Live Brazil vs Croatia, score coverage, goals, highlights, results, stream and report of the first match of 2014 FIFA World Cup in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Kick-off Brazil vs Croatia at 9:00 PM.
19.00: Brazilians will be looking to their golden boy, Neymar to guide the hosts to victory in this live Brazil vs Croatia game and he spoke of his anxiety ahead of the tournament yesterday. "We hope that this last day goes by very quickly. I am anxious of course but also I'm extremely happy being where I am today because many people would like to be here. I really hope I can help my team in the best possible way to fulfill the dreams of the players, and Brazilians, which is to win theWorld Cup".
18.50: Tonight's game takes place in the newly built "Arena de Sao Paulo" in Itaquera, Sao Paulo. After the World Cup it will be the home stadium of Corinthians and will be known as Arena Corinthians. Temporary seating has been installed for the World Cup which has increased the capacity to 61,606.
18.47: There has been some criticism of this stadium as it has never hosted a proper test event. There was a game played there on Sunday but local authorities refused to approve use of the temporary seats and it looks like they will be hoping it turns out alright on the night.
18.40: Kovac was in a confident mood in his press conference "I've had six months to study their national team ... for us to come up with an answer to Neymar. He's one of the top three players in the world but we know what awaits us. I'm not losing any sleep over it." He added "We will try to keep the ball as long as possible but create chances whenever possible, we are not going to park the bus tomorrow. We are going to attack ... because Brazil is so strong that if you want to succeed against them you have to score. Of course that is easier said than done."
Brazil vs Croatia
18.30: Niko Kovac has done a great job of keeping his starting lineup under wraps for this game and he is much harder to read than Scolari. Traditionally Croatia play a 4-2-3-1 but it is thought they may go with a more defensive 4-1-4-1 in this game. Pletikosa will start in goal with Dario Srna at right back and Vedran Corluka at centre back. The other centre back slot will go to Gordon Schildenfeld, if fit, ahead of Dejan Lovren. Left back has been an issue since Ivan Strinic was ruled out through injury last month. It is thought Srna's back up, Sime Vrsaljko will get the nod to start there. The midfield will include Luka Modric, Ivan Rakitic and Mateo Kovacic with either Ognjen Vukojevic or Marcelo Brozovic behind them as a defensive midfielder. The other two positions will most likely go to two of Ivica Olic, Ivan Perisic or Nikica Jelavic. Olic looks likely to play and could fit in out wide or as the lone striker. If Olic plays wide Jelavic will most likely start as the striker in place of the suspended Mario Mandzukic. Should Kovac decide to go with Olic as the front man it is likely that Perisic will find a place in midfield.
18.25: Here is a World Cup Preview on Croatia written by Conor Slater.
2014 World Cup Stream
18.15: Scolari spoke to the media ahead yesterday and had this to say "To all Brazilians I want to tell you the time has arrived. This is our World Cup." He added "There are seven steps. We have to go up those seven steps but to start we have to think of the first step. We can't jump the seven steps. The first step is tomorrow against Croatia. After that we have six steps that we want to go up if we want to win the World Cup."
18.10: No teams have been announced yet but the Brazil lineup is expected to be the eleven that won the Confederations Cup last summer. Julio Cesar will be in goal, Dani Alves and Marcelo as full backs with David Luiz and Thiago Silva in central defence. Luiz Gustavo and Paulinho will be in centre midfield behind Oscar in the playmaker role. Hulk and Neymar will attack from wide and Fred will provide a central presence in the box. That lineup is not confirmed but Scolari is as predictable as they come and any other lineup would be a major surprise.
18.05: Take a look at this World Cup Preview written by myself on Brazil.
2014 Brazil vs Croatia Live Score and Result
17.55: Niko Kovac only took over as Croatia manager in October 2013 when Igor Stimac was sacked after a poor end to the World Cup qualifying group. His first task was to lead Croatia into the two legged playoff with Iceland which Croatia won 2-0 on aggregate. Kovac is very inexperienced and since retiring as a player he coached at Red Bull Salzburg before taking over the Croatia U21 squad. He had a 100% record as manager of the U21's and is still undefeated as manager of the senior team which means he comes into the World Cup undefeated in his managerial career.
17.50: Brazil manager, Luiz Felipe Scolari is no stranger to managing at the World Cup and this will be his third Finals. He led Brazil to their last World Cup win in 2002 before taking over at Portugal and taking them to the semi-finals in 2006. He returned for his second stint as Brazil manager in November 2012 and has done well so far, leading Brazil to victory in last summers Confederations Cup. Should he lead Brazil to victory on home soil he would become just the second man to win two World Cups as a manager after Italy's Vittorio Pozzo who led the Azzurri to wins in 1934 and 1938.
