The pressure of winning the FIFA World Cup for the hosts is always immense, and that pressure only gets cranked up a few notches higher when the host country is Brazil.
The Selecao head into the 2014 FIFA World Cup with a big burden on their shoulders – everyone from the country expects them to win, and so do the millions of their fans around the world.
In India, Brazil is the most revered international side, even if Argentina are also very much in the conversation.
Past legends always come into focus during a World Cup year, and one such, arguably the greatest ever, believes if Brazil are to go all the way and lift the heavy gold cup at the end of it all, it would be well-advised to avoid the defending champions Spain – despite Brazil thumping the European heavyweights 3-0 in the Confederations Cup last year.
"The most important thing for Brazil is that they don't meet Spain," Brazil's greatest footballing son Pele to GQ.
"They're a fantastic team to watch, are very organised and don't have a weak point. The only good thing about Spain from our perspective is that they play a clean game.
"They like to play and allow the other side to play and that's important for a team like Brazil. Spain are a side who play modern football. The Spanish have the same way of finding space and playing the ball."
The 2014 World Cup Brazil team is not one of your usual ones – there is no tremendous flair running through the side from the dodgy goalkeeper onwards; instead it is a solid looking lineup, with very good defenders, and rugged defensive midfielders.
If anything, several question marks lie on their forward line, with the onus, at the moment, completely on Neymar to provide the creativity and goals.
"In the run up to World Cups, Brazil had had an attack which was the best in the world, although there were always comments that the defence wasn't was as good," Pele added.
"This year, however, we have a team who are very good from the middle of the pitch backwards but we need to sort out our frontline."
There is nothing more joyful than watching a Brazil team in full flow at the World Cup. Host teams more often than not tend to do well, but hopefully the weight of expectations does not weigh this relatively raw Brazil side down, with much of their hopes pinned on a player who will be playing his first World Cup.
The major positive, though, is the manager, Luiz Felipe Scolari, the wily tactician, who knows how to win games at the highest level.
