Can Brazil star Neymar get World Cup underway with a bang?

Neymar can give Ladbrokes customers the perfect start to a month of pure football heaven by scoring the first goal when hosts Brazil face Croatia in the opening game.

The Barcelona forward, who is the face of the World Cup in Brazil, WAS 3/1 but is NOW 4/1 to score the first goal of the tournament with the bookmaker.*

There will be huge pressure on the shoulders of the Brazilian superstar as he looks to inspire his country to World Cup glory on home soil for the first time, but with an international goal scoring record of 31 strikes in just 49 games the 22-year-old can deliver on the big stage.

Nearly a year ago to the day, Neymar opened the scoring for the Selecao after just three minutes with a spectacular strike in their opening Confederations Cup clash with Japan.

The former Santos star did not stop there as he also fired the first goal of the game in Brazil’s second match of that tournament against Mexico, who they face in the second match of their World Cup campaign.

Watch Neymar’s thunderous opening strike in the first match of the 2013 Confederations Cup:

Neymar, who is odds-on at 8/11 with the bookmaker to score at anytime during the tournament opener, is also in excellent goal scoring touch coming into the tournament having fired four strikes in his last five matches for his country.

He was on the scoresheet first as Brazil ran out 4-0 winners over Panama and he notched a hat-trick as his side walloped South Africa 5-0 in Johannesburg.

Brazil are 3/10 to open their World Cup campaign with victory, while Croatia are as long as 10/1 to crash the Samba party with the draw available at 4/1.

And it would be no surprise to see Neymar repeat his Confederations Cup heroics to start the celebrations from Brazil fans and Ladbrokes customers alike.

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