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30th October 2007. Just after neighbouring nation Colombia withdrew from the race, Brazil were immediately named hosts of the 2014 FIFA World Cup.
“Hooray!” chanted the entire nation of Brazil, as this meant Football was going back to where the conquerors had cultivated it into the Beautiful Game. To many at that time it also meant Brazil were almost guaranteed to win it, especially in front of their home crowd.
Fast forward to 2014, a week from the World Cup. Spain are the reigning World Champions, with their brand of “Tiki-Taka” football giving them three World Titles in a row (Euro ’08 and ’12, WC ’10), and bringing “Beautiful Football” to the next level.
Brazil have flopped in the last two World Cups, now being just quarter finalists after two mediocre performances at World Cups, exiting at the hand of France, and Holland. Suddenly, their “favourites” tag seem to have dispapeared, and many are expecting Spain, Germany, or even neighbours Argentina, to lift the World Cup in front of the entire nation’s eyes.
What all went wrong? First, Brazil were not even supposed to host the World Cup. Their total expenditure, estimated around $14 billion, has made it the most expensive Cup ever hosted.
The billions spent on hosting, but it still led to many stadiums unfinished and construction workers dead along the way. This has caused large public unrest, and many protests are still happening.
Hiking prices of public transport, and people’s dissatisfaction of the way all the money has been spent in preparation for the World Cup has caused a lot of fears for such a prestigious tournament viewed by millions around the world. Had they given the host duty to another nation, such as England, which is ever-ready to host a major event, none of these scenarios would have happened.
And, of course, they brought back “Big Phil” to the manager’s role. Ever since 2002, Brazil have been disastrous at the World Cups. Carlos Alberto Parriera, and Dunga let down the nation. It looks like their last throw of the dice is to bring back their latest World Cup winning coach. Can he repeat 2002 all over on home soil.
Mind you, between 2002 and now, times have totally changed. The famous three Rs from the 2002 Winning team are gone, the “Samba” football has had its thunder stolen by “tiki-taka”, and teams have become tactically better than 12 years ago.
Only a sixth World Cup can heal a wounded nation. Only a sixth World Cup, not even a spot in the grand final, can make the fans to accept the billions of the investment, which would be replaced by winning the Cup.
Fail to do so and we may see scenes that we never wished we will see. The entire Brazil team have nowhere to escape this time, with the World Cup being at home. But, in order to win it, they will first have to face either the defending champions, or the team that knocked them out at the last World Cup, as early as the last 16.
What a pressure cooker it is going to be!
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