Brazil to face Croatia in World Cup opener

Hosts Brazil face Croatia at 5:00pm on Thursday (Brazil standard time, 1500 GMT) to kick off the 2014 World Cup soccer. The 32-team extravaganza gets under way in the city of Sao Paulo, where the South American nation Brazil's beloved ‘Selecao’ team will clash with Croatia in a show of Latin America’s classical soccer vs European art of football at a 61,600-capacity stadium. Besides, the Group A match will be watched by a worldwide television audience of several hundred million. Thursday’s match will signal the start of a month-long football fiesta taking place against backdrops which showcase Brazil’s breathtaking diversity, from the picture postcard beauty of Rio de Janeiro to fading colonial grandeur of Manaus, deep in the Amazon. After years of apathy and simmering resentment at the tournament’s record $ 11-billion price tag, Brazilians were grudgingly embracing World Cup fever in the final hours before the big kick-off, according to AFP.