The football carnival in the glorious summer of Brazil during the World Cup 2014 left a lasting memory in the minds of millions of fans all over the world.
The attention now turns to Russia, colder and damper, with great expectations for another football bonanza, the World Cup 2018, from June 14 to July 15.
It will be played across 11 cities in a vast country with about 2,400 km dividing the two farthest grounds – Kaliningrad and Yekaterinburg. This means the players will face a large diversity of weather, from sunshine to sudden storms.
All of Russia will pray that the Weather Gods will be distracted to another country for the entire duration of the World Cup.
On the sacred grounds, there will be a buzz and all of Russia must be discussing the merits and demerits of the 32 football teams who will converge there. Street corners and cafes will be abuzz with hot arguments about which team will eventually emerge winner.
The Brazil edition was marred by some external factors but the standard of football was supreme.
The contrasting style of Latin American magic and European precision was on display in full glory. The hosts, once the champions extraordinary, and on the sacred land where Pele ruled, surprising did well to reach the last four before perishing 7-1 to eventual winners Germany.
That day was sad. But the Brazilians consoled themselves that the team, despite some quirky play by star Neymar, went that far. Some of the younger players should glimpses of hope for the future.
Now Neymar, 26, is older and wiser, and his team were the first to qualify for Russia with some strong performances. This could be the tournament where Brazil may climb back on the ladder to success.
On the other hand, the Russians will not be too optimistic about their team. There will be a lot of wishful thinking from the supporters about some progress but that will all if form is the judge.
The hosts have not had the best of times since reaching the World Cup semi-final in 2008. They are the lowest ranked among all teams competing in the World Cup.
Another big question will be whether the South American trams will replicate their outstanding work from 2014. Most of the teams played with great vigour and style that their opponents could never relax until the last whistle.
But it was the clinical precision of the Germans which proved to undoing of the Latin American style of the Argentineans despite the presence of the great Lionel Messi.
Messi is back again but Argentina just made it to this tournament. However, Messi is a genius and he may yet fuel an Argentinean revival.
The England team will be the focus of attention as always. Possessing a rich football league, the Premiership, England has never delivered since 1966.
This time they have sent a young side with Tottenham’s Harry Kane in the forefront. Once again everybody will be asking whether England will rise from the ashes of 1966. They were disastrous in 2014 and they must not rake up the ghost of 1966 ever again.
Germany are in fine fettle even today. They look the best side to reach the final. They do not budge much from their tried and tested ways which have brought them numerous titles over the years.
Then there will be Cristiano Ronaldo, hoping to make probably his last World Cup a memorable one. And James Rodriquez will take on the might of the big teams to ensure that Colombia’s run in 2014 was no fluke.
So come June 14, Russia will take on Saudi Arabia at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow at 6pm local time (8.30pm IST) to throw open another World Cup.
The Saudi Arabians are a very good team. But will Russian goalkeeper and captain Igor Akinfeev stand up to them and even hopefully beat the Middle Eastern giants?
All of Russia will be in contact with the Almighty every second for that miracle.
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#All views expressed in this column are the authors and Pune365 does not necessarily subscribe to them.
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