COUNTDOWN 1: Neymar the protagonist, Brazil the favourites

Every World Cup throws up a hero for Brazilians on the world stage. From the likes of Pele to Ronaldo de Lima, there is always that player who fans look unto for the magical and decisive moments and this summer won’t be any different with the recent emergence of Neymar da Silva Santos as the new face of Brazilian soccer.

Simply call him Neymar Junior, the Santos-trained 22-year-old maverick is a delight to watch with his unending set of skills. Drifting in from the flank, his quick feet and electrifying style help him waltz past helpless defenders. With his awe-inspiring dribbles and flicks, he is an explosive finisher.

Moving from Brazilian league to Spain and amid a turbulent season at Barcelona regarding his bloated transfer fee, Joia, as he is affectionately known to fans, has successfully challenged Lionel Messi as the club’s talisman. He managed to score 15 goals in 41 appearances in his first season, delivering some eye-catching performances.

It is with Brazil that his star shines the most. Since making his debut for A Selecao in 2010 at the age of 18 and scoring on his debut, Brazil’s ‘new Pele’ has been a lynchpin for his nation, having 47 caps already and with 30 international goals — a statistic of one goal in every other game — he is well on his way to being the legend Brazil think of him.

Neymar has assumed the role of the country’s inspirational leader since 2013. Coming of age at the FIFA Confederations Cup, he led the lines in a tournament where he spearheaded the 3-0 demolition of Spain in the final with the first goal. He was named best player of the tournament, scoring four goals in total. He has scored a total of 13 goals in 20 appearances from last year till date, and he is expected by many of his adoring fans to deliver the World Cup on home soil.

Brazil qualified for the world Cup automatically and the South Americans’ World Cup record is unmatched, having featuring in all 19 previous tournaments and winning on five occasions to rank as the most successful nation.

However, it has not been smooth sailing for some years now. Since winning at Korea/Japan 2002, they’ve fallen at the quarter finals and without the flair they’ve been accustomed to. Carlos Alberto Parreira, Dunga and then Mano Menezes were at the helm during this period, with the latter making way for the enigmatic Luiz Felipe Scolari.

While Menezes rebuilt the team and introduced most of the players in the final squad into the national side, he could not instil the fear factor of old, something Big Phil has quickly done in his first year on the job.

An animated figure on the bench, the 65-year-old former Portuguese national team trainer and Chelsea coach who was the winning coach at the 2002 World Cup has also injected belief into the national team. With just two losses in his time as coach, including 14 wins and 4 draws and a 70 per cent win rate to date, he has moulded a side that is hard to beat. ‘Felipao’ also has the side scoring freely again, with two or more goals in over 80 per cent of these games, and has taken Brazil up to fourth in the latest FIFA rankings released by the world soccer ruling body. That happened just a year after Brazil were ranked 22nd, their lowest ever position.

Strength

Brazil, deceivingly, have their strength in the heart of defence and the base of midfield. Captain Thiago Silva is regarded as the best defender in the world presently and he is ably supported by the volatile and no-nonsense tackler, David Luiz. Any one of Paulinho, Ramires and Fernandinho has the screening ability in defensive midfield to drop back and allow their attack-minded fullbacks — Marcelo who recently won the UEFA Champions league with Real Madrid — and Dani Alves to give the team an extra dimension in attack.

Weakness

It is hard to spot the weakness of a Scolari-managed team but the target man position and over-commitment by their fullbacks could well define their tournament. Strikers, Fred, 30 and Jo, 27, both left Europe due to inability to compete with the best and when facing the best defences, they could be well dealt with. Also, mega opponents can tactically defend deep to draw their fullbacks and midfield nearer to their goal and then pick them apart on the counter to devastating effect.

Furthermore, Brazilian teams of the past are known to have several established superstar game-changing playmakers in midfield and attack. However, Scolari called up eight midfielders and four are defensive midfielders, while the likes of Bernard, Hernanes and Willian can go missing in games and Oscar is desperately out of form, leaving the bulk of the game-changing moments in the hands of Neymar and Hulk in attack.

Final word

One of the easiest routes to winning the World Cup as a big football nation is to host it. Uruguay did it in the inaugural edition in 1930, Argentina in 1978 and recently France in 1998, while Italy and Germany came close in 1990 and 2006 respectively. Brazil is expected to follow in the footsteps of the Zinedine Zidane-inspired France with the final set to take place in their spiritual home of football: the Maracana stadium.