So With only a few hours to go, the excitement has reached boiling point. Nothing gets bigger than the World Cup!
This edition promises to be one of the best ever. Reason? Not a single notable star is missing and they are all fit and ready.
Lots of scripts will be in play in Russia. Here are a few;
1. Will Neymar’s preparation pay off?
since suffering an injury in March, Neymar basically shifted all his attention to being fit in time for the World Cup. He is finally fit and firing and the three months rest he got should see him relaxed and fresh for the world Cup. Expect to see the Samba Boy continuously demanding for the ball from his teammates followed by countless flicks and tricks from the Brazilian number 10,but will he get the grandest prize of them all?
2. Will Argentina finally get their reward?
Now unless you are not human, its hard not to feel sorry for Argentina. The Messi led guys have lost Four consecutive Finals. The last one even made Messi, who rarely shows emotions, cry. Personally am tired of seeing Mascherano’s tears every year. But am willing to watch him Cry for one last time this year, hopefully they will be derived from joy rather that heartache. Angel Di Maria has always seemed like the closest Messi has for a partner whenever Argentina plays so we can only hope the PSG winger will last the whole tournament this time round. Messi desperately needs him.
3. Ronaldo to finally have a good World Cup?
He basically just doesn’t turn up in the World Cup. But Ronaldo is Ronaldo and he might just decide to score 20 goals and not a single human being would stop him. Besides, this Portugal team is very defensively organised. They won the EUROs two years ago despite winning fewer than three games over 90 minutes. They will come into this Tournament full of confidence PLUS, they have Ronaldo. His high standards indicate that he will cause defenders nightmares especially given that this will probably be his last World Cup.
4. Who will be this year’s surprise package?
Every World Cup has that team that nobody had as favourites by goes on to get to the latter stages of the tournament. Senegal did it in 2002 making it to the quarters despite being debutants. Colombia made the it to the last 8 too in 2014 Brazil. So who will be this year’s surprise package? let us know your thoughts in the comments section.
5. Will Africa make it past the quarter final stage?
Not a single African nation can boast of making it past the last eight of any World Cup. The closest the continent came to achieving this feat was in South Africa 2010. Ghana were one kick of the ball away a semi final berth but Asamoah Gyan hit the post with his extra time penalty and with that went away Africa’s hope. With Senegal, Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia and Nigeria all boasting of fully established European league based stars, the stage is set for Africa to finally leave a mark in Football’s grandest stage.