World Cup Group A Preview: Will Brazil’s pride lead them to glory?

Group A consists of the hosts Brazil who have been handed what some may see as an easy group. Croatia will be their main threat for top spot but the hosts should stride through to the knockout rounds. Cameroon and Mexico complete the group but the two countries could be tricky opponents for Luiz Felipe Scolari and co.

Brazil

The hosts, and, as the build-up to the competition will almost certainly bill them, the tournament’s winners-in waiting. The main problem facing Brazil in the summer – besides an astonishing level of expectancy – is that, having qualified automatically, they won’t have played a competitive fixture in almost a calendar year.

That said, their recent performances in friendlies has looked ominous for their competitors – since trouncing the world champions in the final of the 2012 Confederations Cup, the Selecao have won five of their six games to an aggregate scoreline of 20-3, with prominent players such as Hulk, Neymar and Oscar all looking fearsome.

Key Player – Oscar

Though it is Neymar, Barcelona’s glitzy striker, who will garner most of the publicity for his side, the performances of Chelsea’s playmaker could well be the defining factor in Brazil’s summer. Oscar is, of course, a fine creator and genuine goal threat, but also possesses a tactical understanding and level of off-the-ball application that belies his 22 years.

It is telling that shortly after his arrival, Jose Mourinho effectively appointed the Brazilian as his playmaker-in-chief ahead of Juan Mata and Eden Hazard, two players of higher pedigree, and the midfielder will have a crucial role to play in both the attacking and defensive shape of his side in the summer.

Best Young Player – Neymar

This summer could well be to Neymar what the summer of 1998 was to Ronaldo. That is to say, the performance that definitively announces him as a globally recognised talent. It seems almost nonsensical to say about a £50 million centre-forward playing – and playing with distinction – for one of the planet’s finest sides, but Neymar is yet to show his best performances on the sport’s grandest stages.

Mainly, this is because he’s not yet had the chance. This season’s Champions League may well offer him one, and he did his very best at the Confederations Cup, although that tournament remains inescapably secondary to its elder cousin.

Neymar belongs to a minute category of elite-level players, perhaps only alongsideLuis Suarez and Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who take it upon themselves to constantly surprise spectators with innovation and improvisation. It is the most joyous of talents, if not always the most effective, and surely Neymar’s ability to astonish will be on display to some degree in the summer.

Manager – Luiz Felipe Scolari

That Big Phil has already been there and done it (winning the tournament with Brazil in 2002) both works in the manager’s favour – he will have the trust of his fans and players – and against it, cranking up home expectations to levels that his squad could really do without.

That aside, he seems to have rediscovered himself during his second stint at Brazil’s helm after a bizarre (and, at £11 million a year, offensively lucrative) hiatus in Uzbekistani club management.

Croatia

Now an established side amongst what could be seen as the second tier of international football, Croatia will be one of many nations who’ll see a semi-final spot within their reaches. With a number of experienced, reputable players – Luka Modric,Mario Mandzukic and Dario Srna chief among them, although veteran centre-back Josep Simunic will miss the tournament due to a ban for chanting a pro-Nazi slogan – Croatia are a technically accomplished and aesthetically decent outfit for whom a group-stage exit would go down as a huge disappointment.

Key Player – Luka Modric

Simply one of the most pleasing players to watch in world football. Modric glides across the turf with the air of a man untroubled by the chaos around him, and controls and passes the ball as if his feet were made of velvet and Velcro.

He has also long since graduated from a promising talent to a genuinely world-class one and thus will hold much of his country’s weight upon his shoulders. Playing every week for a club with the profile of Real Madrid should help him cope with such pressure, and Modric is now a recognised member of the first team at the Bernabau, having created on average just over one chance a match over his 20 appearances so far this term.

Best Young Player – Dejan Lovren

Perhaps pushing the ‘young’ tag at 24, Lovren was nonetheless a far from proven footballer when he moved to Southampton for an £8.5 million move last summer. The centre-back has performed admirably in Mauricio Pochettino’s progressive system, comfortable at the heart of a high defensive line that has the potential to leave him exposed, and – often operating under pressure – succeeding in the majority of his headers, passes and tackles so far this season.

Manager – Niko Kovac

Only recently having taken over from Igor Stimac, after his predecessor failed to qualify for the World Cup automatically, Kovac is a newcomer to senior-level management, his only previous coaching experience being with the under-21 side. Despite his inexperience, Kovac guided his nation to a comfortable qualification in a play-off draw (against Iceland) that could well have proven tough had it not been for the Croats’ tactical discipline in the first leg and ruthlessness in the second.

A veteran of the playing scene, Kovac will be expected to provide the high standard of football that the Croatian public have been spoiled with in recent years; whether he can deliver is a question that remains tantalisingly unanswerable as things stand.