Tanya Lee | Neymar, football’s new hero

We're one day into the greatest show on Earth, the 2018 FIFA World Cup, and what an opening game it was, with three players on the score sheet and all of five goals from opening hosts, Russia.

The favourites are the usual suspects, one of the seeded teams of Brazil, Germany, Spain, France, or Belgium, and, of course, Holland and Italy fans are left with no one to cheer for this time around.

Of the tournament favourites, I pick Brazil to win this World Cup merely on their perfect form over the last two years, their relative ease in qualifying from a tough South American cohort, and their strength in attack and defence thanks to Tite's masterly management.

I fell in love with Brazil because of their attacking flair, but the World Cup winners over the years have actually won on account of their defensive abilities, typically conceding four or fewer goals on their seven-match run to the title. As with most tournaments across any sport, it's really the solid defensive work that decides a favourable outcome.

Now, there are a few players that must be looking to stamp their class and take their place in football history based on a solid standout performance in this World Cup.

It is still football's biggest stage, and fans are hungry for something different. Maybe it's just me, but the conversations around Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are getting as old as those footballers themselves, and we're looking for a new hero.

Until his untimely and unfortunate injury in the Champions League Final, we all hailed Egypt's Mohamed Salah as possibly the next big thing in global football, but without the squad to go all the way, and with fitness concerns since the May 26 collision with Ramos, Salah is not likely to make a great impact in Russia.

I believe all eyes are back on Neymar, the likely heir to the football throne. It's time for the world's most expensive player and football's millennial superstar to claim his place as the new quintessential figure in football.

I suspect it was specifically to shine the light solely upon himself, and not in the shadow of Messi, that propelled him to leave Barcelona to begin with. He has to complete that transformation before other potentially dominant figures in football mount a convincing challenge.

Neymar is possibly the hungriest player in Russia. Having watched Brazil lose the 2014 World Cup semi-final at home to Germany, sidelined by injury, Neymar must have revenge on his mind. It must have been devastating. This is his best shot at glory.

Neymar also has fresh legs and may not face the mental fatigue that other players who went for all nine months of their domestic seasons may face. He has been back in fine form in the recent friendlies, and with his pace and creativity, he should cause issues for opponents that's if they don't frustrate him defensively.

Neymar is also chasing history as he is now tied with Romario on 55 goals apiece for Brazil. This is third on that illustrious nation's all-time scoring list. At just 26 years old, he must be thinking of surpassing Ronaldo's 62 and PelÈ's 77. Eight goals in this World Cup, four better than he did in 2014, is unlikely but not improbable.

Neymar has the team capable and ready to possibly take Brazil to an unprecedented sixth hold on the World Cup, exactly 60 years after PelÈ did that twice. The pressure is on, but most champions relish pressure!

One Love.

Appearances - 85

Goals -55

Height - 1.75m

Number - 10

Age - 26

- Tanya Lee is a Caribbean sports marketer, author and publicist.