The World Cup starts now for Brazil

Friday at 14:00, Brazil meet Costa Rica. It’s fair to say neither side kicked off the tournament in the way they’d liked. So, now is the time Brazil show us why they’re considered one of the tournament favourites. At the other end of the spectrum, Costa Rica must take at least a point from the match to stand a chance of qualifying for the Last 16, going into the final round of games.

Brazil

Early on in their opener with the Swiss, Brazil played in the swift and speedy manner you’d expect and were well worthy of their lead courtesy of Phillipe Coutinho’s fine, individual strike. But the more the game developed, the slower the Brazilians became. It’s difficult to recall them creating many clear-cut chances in the second half and come full-time you can’t deny that Switzerland were fully deserving of their point.

Not the start they’d envisaged then, but it’s only a matter of time before they gain their first victory of the tournament.

I have a feeling the shackles will be loosened on Friday and we’ll see a free-flowing Brazil let loose on Costa Rica.

If I’m honest I can see the heaven’s opening and a game raining with goals for Brazil, Coutinho, Neymar and co. cooking up the perfect storm to blow the Central Americans away.

Costa Rica

Silver Fox Alexander Kolarov put pay to Costa Rica’s plans to begin the finals positively, his outstanding free-kick winning the game for the Serbs, a fair result in my eyes. This Costa Rica side displayed a real lack of quality against Serbia and appear to be a shadow of the side that impressed us all in Brazil four years ago.

They clearly set out for a draw, with the aim of keeping things tight at the back, while offering a threat on the counter but this rather backfired.

Now they have to produce something of note against Brazil.

This will see them alter their approach somewhat and become more open in order to work goalscoring positions. However, this could end up playing straight into the hands of Brazil with Keylor Navas set for a busy evening between the sticks.

Match Tip

It’s simple for Brazil - they have to go for the win against Costa Rica. I think they will have learnt lessons from their first match against Switzerland and will return to somewhere near their best in this game.

In the opposite corner, Costa Rica are tasked with having to avoid defeat in order to stay in the competition, difficult to say the least. But it should make for a more open encounter than against Serbia with the opportunity for goals aplenty. This is why I am tipping Brazil to win with over 2.5 goals in the match at odds of 10/11 (1.90).

Bet Brazil to win with Over 2.5 goals in the match on Betway