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On June 13, Tuesday, the current planet champions and tournament favorites Brazil will play their first World Cup match against the Croatian footballers. The first match of this group between Australia and Japan ended with a 3-1 victory for the Australians.
Group F Brazil - Croatia Location: Olympiastadion, Berlin Time: 22:00 Lithuanian time Referee: Benito Archundia (Mexico)
Brazil is the only team to have participated in all 17 World Cups held so far, with 5 championships. Meanwhile, this will be Croatia's third consecutive World Cup, with their best finish being 3rd place in 1998.
Both Brazil and Croatia qualified for the World Cup by finishing first in their respective groups in the qualifying tournament.
Previous meetings Brazil and Croatia, which became independent only in 1991, have faced each other only once: in last year's match in Split, they recorded a 1-1 draw.
Preparation for the championship Before the World Cup, Brazil played only one international match, defeating New Zealand 4-0. Croatia beat Argentina 3-2, Austria 4-1, drew 2-2 with Iran, lost 0-1 to Poland, and 1-2 to Spain.
Match predictions Croatia will be without the injured Ivica Olić, with Dado Pršo and Ivan Klasnić leading the attack. However, most of the work will fall on the Croatian defenders to stop Brazil's offense.
In the starting lineup for Brazil, we will see one of the strongest attacking quartets in the world: Kaka, Ronaldinho, Ronaldo, and Adriano. Veterans Cafu and Roberto Carlos also like to join the team's attacks, so with such players, Brazil is forced to play attacking football.
However, Croatia's coach Zlatko Kranjčar said their team is not just focused on defending and counterattacking. He added that they are not planning to raise the white flag early and referenced the surprise 0-0 draw between Trinidad and Tobago and Sweden in the championship.
Croatia's Marko Babić highlighted the team's strengths: there are no standout stars, so they play as a team. He also mentioned that the key players in the Croatian team play in the strongest European clubs, showing Croatia's ability to defeat any opponent.
On the other hand, Brazil's coach Carlos Alberto Parreira admitted that the team feels the pressure of being labeled as favorites, but added that they can handle this pressure and hope for success in the first match.
Brazil's captain Cafu, in an interview, said that they respect all opponents and expect a tough match in the first encounter.
Predicted lineups Brazil: Dida, Cafu, Lucio, Juan, Roberto Carlos, Emerson, Ze Roberto, Kaka, Ronaldinho, Ronaldo, Adriano. Croatia: Pletikosa, Simic, Kovac, Simunic, Srna, Tudor, Kovac, Babic, Kranjcar, Klasnic, Prso.
