It
was a night of tension but the opening game managed to live up to
expectations – and the tournament was able to clear its first hurdle
The moment this World Cup achieved lift off was not before kick-off, when the Brazilian national anthem was sung a cappella with
such passion it appeared victory was preordained. Nor was it in the
stunned silence that greeted Marcelo’s own goal that gave Croatia a
shock lead. Nor was it even when Neymar narrowly converted the soft
penalty that put them ahead for the first time and will surely spark the
debate over the standard of international refereeing.
It was indisputably when the same player, carrying the weight of the home country’s expectations on his slender shoulders, slid a precise shot into the bottom right-hand corner of Stipe Pletikosa’s goal in the first half.
Throughout the build-up to this World Cup, one that should make the heart of every football fan quicken, it has sometimes been hard to focus on the simple joy that the sport can still provide. Cutting through the conflicted feelings and controversy generated by the preparations for this opening match, Neymar’s goal was just such a moment. Fireworks strafed the skyline and an increasingly tense crowd exploded in joy and relief as the Brazilian team engulfed their coach.
Oscar, the Chelsea forward who began last season well and ended it a burned-out husk, was everywhere – twisting, turning and harrying the opposition - and capped his performance with a fine goal. The Brazilians in a 62,103 crowd who had maybe begun to contemplate the unthinkable prospect of their team losing their opening match were ignited again.
For Luiz Felipe Scolari, who brought this team together two years ago with all eyes focused on this point, it was the moment of truth. If there was expectation, there was also tension – inside and outside the stadium. With the arena filled for the first time and the paint almost wet, the yellow masses bathed in golden early-evening sunlight, the stage set for a procession. The host country had never lost a World Cup opener. Croatia had never beaten Brazil.
It was not working out to plan when Ivica Olic marauded down the left, Hull City’s Nikica Jelavic scuffed his attempted shot and the unlucky Marcelo turned the ball into his own net with 11 minutes on the clock. They showed the replay on the big screen and cut to a haunted close-up of the left-back as silence engulfed the stadium.
Earlier, the honking of horns and chants of Brazil fans mingled with the sound of helicopters overhead. They were ferrying VIPs to the match and later hovering over the protests eight miles away, as police clashed violently with a group of protestors who had hoped to march to the stadium.
It is not every World Cup opener that begins with pompous missives from Fifa about its mission to “promote peace” mingling with those from Amnesty International condemning police brutality.
Outside the stadium, inside the ticketed cocoon, the atmosphere was one of corporate, Fifa-approved fun. Croatia fans, and those from other countries, mingled with the yellow masses and cavorted for the cameras.
Even if many of those within the stadium appeared to be moneyed fans in box-fresh Brazil shirts, rather than the diehard Corinthians followers who will move in after this World Cup, the atmosphere they created once inside more than lived up to expectations.
Neither the country’s president, Dilma Rousseff, facing re-election in October and desperate for the World Cup to go with a swing, nor the president of Fifa, Sepp Blatter, felt confident enough to appear on the pitch, but they got the bird anyway.
If that was a reminder of the discord felt by large swathes of the population over the public money spent on the World Cup and Fifa’s approach, then inside they were vociferous in their backing. Before kick-off the $9m opening ceremony, which culminated with J-Lo and the rapper Pitbull emerging from a giant LED globe, had contrived to showcase the land of samba, capoeira and tropicália with a lumpen, tuneless dirge.
It was down to Scolari’s team to live up to the Brazilian tradition. Before the match, Kaká was pitchside in a No10 shirt hugging his former team-mates. His successor did not disappoint, although he could have been sent off before scoring his first goal for an elbow on Luka Modric.
If the tendency of recent sides has been towards pragmatism at the expense of romance, Neymar at times appeared on a one-man mission to reconnect the Seleçao with their roots. They chanted his name as loudly as they booed the president. On their way back to the metro station it was the skills of Neymar and Oscar and the rough luck of Croatia that were dominating conversation rather than wider politics.
Lolling outside the stadium before the game, Croatia fans who had travelled from Chicago supped their pre-match beers and predicted a 1-1 draw. Had it not been for the referee, Yuichi Nishimura, they may have been right.
Others in red and white shirts had travelled from New York or Australia. Around them swirled fans from Sweden, Lebanon, Colombia, Australia, Venezuela, USA, Iraq and – inevitably – England. It was a welcome reminder that for all the venality of Fifa, for all the controversy and chaos that has engulfed the build-up to this World Cup, inside there was a football tournament struggling to get out.
