World Cup 2014: All eyes on Brazil as Rio hosts the anticipated quadrennial international soccer tournament

A month long 2014 World Cup begins on June 12th, where Brazil will host 31 other teams from around the world all playing for the World Cup Trophy.

Brazil, a five time winner of the World Cup, will be showing off its veteran status and tropical venues in 12 local cities, including Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo.

As for the United States, groups have been chosen randomly pairing America with Germany, Portugal, and Ghana in Group G.

U.S. coach and German native Jurgen Klinsmann said in an ESPN2 interview, ‘’I kind of had in my stomach that we were going to get Germany. Obviously it’s one of the most difficult groups in the whole draw, having Portugal with Cristiano Ronaldo and then Ghana, who has a history with the United States. It couldn’t get any more difficult or any bigger,” Klinsmann said.

Germany will be tough competition for the United States’s. The team is currently ranked number two in the FIFA world rankings, bested only by number one Spain. The United States is a promising 13 in the world. Ghana, beating the United States in the past two World Cups will also be a rival this June.

The piece in the World Cup drawing most of the attention this summer, both on and off the field by every participant, will be the Brazuca match ball. Sporting bright green, orange, blue and white colors, players will have a hard time losing sight of this work of art. And after the disastrous 2010 Jabulani that was despised by players due to the poor quality, the Brazuca looks promising.

“While the ball is pleasing to the eye, it has also gone through a rigorous testing procedure over the past two and a half years and came through with flying colours. It was tested by over 600 professional players and 30 teams in ten countries across three continents, making the brazuca the most tested ball in adidas’ history,” FIFA wrote on their website.

In addition to Brazil’s new match ball, a new stadium, Arena Corinthians, is being built in Sao Paulo, Brazil on a tight schedule. Construction is still being done on the stadium said to hold 65,000 fans.

FIFA secretary Jerome Valcke said to BBC Sports, “If you want me to summarize, we are not ready. We have two stadiums where there is still work to do.” Despite the construction the World Cup is expected to start on time.