While it's easy to lose oneself in the excitement of the World Cup as the tournament rolls into its second week, the protests, with Brazilian citizens angry at the cost of hosting the tourney, are as much a part of the backdrop as is Copacabana Beach.

The seeds of discontent in Brazil first flared up last year during the Confederation Cup -- a dress rehearsal for the World Cup -- with as many as a million people taking to the streets upset about ponying up a large chunk of the $10.9 billion bill to host the World Cup, with the private sector picking up less than 15 percent. Stadium construction alone ballooned up to three times over the proposed budget.

While many of the protests have been peaceful, some clashes between police and protesters have gotten violent -- with some using more "Black Bloc" tactics this time around, vandalizing and destroying property private and public. The most recent clash happened as the Uruguay-England match was ending, 15 miles from Arena Corinthians in Sao Paulo.

"The middle class is now almost totally out of the streets. The dissatisfaction is still there, but they are scared of the violence and the Black Blocs. Now it's much more aggressive," Armando Castelar Pinheiro, an economist who is coordinator of applied economic research at the Getúlio Vargas Foundation, told the Miami Herald.

In a recent Pew Research Center report, more than 6 in 10 (61 percent) Brazilians polled believe hosting the World Cup was a bad idea considering the money spent for the tournament could have been used to improve public education, health care, infrastructure and other services. And despite the fact that the World Cup could attract more than 3.5 million people to Brazil's 12 host cities, only 34 percent of Brazilians polled believe it "will create more jobs and help the economy."

Brazilians believe the public money spent could have been used to address national issues -- from better health care, education and certainly infrastructure. Instead of spending the money on stadiums, they wanted it spent on much-needed roads to connect cities throughout the country.

No facility better exemplifies the ire of the Brazilian taxpayer than Arena da Amazônia in the city of Manaus -- a city in a remote part of the Amazon unreachable by car. A monorail was originally proposed as part of the deal to build Arena da Amazônia, but the public transportation component of the project was dropped once construction costs kept increasing.

The facility cost $270 million and will host only four matches -- none in the knockout phase. Locals don't know what they will do with the stadium after the World Cup is over; no nearby team can use it. Rumors are that it may be converted into a penitentiary after the tournament is over.

"I think it was an absurd amount of money spent," Joel Barsky, a Brazilian soccer fan who was watching the Brazil-Croatia World Cup opening game at Favela Grill in Queens, New York, said to Latin Post. "There are at least two that will never be used. After [the World Cup], they have no teams in those cities. So it was completely pointless to put a stadium there. So I totally see why the protests are occurring."

Barsky, who lived in Brazil during the Confederation Cup and now resides in New York City, noted that the protests are aimed at FIFA and Dilma Rousseff, not so much at the five-time World Cup winning national team, which is exalted by the soccer-crazed nation.

"The people protesting, I bet you they are definitely watching the game," Barsky said. "They're protesting against the Brazilian government. Brazilian soccer team? That's just a totally separate thing."

One of the more poignant moments of last year's Confederation Cup was the nationalistic pride in the stands, on the pitch and outside Estádio do Maracanã during the finals of the tournament, despite the monthlong protests that marred the tournament.

The Brazilians managed to tap into nationalistic pride to defeat Spain 3-0 in the Confederation Cup title game, harnessing the turmoil surrounding the entire tournament to unite Brazil. Brazil head coach Luiz Felipe Scolari, who has allowed his players to openly talk about the issues affecting the country, hopes his team can again tap into Brazilian pride for the World Cup run as it did during the Confederation Cup, rather than have it be a distraction.

"They are national team players, and they are on a mission," Scolari said. "They can express themselves and say, 'Look, I also want a better Brazil,' but I don't want it to be something that causes problems to our environment."

But what if Brazil fails to advance out of the Group Stage? Though Brazil is in first place in its group, Mexico and Croatia have made life difficult for the local national team, with both teams right behind in the standings, and only two teams able to advance to the Round of 16. Brazil won the Confederation Cup despite the protests, but could the demonstrations intensify if the "A Seleção" -- a favorite to win -- is eliminated early?

"That's a question no one has asked," Fox Deportes "Central Fox" host Marion Reimers told Latin Post prior to the start of the tournament. "The debate has been very controversial for Brazilians, and the protests can be something that is very positive or very negative for the team considering the issues being discussed. But what happens if Brazil is eliminated early? Will that add more anger to the protest with the team out of the World Cup? That's truly question no one has really considered."