Tonight’s open thread for your enjoyment. Tomorrow we’ll be covering Keylor Navas, Toni Kroos, Casemiro, and Marcelo with their respective national teams — and we’ll also be shooting your way our weekly Managing Madrid Podcast.

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Marcelo will be captaining Brazil’s opener against Switzerland

“It’s something I like about leadership, I feel I can transmit it to the group,” Marcelo said.

”Everybody contributes to the group. I’m 30 years old and everything you go through in football, you take something from it.

”Way back as a child playing football on the beach, you dream of being a player representing your national team on the big stage - and now I get to be the captain.

”It’s something money can’t buy.”

On the ‘traumas’ of the 7 - 1:

“These are things that happen in football,” he said.

”Of course I wish it were different. There’s no trauma, if there was trauma I wouldn’t play football any more, I would have retired.

”I look for a goal and I try to keep my focus on it. The World Cup is another challenge, tomorrow there’s another one.

”To not get hurt is one, to train without pain is a challenge, to change from my club to the national team. Life is made up of challenges.

”There’s no trauma. Even the good things don’t go to my head and I don’t let the bad things affect me.”

Zlatan defends Benzema

“For me, it’s not normal Benzema is not in the national team,” Zlatan Ibrahimovic told beIN SPORTS.

“He’s one of the best in the world, he won the Champions League, he plays in Madrid, that he’s not in this team has nothing to do with football.

”If the coach has a decision in saying he’s not good enough for this team then the coach should not be there, but Benzema should. It’s very easy.

”I find it very ridiculous that he’s not there because if you want to win, you get winners, and Benzema is a winner.”

Jose Mourinho speaks about Cristiano Ronaldo’s intelligence

“He’s got what I used to call the feeling of the game, the specific intelligence of playing football,” Mourinho told RT.

”He knows the team is in trouble, he knows the team is not creating, he’s frustrated on the pitch, nobody could see Portugal scoring and he knows one possibility of scoring is set plays.”

“That position is a position I saw him train free-kicks for hours after training, asking one of my assistants to put the wall for him, to stay with him and give him balls,” he said.

”He was looking for that, he gave his body to [Gerard] Pique, looked for contact. He’s clever, in control of every detail.

”His record lately is not the best for the number of free-kicks he takes for club and the national team, but this one is critical and crucial. It’s what can affect the team, the confidence, the next match, the rivalry, what it means for the Portuguese people.”

Gerard Pique not happy with Cristiano

“We have had more chances. They had three shots and scored three goals,” Pique said after Spain’s 3 - 3 draw with Portugal.

”Games go one way and you have to face it.

”Finding yourself in the opening game of a World Cup with a penalty against you in the second minute, you have to leave with good feelings after how the match went.

”Cristiano is prone to throwing himself.”

Assorted