One of Brazil's greatest players, Marcos Roberto Silveira Reis, reminded the national team players to focus at the task at hand and not get caught up with the fan euphoria that is taking over the country.

As a former national team member himself and the main goalkeeper of the Brazilian squad in the 2002 FIFA World Cup, Marcos understands the anxiety enveloping the team as the opening matches near on. Marcos expects that the first game of the tournament against Croatia is the most crucial as nerves may get the better of the players. He relates that he felt the most relaxed during the finals against Germany in 2002 as compared to the opener against Turkey.

''It's tough to handle the anxiety for this first match, especially here at home,'' Marcos said this week , Yahoo Sports reports. ''You have to find a way not to get caught up in this euphoria from the fans. The World Cup is all people are talking about now.''

He said that fan support is crucial to get players going but players have to be careful not to change the way they play because of the overzealous support.

''The crowd will be loud, giving its support to the team, and the players will want to do everything possible to do well,'' Marcos said. ''But that can be dangerous, if they just think about trying to score and forget about the game plan, it can open up unwanted spaces on the defense, and it can actually hurt the team.''

Marcos is widely regarded as one of the former players to be tapped by the coaching team of Brazil to give inspirational talks to pep up the squad days leading up to competitions. Marcos was instrumental for Brazil in 2002, when he completed two great saves in the final alone, when Germany was beaten 2-0 to capture Brazil's fifth world title.

After playing Croatia in the opening salvo, Brazil will soon face Mexico and Cameroon in Group A. It is currently ranked 3rd in the FIFA rankings entering the tournament just behind behemoth teams such as Spain and Germany.