32 Teams, 32 Questions — Group A

The questions that matters most in the eve of the biggest international football tournament.

Since we were kids with snots out of our noses *wipes nose* we have always been asking question, whether out of curiosity or just to annoy our parents or siblings. With the World Cup, just a day away, what better way to welcome the tournament by asking some puzzling questions for the 32 countries competing in the tournament (or you can fill a World Cup bracket, that works too). First up group A, with Brazil, Croatia, Mexico, and Cameroon.

BRAZIL

Is this Neymar’s start to stardom?

By all accounts, the funky-haired (which I’m at loss for words in how to describe it) striker has been in the spotlight even when he was still playing in Brazil with Santos, so his stardom has probably started then. When he turned down a move to Real Madrid back in 2006, it only serves to crank up the hype surrounding him. To be fair, he hasn’t exactly disappoint despite being in the spotlight since he was 14 years old (Insert mandatory Freddy Adu cautionary tale here).

But, FIFA World Cup is where legends are made (Pele), heroes are born (Zidane), and villains are cast (Beckham).

For Neymar, the World Cup will give him the chance to really shows that he can mix it up with the best, and to rise above the world’s best to become the very best himself. The 22-year old had a great tournament last summer at the Confederations Cup, and subsequently he moved to Barcelona. However, it hasn’t been quite a plain sailing for him. His arrival coincides with Barcelona’s first trophyless season since 2008. Off the field, he is subject of the transfer scandal that saw the club’s president Sandro Rosell to resign from his post. The club then was hit with a transfer ban (has since been put on hold pending appeal), and also the passing away of former coach Tito Villanova.

Despite all of that, should Neymar delivers the hexa for Brazil, then his stardom has truly come. For one, he would have the upper hand over the two best players on earth right now, his teammate Lionel Messi (I see an alpha dog battle in Barcelona’s future) and Cristiano Ronaldo. Second of all, no one would doubt Neymar’s star status with a World Cup trophy in hand (no one doubts Messi’ or Ronaldo’ star status, but they’re right at the peak of their career, Neymar is still at the beginning). Last but not least, a World Cup triumph would mean that his name is mentioned along the same breath as Pele, Diego Maradona, and Zidane, an illustrious company to say the least.

Neymar‘s stardom so far has been a combination of hype designed by the media that loves to label and anoint the next big star way before they pay their dues and his dazzling skill on the field. While it is a modern day reality, nothing sets apart the stars from the rest of the field by winning a trophy. Should Neymar get his hand on the trophy come July 13th, his stardom would really have begun.

CROATIA

Can this group emulate the glory of 1998?

Zvonimir Boban. Davor Suker. Robert Prosinecki. Slaven Bilic. Those are the names that headline Croatia’s remarkable performance at the 1998 World Cup, where they went all the way to the semi-finals, giving host (and eventual winner) France a scare, en route to a third-place finish. If it seems to come out of nowhere, consider that Croatia’s national team has only been established in the early 1990s (before that their players represented Yugoslavia), and that their first major tournament was the European Championships in 1996.

Now, Croatia will be relying on the likes of Luka Modric, Mario Mandzukic, Ivan Rakitic, and Dejan Lovren, stars who are at the peak of their career (their age: 28, 28, 26, and 24 respectively). Furthermore, they can still count on the old guards such as Darijo Srna, Eduardo da Silva, and Ivica Olic to give them some veteran savvy and know-how.

Croatia is probably the victim of their own past success, ever since that showing in 1998 they have been wildly inconsistent. They missed out on qualifying for Euro 2000, made the World Cup in Korea-Japan (but crashed out in the group stage), a quarter final spot at Euro 2004 was followed by crashing at the first hurdle (again) in Germany 2006. In Euro 2008 they made the last eight, but could not even qualify for South Africa, before crashing out of the group stage of Austria-Switzerland 2012 (though they were grouped with eventual finalist, Spain and Italy).

Their road to Brazil 2014 was also filled with potholes, with an unconvincing showing during qualification (they only just qualified for the playoffs) ultimately saw one former golden generation, Igor Stimac, being replaced by another one in Niko Kovac. The latter then steering the national team to a 2-0 win over Iceland to book their ticket to Brazil.

Landing in group A, Croatia will have the honor of sharing the field with host and heavy favorite, Brazil in the tournament’s opener. Though the likely outcome might’ve been a win for Brazil, their next two opponents are beset with their own problems, Mexico was terrible in qualifying (but is undefeated since playoffs), while Cameroon’ players are said to in a row with their own federation, which should provide Croatia the opportunities to amass enough point to qualify for the knock-out round.

