Brazil have beaten Croatia 3-1 in the opening match of the 2014 World Cup at Sao Paulo, but the scoreline doesn’t tell the initial story of the match where Brazil went behind early in an unexpected fashion.
Brazil conceded an own goal after Marcelo gifted Croatia to open the scoring for the 2014 World Cup. From then on it was a rescue mission.
Brazilian star Neymar got the home side back on track with a precise strike that came off the right goal post into the net.
The goal came shortly after Neymar escaped a red card following a clash with Luka Modric.
Many thought the World Cup opener was headed for a draw, a result not many saw coming with Brazil playing at home.
But this thought was quickly followed by converting a controversial penalty after Lovren was ruled to have pulled down Fred in a questionable decision that many commentators called soft.
Oscar put the match beyond doubt in the first minute of injury time, toe-poking home a goal that should’ve been saved by the Croatian goalkeeper.
With Mexico and Cameroon next to come, Brazil are well positioned to make an expected progression through the group stage, in quest of a record sixth World Cup title.
Croatian coach Niko Kovac was rightly furious at the decision that broke the game open.
“If anybody saw that was a penalty, let them raise their hand. I cannot raise my hand. I didn’t see it,” said Kovac.
“If you continue in this vein then there will be 100 penalties during this World Cup.”
Kovac branded the spot kick award “ridiculous”, saying he blamed himself for not saying during Wednesday’s press conference that he would be “keeping a beady eye on the referee”.
The disappointed coach said he felt his team had deserved to earn at least one point from the match, and said he was proud of how his players performed in front of passionate Brazil supporters.
He didn’t blame Fred for tumbling in front of the goal mouth.
“I cannot blame Fred because everybody tries to do that. This is part of the sport whether you like it or not. This is part and parcel of football.
“What I want is for the referees to stick to the laws of the game, applying them equally to both teams. The referee was well placed, he was not unsighted, he saw everything and he took that decision.”
What were your assessments of the game Roarers? Mike Tuckerman clearly didn’t see it the same way as Kovac:
Ugliest aspect of modern football. Croatia outplayed, made silly mistakes… “but hey, it’s the referee’s fault we lost!” Weak. #BRAvsCRO
— Mike Tuckerman (@Mike_Tuckerman) June 13, 2014
Steve Kerr
Roar Rookie
nickoldschool
Roar Guru
Agree, in terms of football quality that's the best first half of a WC opening game I have seen and even the 2nd half was very decent considering what was at stake for the host nation (in particular). Even the penalty stuff isn't a let down imo: as a non Brasil fan (to put it mildly), i thought that was not a penalty when I saw it live but have to say after re-watching it this arvo I feel its not a scandalous decision to award it. We all have seen much much worse decision in most sports! As an aside I was very surprised by the pace and high tempo of the game, was expecting a much more 'latin' approach.
Johnno
Guest
This is gonna be a much better World Cup than South Africa which was boring.
Fussball ist unser leben
Roar Guru
For me that was the most tension-filled opening match I can recall since Argentina played Cameroon in Milan in 1990. The result hung in the balance right until Oscar's goal in stoppage time after the 90'. The match had everything: host nation, passionate crowd (the BRA national anthem was spine tingling), individual brilliance, host nation falls behind, controversy. Twitter went into meltdown this morning.. and, that's only Game 1!
Fussball ist unser leben
Roar Guru
So, your summary of the opening game is: 1. diving, cheating & 2. soft sockah players going down Exactly what I'd expect from someone with your football background.
Photon
Guest
Nothing wrong with the penalty in my view, I think the slow motion just makes it look bad. This is not rugby, because of the speed at which football is played it is easier to impede a players momentum. I just think it's a penalty a referee gives sometimes and doesn't give sometimes. As a defender if you do what the defender did you're basically rolling the dice Finally, it's not as if some great injustice was donee, the Croats brought very little to this match other than trying to stop Brazil playing, even their goal was an own goal.
Batou
Guest
I'm with Tuckerman on this one. Brazil weren't at their best but were clearly a class above Croatia and deserved to win. I do think that the penalty was soft, but they do get given and the Croatian defender did give Fred a small pull. Anyone claiming that Croatia were hard done by with the disallowed 'goal' and supposed red card the Neymar is nuts though. For a start it was a clear foul on the keeper and then the Brazilian players stopped playing when the ref blew his whistle but may well have saved the shot if they hadn't. As for the Neymar foul on Modric, he did look over his shoulder, saw him coming but it looked to me like he was just trying to fend him off. It certainly wasn't a cynical elbow to the face. I thought that the ref could easily have given a few yellow cards for some of Croatia's challenges as well as for the reaction of their players to the penalty. He could also easily have waved play on rather than giving a fairly soft penalty, but I don't think that it would have changed the outcome of the match. All in all it was an entertaining game with Brazil deserving the win despite having a lot of room for improvement.
Dale Chaffey
Roar Rookie
Hey guys, I watched the first half of the game through sbs stream. Does anyone know the name of the commentator? He is way better than Tyler IMHO When i watched the 2nd half on my telly it seemed Tyler's commentary was on delay.
Roger
Guest
Ha!!
Ben of Phnom Penh
Roar Guru
You nervous about us meeting them in the round of 16? :D
magila cutty
Guest
Agree with other posters that the "penalty" was an embarressing. Also the free against Olic. Hope Brasil eliminated as early as possible.
Matthew Skellett
Guest
When I learned Croatia were going to play the first game vs the hosts I felt sorry for them they had been chosen as the sacrificial lamb on the altar of sport realpolitik expediency
Roger
Guest
Brazil weren't very convincing. Absolutely there were moments of brilliance, but - on the whole - did not really quite gel. If you need to dive to win a game, you don't deserve to win - plain and simple. And don't give me "but they won 3-1" rubbish, as who knows what would have happened if they didn't dive and didn't get the penalty. The game dynamics changed completely after that point. I have no love for Croatia, but they were hard done by.
TomC
Roar Guru
It was a great game. It had everything, including some controversy. The penalty does spoil it a litlte for me, I'll admit, but right now I'm almost literally shaking with excitement about the start of what I reckon will be a brilliant tournament.
AR
Guest
Brazil are obviously the better team, but what a shame... Fred's dive was an appalling advertisement for the host country in its first game. Cheating - plain and simple. In fact, I felt much of the game was marred by the Brazilian antics - the foul count was 21-5...seriously. It's not as if Brazil need any more help in this tournament...hopefully the refs, and players, can be better going forward.
Steve Kerr
Roar Rookie
Horrible goalkeeping and worse refereeing looked like the key features in this match. Oscar and Neymar showed a lot of skill, but all three goals against Croatia could and should have been stopped. Neymar's penalty was an embarrassment in how it was earned, how it was executed, and how it was celebrated (Thank you blessed JESUS for giving us a cowardly ref and useless keeper) Croatia's 2nd goal shouldn't have been disallowed. Neymar could, strictly speaking, have been looking at a red for his elbow on Modric, given that the replay clearly shows him taking a look, then deliberately taking aim. Now putting all that aside, I can totally understand that Brazil looked like the better team in terms of ability and potential, but they're going to have to do a lot better if they want to keep up with Germany, Spain or Argentina. (well, unless there's been a FIFA edict that Brazil have to win, and all referees are now working for the home-side!)