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GRNlive correspondent Bruce Douglas in Rio de Janeiro says 2 stories are occupying Brazilan minds at the moment

Do Brazilians still love their national side?

With the accouncement of the Brazilan team, will this finally get Brazilians excited about the World Cup? So far, there has been a lack of interest - Rio's mayor's office has yet to receive an application for painting streets in national colours - normally a tradition; lots of football fans are disillusioned with the players - most of whom play in Europe and have less of a local connection; they also hate the CBF - the Brazilian FA - which is mired in corruption scandals. FIFA has antagonised a lot of would-be supporters, and many resent the disruption to their cities that the World Cup is causing.

How safe is Rio, and Brazil, for World Cup tourists?

On 5 May an extra 2,000 military police officers began patrolling the streets of Rio de Janeiro. The latest deployment follows the publication, on 2 May, of the latest data from Rio’s Institute of Public Safety, showing an increase in both homicides and robberies in the state in the first quarter of 2014. Crime has now been rising in Rio de Janeiro for the past nine months. It comes at the worst possible time for the state authorities, when the international press are scrutinising Rio’s reputation for violent crime ahead of the World Cup. According to the ISP report, murders in the interior of the state year-on-year increased by 44.92%; in the city, the increase was 1.67%. In the city, robberies of commercial premises were up 85%; muggings of pedestrians up 43%.  Still Rio is one of Brazil's safer cities…

Brazil has 16 of the world’s 50 most violent cities, including Fortaleza, Salvador, Natal, Manaus and Belo Horizonte – all World Cup host cities. Police in Salvador recently went on strike over pay – if we see that elsewhere during the Cup there could be a serious rise in criminality.