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Brazil kicks off the Football World Cup later today - hoping to unite the football-mad country after a chaotic seven-year build-up plagued by violent protests.
The latest strike to bedeville the build up is a 24 hour partial strike today - called by ground staff at Rio de Janeiro's airports.
The 32-team extravaganza gets under way in the teeming mega-city of Sao Paulo, where the host nation's beloved Brazil faces Croatia at ten o'clock our time tonight before 61-thousand 600 supporters and a worldwide television audience of several hundred million.
The opening ceremony is also live on Supersport from a-quarter past eight this evening.
Today's Group A match signals the start of a month-long football fiesta taking place against backdrops which showcase Brazil's breathtaking diversity, from the picture postcard beauty of Rio de Janeiro to fading colonial grandeur of Manaus, deep in the Amazon.
