First came the opening ceremonies.
As you might expect, they were as colorful as you would expect from Brazil.
They were also a bit mysterious, and they did not go off exactly as planned all of the time, either. It was my understanding that there was some kind of a mix-up with J Lo and the globe, although I am not entirely certain what that would have been, admittedly. I watched it, but am still not entirely certain what was supposed to happen, only that there was some kind of unexpected screw up. So, there you go.
This, of course, was the official ceremonies to kick off the tournament, once and for all.
Brazil 3, Croatia 1
Yes, Brazil won. That was not a surprise, since (a) Brazil is still considered to be one of the best teams in the world, and a leading contender to win this World Cup, and (b) no host country has ever lost it's opening game in a World Cup tournament. At least not yet. And that is going to have to wait another four years to possibly change, at least, too, because Brazil was able to get an important win today.
That said, this was not without controversy, and considerable levels of it, at that.
First, Croatia managed to take an early lead, and it was off the foot of a Brazilian defender. That certainly did not stop the Croatians from celebrating a surprise 1-0 lead early on.
Croatia felt that very poor officiating led to Brazil's second goal, which gave them the margin that they were winning by as the game came to a close, and Croatia was kind of abandoning defense in order to try and get a desperation goal, which probably contributed to Brazil's getting that final goal, for the 3-1 margin.
Could Croatia have otherwise tied, or possibly even found a way to win?
Not impossible.
And indeed, if you watch the play, it was a phantom penalty that the refs kind of jumped to and rewarded Brazil the penalty, from which they got their first lead. It was a lead that they held until very late in the game, when the Croatians, again, focused far more on offense than defense, in order to try and get the tying goal. Brazil benefited from that by a strong counterattack that caught the Croatians off guard, and iced the game for Brazil.
Neymar, the star for the Brazilian squad, scored two of Brazil's goals.
Now, later today, another huge match, when defending champion Spain takes on the team that they defeated to win their first ever World Cup, the Netherlands, to try and take an early lead in what can be truly seen itself as one of two "Groups of Death" in this World Cup. They are both in Gropu B, and the opening match between the two should (what the emphasis on should) be the toughest contest in the round robin that either of them face, although you never know. It will be fascinating to see how both teams respond!
Also, Mexico will take on Cameroon in Group A play, which should be very interesting. And finally, later tonight, Chile and Australia face off in a battle of southern hemisphere teams, the other two teams in Group B.
Here are some links to the opening ceremonies from yesterday:
Here Are The Most WTF Moments Of The World Cup’s Opening Ceremony by Jessica Lima BuzzFeed Staff , June 12, 2014:
http://www.buzzfeed.com/jessicalima/here-are-the-most-wtf-moments-of-the-worlds-cup-opening-cere
World Cup 2014 kicked off by paralyzed man in mind-controlled robot suit by Jacob Kastrenakes on June 12, 2014
http://www.theverge.com/2014/6/12/5804708/world-cup-first-kick-paralyzed-man-in-mind-controlled-exoskeleton
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