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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 16.5pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 18.0pt;">Fifa World Cup 2014: Brazil gear up for Jogo Bonito:</span></div>
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In the buildup
to the Fifa World Cup 2014, the Brazilian football catchphrase of “Jogo
Bonito” — The Beautiful Game — was drowned out by the bangs of
frantic construction work and the shouts of angry protesters.</div>
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Not now. The
football — it’s been open, attacking and packed full of goals and great
moments — is doing all the talking.</div>
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Nemar kicked
Brazil into gear, Robin van Persie soared and scored with one of the most
spectacular headers you’ll see, and Argentina wizard Lionel Messi conjured up a
little left-footed magic at the Maracana. On Monday, it kept coming: Thomas
Mueller scored a hat-trick for Germany in a shock 4-0 rout of Cristiano
Ronaldo’s Portugal and Clint Dempsey hit the net just half a minute into the
United States’ World Cup in an end-to-end 2-1 win over Ghana. The first round of
group games isn’t even done yet.</div>
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It’s not just
the big-name teams either. There was Costa Rica’s pulsating comeback to sweep
past a highly-rated Uruguay and Switzerland’s last-gasp winner over Ecuador.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnBa6uMs9azA5xcsfQo6hoTlDU4tdqumDfX_YIu462easCAKS7wBwUOe7m02eE1-xtuVoI_3c56ixVbNkYFy7O3LrTLFGzQfu-O2SGk9VLCpu0Usd9ZHUuSP6MUbvSnMKPbLRwT55J36k/s1600/Brazil-fans-celebrate.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnBa6uMs9azA5xcsfQo6hoTlDU4tdqumDfX_YIu462easCAKS7wBwUOe7m02eE1-xtuVoI_3c56ixVbNkYFy7O3LrTLFGzQfu-O2SGk9VLCpu0Usd9ZHUuSP6MUbvSnMKPbLRwT55J36k/s1600/Brazil-fans-celebrate.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span class="gmw">“All
the games we’re watching, there’s a lot of open play, there’s a lot of
beautiful goals. It’s just wonderful to be here, isn’t it?” Netherlands fan
Paul </span><span class="gm">Rolleman</span><span class="gmw"> said as he
walked — with a party-inspired hangover, he confessed — under perfect blue
skies along Rio’s famed Copacabana beach.</span></div>
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Half-expecting
patched up stadiums and large street demonstrations, many worried that the
return of the World Cup to the spiritual home of football after 64 years could
be the most troubled in recent memory. But with a bunch of goals — 44 in
14 games so far — and no major backlash from protesters, it could turn out
to be the best in over half a century.</div>
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“High-scoring
games, this is what fans are waiting for,” U.S. coach Jurgen Klinsmann said.
“They want to see goals.”</div>
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And they have.
From Sao Paulo to Salvador, from Cuiaba in the vast Brazilian interior to the golden
sands of Rio de Janeiro, the goals have flown in. The World Cup is averaging
over three a game. At that rate, it will be the highest-scoring since Brazil
began its great love affair with the tournament and — with a 17-year-old
Pele up front — won the first of its record five titles in Sweden in 1958.</div>
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There has been
just one draw in those 14 games. Nigeria’s scoreless meeting with Iran drew
boos from fans spoiled by the World Cup goal glut. Jogo Bonito, first made
famous by Pele, is rubbing off on everyone, it seems. No one is “parking the
bus,” as the Europeans say, or playing defensively here.</div>
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“There’s none of
that. No game has been boring,” German fan Andre Lien said, adding with a sulk
that he had to head back home for work today.</div>
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Brazil coach Luiz
Felipe Scolari, previously defensive in his approach to howls of disappointment
from home fans, is playing with three strikers at the World Cup. The
Netherlands made a mockery of pre-tournament criticism of their formation
switch with blisteringly fast, attacking play to blow away defending champion
Spain 5-1. Even Bosnia, the World Cup debutant, aggressively took the fight to
Messi and Argentina — as coach Safet Susic promised they would.</div>
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“This is how we
play football,” he said. “We don’t know any other way. And I don’t want my
players to play any other way.”</div>
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The fans have
reacted by filling stadiums or fan fests and embracing the carefree culture: A
group of middle-aged German men in super-tight swimming costumes and with
bellies bulging played football on Copacabana Monday morning before heading for
the big screen TV.</div>
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Of course, it’s
still early days. Organizers can’t let down their guard. There was a moment at
Itaquerao Stadium in Sao Paulo last week when Brazil’s opening night seemed to
hang by a thread — or an electrical wire. One section of the floodlights
flickered off, then on, then off again. Disaster loomed. The lights came back
on, stayed on, and Neymar rescued Brazil with a double as the home favorite
came back from 1-0 down to beat Croatia 3-1.</div>
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There have been
sporadic protests — police clashed with protesters not far from Rio’s
Maracana stadium on Sunday night while Messi scored and Argentina beat
Bosnia — and in the northeastern city of Natal, torrential rain and
flooding is threatening the World Cup experience.</div>
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But on the
field, at least, the tournament has met the early challenge and more. Brazil’s
only worry there is if the goal-happy World Cup can keep up this breathtaking
pace for a month.</div>
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“It’s a big
party,” Netherlands supporter Rolleman said on Copacabana. “But I do need to
get some sleep now.”</div>
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101 sports updates Fifa World Cup 2014: Brazil gear up for Jogo Bonito:

Fifa World Cup 2014: Brazil gear up for Jogo Bonito: In the buildup to the Fifa World Cup 2014, the Brazilian football catchphr...