The FIFA World Cup kicks off in Brazil on Thursday as 32 participating countries will be battling to be crowned champions of the world, Sky news reported.
This is the second time that Brazil hosts the tournament and expectations are high for the country to win the event.
For the first time at World Cup finals, the newly introduced goal-line technology will be in use.
Before now, eight countries has won the trophy since its inception in 1930, it include Brazil (5), Italy (4), Germany (3), Uruguay (2), Argentina (2), England (1), France (1) and Spain (1).
A capacity 65,000 crowd is expected for the opening match between Brazil and Croatia, with their journey to the stadium eased after metro workers voted not to resume a strike over pay and the dismissal of 42 colleagues.
Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff, saying her country is ready to host the World Cup football tournament opening Thursday, dismissed criticism of the massive costs of staging the event.
Angry protests have erupted in recent months across Brazil over the $11 billion spent to build stadium and transportation projects in the 12 host cities. Demonstrators say the projects have siphoned money away from other services, such as health and education, and have blamed the huge cost overruns on official corruption.
In a nationally televised address Tuesday, Rousseff said Brazil has increased spending on health and education by more than 200 percent since 2010. Despite the problems associated with hosting the World Cup, the president said Brazil was ready and eager to welcome the world..
"The pessimists said we were not going to have the [World] Cup because we would not have the stadiums, but the stadiums are there and they are ready," Rousseff said. "The pessimists said we were not going to have the Cup because we would not have the airports, but we almost doubled the capacity of the airports that are ready to receive whoever comes to visit us and to give comfort to millions of Brazilians."
Rousseff said Brazil would continue to reap the benefits of the infrastructure projects long after the World Cup competition ends in mid-July. She also vowed to seek punishment against anyone found to have engaged in corruption.
Source: MENA