 Gonzalo Higuain 22/1 Luis Suarez 22/1 Diego Costa 25/1 Romelu Lukaku 25/1 Thomas Muller 28/1
History hunters
Miroslav Klose was one shy of Ronaldo’s 15-goal World Cup record. He had snuck into Germany’s squad at the expense of Kevin Volland, but he wasn’t expected to be afforded many minutes by Jogi Low. Would he get enough to equal or eclipse ‘O Fenômeno’ in the Brazilian’s homeland? If Die Mannschaft finished on the podium, Klose, who already had a silver and two bronzes in his trophy cabinet, would also outrank Pele as the man with the most World Cup medals.
Faryd Mondragon, who would celebrate his 43rd birthday during the group stage, would surpass Cameroonian hip-wriggler Roger Milla and become the oldest player in World Cup history if he saw grass. David Ospina was Colombia’s first-choice goalkeeper, however, and Jose Pekerman insisted he would not let sentiment handicap their hopes.
Quotes
“I’ve dreamed of lifting the World Cup trophy since I was a child. I’m always asking Xavi, Iniesta, Busquets, Pique what it feels like. The World Cup means everything to Argentinians. I love my country and would give up all my personal records to win the World Cup with Argentina.” Lionel Messi “People will always want to talk about Mario, people always want to write about Mario. Now is the time for me to do my talking. I want to do it on the field. I still want to become the best player in the world, and legends are made at the World Cup. I absolutely believe Italy can win the World Cup. I’m convinced we can beat anybody. We have quality, experience and, most of all, a winning mentality. Italy are a team every nation should fear playing.” Mario Balotelli
“I don’t care about finishing top scorer, I don’t care about the Golden Ball. All I want is to win the World Cup. I don’t care how it happens; I just want the title.” Neymar “I’m really excited. It’s a World Cup in the world’s most football-crazy country – it doesn’t get any better. Winning a World Cup in Brazil would be even better than usual. That’s our target – we’re not afraid to say that. It will be very tough, but I believe we have the flexibility to adapt to different systems, which I think is essential these days, and I have 100-per-cent belief in every one of my players. Football is very important in Germany too and we’ll give it our all to make our people proud and happy.” Jogi Low
“For all Brazilians, I want to say our time has arrived. This is our World Cup.” Luiz Felipe Scolari, Brazil coach
Kick-off
A Sao Paulo stage and an adidas Brazuca were ready. It was time for Claudia Leitte, Jennifer Lopez and Pitbull to decorate one of the most exhilarating opening ceremonies in World Cup history, and Brazil and Croatia to begin what promised to be one of the most memorable editions ever witnessed.