At the centre of it is a travelling circus surrounding a team, and a ringmaster in Scolari who simply dare not disappoint. On Thursday night they, and the tournament’s troubledorganisers, cleared their first hurdle.
It was indisputably when the same player, carrying the weight of the home country’s expectations on his slender shoulders, slid a precise shot into the bottom right-hand corner of Stipe Pletikosa’s goal in the first half.
Throughout the build-up to this World Cup, one that should make the heart of every football fan quicken, it has sometimes been hard to focus on the simple joy that the sport can still provide. Cutting through the conflicted feelings and controversy generated by the preparations for this opening match, Neymar’s goal was just such a moment. Fireworks strafed the skyline and an increasingly tense crowd exploded in joy and relief as the Brazilian team engulfed their coach.
Oscar, the Chelsea forward who began last season well and ended it a burned-out husk, was everywhere – twisting, turning and harrying the opposition - and capped his performance with a fine goal. The Brazilians in a 62,103 crowd who had maybe begun to contemplate the unthinkable prospect of their team losing their opening match were ignited again.
For Luiz Felipe Scolari, who brought this team together two years ago with all eyes focused on this point, it was the moment of truth. If there was expectation, there was also tension – inside and outside the stadium. With the arena filled for the first time and the paint almost wet, the yellow masses bathed in golden early-evening sunlight, the stage set for a procession. The host country had never lost a World Cup opener. Croatia had never beaten Brazil.
It was not working out to plan when Ivica Olic marauded down the left, Hull City’s Nikica Jelavic scuffed his attempted shot and the unlucky Marcelo turned the ball into his own net with 11 minutes on the clock. They showed the replay on the big screen and cut to a haunted close-up of the left-back as silence engulfed the stadium.
Earlier, the honking of horns and chants of Brazil fans mingled with the sound of helicopters overhead. They were ferrying VIPs to the match and later hovering over the protests eight miles away, as police clashed violently with a group of protestors who had hoped to march to the stadium.
It is not every World Cup opener that begins with pompous missives from Fifa about its mission to “promote peace” mingling with those from Amnesty International condemning police brutality.
Outside the stadium, inside the ticketed cocoon, the atmosphere was one of corporate, Fifa-approved fun. Croatia fans, and those from other countries, mingled with the yellow masses and cavorted for the cameras.
Even if many of those within the stadium appeared to be moneyed fans in box-fresh Brazil shirts, rather than the diehard Corinthians followers who will move in after this World Cup, the atmosphere they created once inside more than lived up to expectations.
Neither the country’s president, Dilma Rousseff, facing re-election in October and desperate for the World Cup to go with a swing, nor the president of Fifa, Sepp Blatter, felt confident enough to appear on the pitch, but they got the bird anyway.
If that was a reminder of the discord felt by large swathes of the population over the public money spent on the World Cup and Fifa’s approach, then inside they were vociferous in their backing. Before kick-off the $9m opening ceremony, which culminated with J-Lo and the rapper Pitbull emerging from a giant LED globe, had contrived to showcase the land of samba, capoeira and tropicália with a lumpen, tuneless dirge.
It was down to Scolari’s team to live up to the Brazilian tradition. Before the match, Kaká was pitchside in a No10 shirt hugging his former team-mates. His successor did not disappoint, although he could have been sent off before scoring his first goal for an elbow on Luka Modric.
If the tendency of recent sides has been towards pragmatism at the expense of romance, Neymar at times appeared on a one-man mission to reconnect the Seleçao with their roots. They chanted his name as loudly as they booed the president. On their way back to the metro station it was the skills of Neymar and Oscar and the rough luck of Croatia that were dominating conversation rather than wider politics.
Lolling outside the stadium before the game, Croatia fans who had travelled from Chicago supped their pre-match beers and predicted a 1-1 draw. Had it not been for the referee, Yuichi Nishimura, they may have been right.
Others in red and white shirts had travelled from New York or Australia. Around them swirled fans from Sweden, Lebanon, Colombia, Australia, Venezuela, USA, Iraq and – inevitably – England. It was a welcome reminder that for all the venality of Fifa, for all the controversy and chaos that has engulfed the build-up to this World Cup, inside there was a football tournament struggling to get out.
At the centre of it is a travelling circus surrounding a team, and a ringmaster in Scolari who simply dare not disappoint. On Thursday night they, and the tournament’s troubledorganisers, cleared their first hurdle.
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