There is a reason why the hosts have never lost their opening game at a World Cup and tonight we found out why. One, they have the massive enthusiasm and support of their home fans and two and maybe more importantly, if there are decisions to be made, they are most likely to end on the positive end of them. You have got to feel sorry for Croatia after tonight's opening match of the 2014 World Cup. Croatia played the game brilliantly, attacked with purpose, had two brilliant central midfield performances but unfortunately for them, they were let down by the referee and their own goalkeeper.
The opening match of previous World Cups have been curious affairs. From the controversial and shocking game between Cameroon and Argentina that opened Italia 90 to the 8 goal affair between Germany and Costa Rica at Germany 2006. There has often been a major story from these games and tonight was no different. The game had a surprise goal to open the game, a shocking refereeing decision, a wonderful display from Modric, Neymar and Oscar and a goalkeeping display that was laborious at best.
Croatia came into the game as massive underdogs but they caused Brazil plenty of problems tonight and with any luck will be in this tournament after the second week. They attacked Brazil in a quasi counter-attacking policy which penetrated the Brazilian defence 3 or 4 times in the opening 20 minutes. This tactic paid off and Croatia opened the scoring through an own goal from Marcelo, the first time a World Cup has begun with an own goal. To be fair to Brazil they responded to the goal with guts and determination and did not wilt amongst the expectation of their home support. A shot from outside the box from Neymar crept into the bottom corner late in the first half and the sides went in at half time in what was an open and entertaining first half.
The second half had begun slowly and Croatia were frustrating the hosts and it was not until Fred felt an arm on his shoulders and went down, did the game have its biggest talking point. Fred fell to the ground and the referee quickly pointed to the spot. Penalty !!! the Croatian players surrounded the referee and he defiantly waved away their protests and brandished a yellow card to the Southampton defender Lovren. An extremely harsh decision which caused the Brazilian striker to thank the heavens. He had been anonymous until that point and this was his only major input to the game. The penalty was taken by Neymar and a poor penalty was nearly saved by the keeper but in the end finished in the back of the net.
2-1 and the rest of the world began to shift their support from Brazil to Croatia. From then on the Croats were out of their comfort zone and were chasing a game they did not deserve to be behind in. Towards the end of the game they caused panic in the Brazilian defence with David Luis causing panic to even the most laid back Brazilian fan. Seconds after one of these panic stations, Oscar broke into the Croatian half and struck his shot with his toe from 25 yards out and caught the keeper by surprise and the ball found the back of the net. Once again the keeper was slow to get down. Not taking away anything from Oscar's effort but this was a poor goalkeeping display from Stipe Pletikosa and in the end he cost his side.
So Brazil get over the first hurdle with a little help from poor goalkeeping, poor refereeing decisions and good performances from Neymar and Oscar. But there are serious question marks hanging over this Brazilian team. To most observers of the English Premiership, the decision to choose Paulinho over Fernandinho seems a strange one. However Scolari has a history of choosing pragmatism over romanticism. This is not samba football but it is effective football and although this Brazilian team has flaws, it will go a long way with home support, favourable refereeing decisions and a coach who knows how to win. Write them off at your peril.
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