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FIFA World Cup 2014 kicks off with a win for Brazil

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The FIFA World Cup 2014 kicked off on 12th June in the Corinthians Arena in Sao Paolo with Brazil defeating Croatia 3-1 in the opening game of the tournament.

The event began with a 25-minute long opening ceremony in front of guests like the Brazilian President Dilma Rouseff, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and the FIFA President, Sepp Blatter. The ceremony was held in front of 62,600 fans, largely dominated by the home crowd. The opening ceremony saw performances from more than 600 artists, including acrobatic gymnasts, trampoline artists, martial arts-style capoeira performers and stilt walkers. The highlight of the event was the performance by Jennifer Lopez, Claudia Leitte and rapper, Pitbull who performed the World Cup’s official song this year, ‘We are One’.

The match began 75 minutes later and the host nation was subjected to early shocks as Brazil conceded the first goal of this World Cup through their own player, Marcelo Viera in the 11th minute. However, Brazil quickly came back with a goal from Neymar in the 29th minute. Brazil scored again via Neymar who converted the penalty after Fred was controversially awarded a penalty. The game was sealed by the host nation in the extra-time as Oscar scored a beautiful goal after beating two Croatian men. Brazil’s pace was the deciding factor in the end.

It was a good start for the host nation, considered to be a highly potential contender for this year’s World Cup.

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