*FAN SUBMISSION by Angello Perez of Orlando, FL. Follow him on Twitter @yosoyangello.*
Courtesy: Vegas Chatter.com
On June 12th the world will tune in to the 2014 FIFA World Cup. An event that only occurs every four years, and being that soccer is regarded as the most popular sport in the world. The question is “What can we expect from this years event?”
The Best of the Best will all make their way to the beautiful country of Brazil to compete and represent their native countries.
We will see future legends such as Cristiano Ronaldo representing Portugal, Lionel Messi representing Argentina, and perhaps what will be the final World Cup for USA hero Landon Donavon. Many factors affect the chances of which teams will move on to the next round. Unfortunately for the US, they’ve been drawn into by far the toughest group of all of the opening round. USA has been grouped with Portugal, Germany, and Ghana. Many experts and analysts have already predicted the US to be eliminated before they even have had a chance to land in Brazil.
Then we have countries who are looking for redemption and notoriety for their respected countries. The Netherlands is looking to make their way back to the glorified final match and hopefully this time around have a different outcome from the 2010 FIFA World Cup; their loss to Spain in the final match in Johannesburg. South Africa is one their looking forward to redeem themselves from a rough outing the last time around.
Other teams such as Colombia are currently ranked 4th in the world; according to official FIFA Rankings. They haven’t qualified for a World Cup since their disappointing campaign in the 1994 FIFA World Cup. They were heavily favored, but saw an early exit during the Group Stage, and tragedy struck when defensemen Andres Escobar was fatally shot when the team made their way back to Colombia after the early elimination. Escobar was heavily scrutinized for kicking in a cross into his countries net. Colombia hasn’t seen a World Cup pitch since and how they fair in this years tournament will certainly be one to watch.
Courtesy: Sports Illustrated
The one team which surprisingly has been kept out of the media(for the most part) is the host nation “BRAZIL”. With stars such as Neymar, and Dani Alves; Brazil is easily the favorite to win this tournament. When every match played is in your backyard the advantage is absolutely undeniable. There have been some distractions in Brazil; from protests against the government for spending lots of money of building stadiums for the World Cup, and construction workers dying on separate occasions from the building of these structures. Regardless, one thing is for certain; the native people of Brazil who are lucky enough to score tickets to the matches will support their country to the maximum. Will the distractions affect the players?
What will will see from June 12th through July 13th of 2014? Will we see a heavily favored team like Spain or Brazil hoist the coveted trophy, or will we see an underdog shock the world. The world will be watching, that’s for certain. Fans have waited four years for this.
One month of world class “futbol”, it doesn’t get any better for a soccer fan.
Very interesting mr. Perez.