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Brazil Opens Weaker Than Expected Against Croatia

World champions Brazil opened their title-defending campaign on Tuesday with a stuttering victory over the fighting Croatia. Soccer fans from around the world were waiting to see Brazil play and were expecting a soccer celebration like only Brazil knows how to give, expectations were high, but the opening match for the defending world champion didn`t deliver. Croatia gave Brazil a hard time, but young Kaka scored a beautiful goal and gave Brazil their 3 points.

Qualifying from Group F will be a mere formality now after beating Croatia, but coach Carlos Alberto Parreira should be very concerned regarding second stage matches, where Brazil will face stronger teams and will have to play at a higher level. Opening matches in World Cup are known to be the hardest for any team, and the world champions will show better performance in upcoming games. They will have too.

Croatia didn`t give up for a second, and gave a very good soccer performance. The team showed great skill and will pose a serious threat to Australia and Japan when fighting over the second place in Group F. Brazil`s goalkeeper saved at least 2 `sure-goals` and drove Croatia`s efforts to the ground. Although Croatia showed great midfield skills, they weren`t able to transform that skill into goal making situations and the score remained 1-0 Brazil at the end of the game.