Jennifer Lopez kicks off the World Cup and Neymar fires Brazil to comeback victory!

Jennifer Lopez kicked off the FIFA World Cup 2014 in style on Thursday, as she performed at the Opening Ceremony in Brazil.

The 44-year-old singer showed off her incredible figure in a sparkling leotard she sang the official FIFA song We Are One (Ole Ola) alongside rapper Pitbull and singer Claudia Leitte.

There had been initial reports that Jennifer was due to drop out, but by the looks of her energetic performance there was nothing that could have kept her away from the stage.

Dressed by the Lebanese Designer Charbel Zoe Khoury.

The song is the lead single from the World Cup album, and follows on from Shakira’s 2010 anthem Waka Waka.

The trio put on a spirited show as they jumped up and down on stage, swaying their arms and encouraging the screaming crowds to join in.

As they finished the song and walked around the stadium, Jennifer looked overcome with emotion and almost tearful as she mouthed ‘thank you’ to the crowds and touched her chest with her hand.

Neymar fires Brazil to comeback victory!

Neymar was the star of the show as Brazil came from behind to secure a hard-fought 3-1 victory over Croatia in the opening match of the FIFA World Cup™. The hosts’ star No10 equalised after Marcelo’s own-goal, and converted a second-half penalty after Fred had been fouled by Dejan Lovren.

Croatia had the ball in the net before the end of the game, but Ivica Olic was adjudged to have fouled Julio Cesar in the build-up, and Oscar made sure of the victory late on.

The opening goal of the 2014 World Cup was remarkable in itself, the first own-goal scored by a Brazilian in the history of the tournament. Ivica Olic received the ball on the Croatia left and ran unopposed into the Brazilian half. His low cross fizzed across goal and was turned in by Marcelo, who failed to readjust his feet in time. Ivan Perisic was ready to pounce if the Real Madrid man had not made the final touch.

The crowd were stunned, but they rallied behind their side, who were level before the half-hour mark. Oscar worked hard to regain possession for Brazil in the middle of the park, before passing the ball to Neymar. The Barça man skipped free of a Perisic challenge, steadied himself, and fired hard and low with his left foot across Pletikosa. The ball rebounded off the post, nestled into the back of the Croatia net and the Arena de Sao Paulo erupted.

The remainder of the first half saw Brazil dominate possession, with Croatia looking dangerous on the counter-attack.

After more Seleção pressure in the second-half, the hosts went ahead. The ball was played into the box towards Fred, who tried to swivel to hit it towards goal. He was impeded by Lovren and the referee pointed to the spot. Neymar stepped up, delayed his run-up, and hit hard to Pletikosa’s right-hand side. Croatia’s No1 got a hand to it, but could not stop it putting Brazil ahead.

Despite a valiant effort by Croatia, including their disallowed goal, Brazil wrapped up the three points when Oscar fired home from the edge of the box.

Shakira Confirms She’s Expecting A Boy!

Colombian singer Shakira and FC Barcelona boyfriend Gerard Pique are having a baby boy, the singer confirmed to Germany’s RTL. The couple announced they were expecting their first child on September 19 through the singer’s website.

According to US Weekly, the mom-to-be was in the midst of admiring pictures of her interviewer’s son when she said, “He’s going to be able to play with mine.”

“Will it be a son?” the interviewer then asked. Shakira then responded simply, “Yeah.”

Rumors of the Latina’s pregnancy swirled over the summer, which were first reported by Colombian magazine Gente. Shakira finally confirmed the rumors in September. “As some of you may know, Gerard and I are very happy awaiting the arrival of our first baby!” the singer wrote.

The magazine also reported that the star and her boyfriend had taken to calling their baby “Ulicito” prompting further rumors that the couple was expecting a boy.

In her interview, the 35-year-old singer told RTL, “This guy [Pique] is the best thing that ever happened to me in my whole life. And now we’re having a baby.”

Shakira, who is an ambassador for UNICEF and has her own charity organization, the Barefoot Foundation, told RTL she’ll teach her son how important it is to give back. “[When] this little baby here…comes out of my body. He’ll have to understand that he needs to be an agent of change. He can be an agent of change,” Shakira said.

The singer, who has kept news of her pregnancy relatively quiet, is believed to have toxoplasmois, a parasitic disease that may be extremely dangerous to developing fetuses. HuffPost Voces reported that the disease is the reason why she had not confirmed the pregnancy earlier.

Shakira and Pique, 25, first met in 2010 while filming the music video for her South Africa World Cup single “Waka Waka (This Time for Africa).” The singer finally confirmed her relationship to the FC Barcelona defender through her Twitter and Facebook pages in March 29, 2011. Pique, who also plays for the Spanish National Team, won the 2010 World Cup and the 2012 Euro Cup Championship with his team.

According to Gente, Shakira is expected to give birth in January 2013 through cesarean section.