Walk through the streets of Sao Paulo and it's clear the home squad during this World Cup will have the weight of this country on its shoulders.
The yellow and green flag of Brazil is everywhere. Ask locals and they will insist the blue disc depicting a starry sky in the centre of the flag isn't that at all. It's really a soccer ball, they say.
These people were born to play and love this game. The story goes: "a Scotsman had taught them the rules in 1894, but the Brazilians invented how to play."
Proof? Just look at the 5-stars over the Brazilian Football Federation crest on the team jerseys. No one else has as many.
Each star stands for a World Cup victory: 1954, 1962, 1970, 1994, 2002.
Still, most Brazilians are haunted by the win that got away. The win that was snatched from their hands the last time this event was hosted on Brazilian soil. It was 1950 – the first World Cup after the end of the Second World War. Playing in only its second WC tournament the team from Uruguay beat the Brazilians 2-1 in the final. The defeat that June 16th seemed impossible. Many papers had announced the outcome even before the game started.
Skip ahead 64-years and that loss still smarts. Mention 1950, and most mumble curse words under their breadth.
That's why for many in Brazil, the only acceptable outcome of this World Cup is victory. Another star. World Football domination.
I say "many" want a win because, for probably the first time in Brazilian football history, there are those in this country who are praying the team will crash and burn. Fail to make it out of their pool. Be embarrassed in front of the World.
Why? Simple. This has been the most trouble-plagued pre-World Cup in history. Several workers have died building the facilities that the poor have been pushed aside to accommodate and then there is the matter of the multi-billion dollar price tag.
But most of the Brazilians cheering for failure aren't members of radical fringe groups or unions, they are regular people who are tired of seeing their nation pay the price of its insatiable quest to win at all costs.
Come the first game, some say, their yellow and green jerseys will stay in their closets. They will not be tuning in. They will be turning their back on their beloved team, going against every fibre of their beings.
Still, the real test will be when the squad actually takes the pitch against Croatia. Will they stick to this protest? Would you?
