The 2014 FIFA World is in Brazil. They are usually a top 5 team and they are easily in top 5 this year. This seems all too easy to point a finger at Brazil and hand them the trophy right now. They are expected to just ram right through any and all competition. It’s not even supposed to be a contest.
However, the perks of being the home team and having the fans in the back yard also bring a tremendous amount of pressure along with it. Brazil is the team of all stars that never quite gel together properly. The lack of team chemistry is going to hurt them despite having the odds entirely in their favor.
Part of the pressure for Brazil is the political pressure due to the high number of riots. The United States equivalent of over $4 billion was spent for the World Cup and for 12 stadiums when only 8 were required. Brazil has a reputation for its gap between the High income class and the low income class.
With that being said, what team is destined to be this year’s champion?
Germany has a balanced team. They are team that is built to win. They have everything in place to take down every single team, including the crowd and media favorite, Brazil. The Germans have one of the league’s top attack units(an overall of about 84 out of 100) but their defense is also a unit to watch as they are one of the top in the world at preventing goals (an overall of about 82 out of 100). Two strikers to watch for are Toni Kroos and Thomas Mueller.
In every World Cup, there is also a dark horse. This year’s dark horse is the USA. They have one of the elite attack units (an overall of about 77 out of 100). They will score goals at will as they are led by the serious star power of Team Captain Clint Dempsey and Jozi Altidore.
Group G is a proverbial “Group of Death”. All 4 teams (USA, Germany, Portugal, and Ghana) have a legitimate chance to move on to single elimination play in the knockout stage.