World Cup 2014 Scores and Results
17.45: Tonight will be the third meeting between these sides and their second meeting at a World Cup. The first meeting came in August 2005 when they drew a friendly 1-1 in Split, Croatia. Niko Kranjcar gave Croatia the lead before Ricardinho leveled for Brazil. They met again less than a year later in the opening round of fixtures of the 2006 World Cup in Berlin, Germany. Kaka got the only goal of the game to set Brazil on their way to a 100% record in the group stage. For Croatia it was to be an early exit when they failed to beat Australia in their final group game. That particular game is best remembered for English referee, Graham Poll showing Croatia's Josip Simunic three yellow cards before eventually sending him off.
17.40: The 2014 edition will be Croatia's fourth World Cup since joining FIFA in 1992 after the nation gained independence from Yugoslavia in 1991. Their FIFA membership came too late to enter the qualification tournament for USA 94 so their first World Cup was France 98 and they became the story of the tournament. Wins over Japan and Jamaica were enough to see them progress from Group H behind Argentina. Wins over Romania and a particularly impressive 3-0 win over Germany saw them through to a semi-final against hosts, France. They took the lead but two Lilian Thuram goals ended their hopes of meeting Brazil in the Final. However they did beat the Netherlands in the third place playoff and Davor Suker ended the tournament as top scorer. Their 2002 and 2006 campaigns weren't as successful ending at the group stages on both occasions. Their 2014 side have some top class players and will be looking to emulate the success of the 1998 squad.
17.35: Brazil have a fantastic history in the World Cup having won it a record five times (1958, 1962, 1970, 1994, 2002). They have also finished as runners-up on two occasions (1950, 1998). They are the only country to have participated in every World Cup and this will be their twentieth competition. Many Brazilian superstars have achieved legendary status by winning the World Cup including Cafu, Ronaldo, Romario, Pele, Jairzinho and Carlos Alberto. Can any of their 2014 squad add themselves to that iconic list?
Brazil vs Croatia Stream
17.30: Croatia have also played two warm up games directly ahead of this tournament and like Brazil they won both. Two Ivan Perisic goals were enough to see them beat Mali 2-1 and Nikica Jelavic got the only goal as they beat Australia 1-0. The goals from both games can be found here.
17.25: Croatia had to go to a playoff to qualify after finishing second behindBelgium in a qualifying group that also included Serbia, Scotland, Wales and FYR Macedonia. They started the group well with five wins and a draw away to the Belgians in their first six games but they failed to win any of their last four games including losing twice to Scotland and at home to Belgium which meant they would face Iceland over two legs for a place in Brazil. They drew the first game 0-0 in Reykjavik before a 2-0 win in Zagreb courtesy of goals from Mario Mandzukic and Dario Srna secured qualification. The only downside of that result was Mandzukic received a red card which means he is suspended for tonight's game.
17.20: Brazil have played two World Cup warm ups in recent weeks beating Panama and Serbia. They were very impressive against Panama with Neymar on top form but they struggled against Serbia on a heavy pitch before Fred got a second half winner. You can see the goals from both games here.
17.15: Brazil qualified automatically as hosts for this World Cup and their only competitive matches since losing to the Netherlands in the quarter-finals of the 2010 World Cup have been the 2011 Copa America and the 2013 Confederations Cup. They disappointed in the Copa America losing to Paraguay on penalties in the quarter-final but they bounced back well by winning the Confederations Cup last summer. Other than those tournaments it has been a world tour of lucrative friendly matches for the Selecao. They have played forty-six friendlies since the last World Cup against differing levels of opposition, winning thirty-one. They have won their last nine games in a row, including five against teams who have qualified for the World Cup.
2014 FIFA World Cup
17.08: Why not get yourself in the mood for Brazil vs Croatia game by reading this excellent preview by VAVEL's very own Conor Slater.
17.03: Tonight's game is a Group A fixture. Hosts, Brazil will be expecting to make their way through the group but Croatia will have high hopes of making it through ahead of Mexico and Cameroon who make up the group.
17.00: Welcome to VAVEL's live coverage of the opening game in the 2014 World Cup between Brazil and Croatia. Here at VAVEL we will be bringing you live coverage of every game of the 2014 FIFA World Cup.
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