The most watched global sporting event finally kicked off in São Paulo last night (Thursday) with hosts Brazil getting their campaign to achieve a sixth victory in the competition under way against Croatia.
England will enter the fray this Saturday evening at 11pm with Italy while a reportedly fit-again Cristiano Ronaldo leads Portugal into the tournament against second favourites Germany on Monday afternoon from 5pm. The 64-match footballing extravaganza reaches its climax on Sunday July 13 when the final is staged in Rio de Janeiro’s famous Maracanã Stadium.
Unfortunately, the spectacle has been robbed of some of its potential star performers by a spate of last-minute injuries, most notably to France captain Frank Ribery, Russian playmaker Roman Shirokov and German forward Marco Reus. The trio have returned home to join other stars such as Falcão, Rossi Thiago, Van der Vaart and Montolivo on the sidelines.