After a successful season for their respective clubs, Luka Modric (Champions League triumph with Real Madrid), Mario Mandzukic (dominating Bundesliga with Bayern Munich), and Ivan Rakitic (winning the Europa League with Sevilla), should be at their peak to help Croatia’s current squad to emulate the achievement of 1998. Another semi-final berth is probably a bit too far, but should they make it to the knock-out stage, anything is possible then.

MEXICO

Dark horse or underachiever?

Mexico didn’t exactly steamroll their way to another World Cup berth this time (their sixth consecutive appearance, which might’ve been their 8th consecutive, if they weren’t banned by FIFA, thus missing the 1990 edition), instead they only won two out 10 qualifying matches, with the US doing them a favor (by beating Panama) thus enabling Mexico to qualify for the playoffs (in which they steamroll pass New Zealand 9-3 on aggregate).

Since 1994, Mexico has always made it to the knockout stages (there’s a betting tip for you), but there is a sense that this group of Mexicans should achieve more than just another last 16 appearance. Its not just baseless expectations, as Mexico has won the gold medal at the Olympics in 2012 (10 members of that gold medal winning team is in Mexico’s current squad), defeating (yep, you’ve guessed it) Brazil 2-1 in Wembley.

They couldn’t continue that gold medal performance at the following year’s Gold Cup as they lost to Panama in the semifinal. By then, they had only won once and drew five times in the hex, which probably explains their poor showing at the Gold Cup. Their participation in the Confederations Cup also left little to be desired, as they bow out at the group stage. A defeat to Honduras in September last year, saw Jose Manuel de la Torre sacked. Luis Fernando Tena was appointed as a caretaker (he lasted one game, a 2-0 defeat to US), Victor Manuel Vucetich was then appointed (he lasted two games, a win over Panama, before losing their penultimate hex match against Costa Rica). Miguel Herrera was the latest in the coaching carousel, and after navigating the two-legged playoffs, he’ll be managing Mexico in Brazil.

Mexico’s current problem has been their attack, despite possessing several talented attackers in Oribe Peralta, Javier Hernandez, and Giovanni dos Santos (Carlos Vela, who has a good season with Real Sociedad, declines a call-up to the Mexican national team), they have been goal-shy. In the last four friendly, the five forwards in Mexico’s squad scored zero goals. Señor Herrera had to found a solution, and fast, if they want to make it 7-of-7 in qualifying for the knockout stage.

CAMEROON

Indomitable Lions or Infighting Lions?

When news broke a few days ago, that Cameroon players refused to board the plane to Brazil because of a row over bonus payments (head coach Volcker Finke has since came out and say that the matter is resolved, basically the equivalent of saying “shoo, shoo, nothing to see here”), you can’t help but wonder whether its probably better if Cameroon players didn’t board that plane at all.

This isn’t exactly a new story, in the build up to the 1994 and 2002 World Cups, Cameroon players was also in dispute over bonus payments then. How did the Indomitable Lions fared then? Both times they crashed out of the tournament, winning only once (they didn’t fare to well in the 1998 tournament either, drawing twice and losing one en route to an early flight back home).

Ever since their Cinderella Story at the 1990 World Cup, Cameroon have failed to hit the same height in subsequent tournaments. Four years ago, with the first ever World Cup to be staged in African soil, Cameroon lost all of their group stage games. In the buildup to this year’s tournament, Cameroon’s form has been somewhat mixed, as they held Germany to a 2-2 draw, but only managing a 1-0 win over Moldova.

The issue over bonus payment has in fact affected the squad, even back during training camp it was reported that players were ready to call a strike over the ongoing dispute. Aside from that, Cameroon’s camp aren’t exactly rosy either, Samuel Eto’o reportedly holds considerable influence over the national team. That may be all well when he was still in his prime and have the goals to back such an attitude, but at 33 and past his peak, it remains to be seen whether his teammate can stand such an attitude. Alex Song has previously clashed with his skipper, back in 2011 he refused to shake hands with Eto’o, and even after burying the hatchet, Eto’o had this to say about Song. Not exactly a picture of a harmonious team.

Clearly, Cameroon’s preparation has been less than ideal, whenever your squad has to deal with issues off the field in the buildup to a major tournament, it doesn’t seem to end well. History has proven this for Cameroon on more than one occasion. Finke would need all his wits and prowess with him to keep the squad united at the first sight of trouble.