... Neymar should have been sent of for that intentional elbow, referee chickens out, and he goes on to score 2 goals, among which a penalty that should never-ever been given. Ridiculous.
An intentional elbow to the face is a red card. You could see Neymar clearly eyeing the man, not the ball, before he went in with his elbow. It should have been a straight red, absolutely no doubt about it.
I don't think he intentionally meant to hurt him, had Modric hit Neymar and Modric gets a red card, everybody would be screaming that Neymar is a diver and it was an unfair game. No, I wouldn't kill a good game based on an elbow to the face, Neymar made a dumb mistake, and it looked bad, a yellow is enough, that's what I saw.
Brazil on this performance are all hype. Flattering scoreline to say the least. Took some bad refereeing to swing it their way; a bit of favouritism maybe or a lot of pressure on the ref. I got them in a draw to win it but can't see it happening on this performance.
One game, one bad decision and already memes and claims of corruption flying all over the internet, pathetic. Croatia never looked like a team that could win it, only draw. Neymar pulled a goal out of nowhere, when the erst if the team had no idea on how to get in. Oscar's goal in the final minutes proves Brazil played better and deserved their win. Of course, they didn't play as good as expected, but I would wait to say they'll struggle later on or won't make it far, a lot of big teams struggle early on.
"Croatia never looked like a team that could win it, only draw."
this is the world cup. every point counts. to be cheated out of one is massive. considering a team needs 5 points to safely qualify from the group and 4 points depending on other results, 1 point in the grand scheme of things is huge.
we never expected croatia to win but that doesn't mean they should get have a penalty given against them. lets be honest here, if the roles were reversed and croatia got such a soft penalty against brazil, we would all be up in arms.
One bad decision?? Try three or four! If Neymar was Croatian he would have been off, Fred dived and got a penalty, they got a free kick for a 50/50 between Olic and Cesar that Cesar fluffed (Croatia then scored) and Ramires burst through the back of a player to get the ball that sent Oscar through. I'd recommend Specsavers.
Neymar gets sent off and now you have way more people pissed off and mad that the ref "killed" the game. Again, I don't think that is a straight red card. Before the ref gives Neymar a red though he has to give Croatia's entire defensive line yellow cards for their early fouls and late challenges. As for Olic vs. Cesar, I saw Olic on Cesar with elbow over Cesar's shoulder, that call could've gone either way. As for Ramires getting the ball I saw a few Brazilians downed and the ref didn't call a foul, it just wasn't important because it didn't lead to a goal.
I don't need any type of shades, I just like to enjoy football and don't have much tolerance for whining, moaning, and angry memes.
@Kingpin, I agree everybody would be up in arms, just not the same people complaining now and sure as hell not as much.
Moments of the game; Marcelo with an unlucky own goal. Neymar gifted a 2nd chance with a yellow, should have seen red. Fred slips, ref hands Brazil an outrageous penalty. Croatia denied a 2nd goal as Julio Cesar was "impeded". Oscar takes on tiring Croatian defence as keeper fails to save at near post.
Brazil is all hype and no substance at the moment. Croatia is nowhere near quarter-final quality and Brazil needed some "divine intervention" to get in front and keep ahead.
I'm brazilian and that match was a shame! No way that is a penalty. I hope that World Cup is not bought. Corruption of the local government and Fifa, now that ridiculous performance of the referee, ridiculous.
Yeah did you see the goal line tech replay they did for that goal? Thank god for that replay, even after the ball hit the net and Brazil had to pick it out I wasn't quite sure!
man I really feel bad for the underdogs of the World Cup if this is the start.So much cheating it's unfair! Croatia could've beaten Brazil if it weren't for the bad referee decisions and Fred diving.Man if Madzu and the defender weren't sent off...
No surprises here.
Brazil on this performance are all hype. Flattering scoreline to say the least. Took some bad refereeing to swing it their way; a bit of favouritism maybe or a lot of pressure on the ref. I got them in a draw to win it but can't see it happening on this performance.
that penalty, someone needs to give that ref glasses. ASAP
as for the brazil hype, on this performance they are going to struggle against other big teams. lets hope they improve.....a lot.
croatia had a good game. cant really fault them much. they were close to getting a result.
oscar for me was man of the match.
Glad to have football back. that 3 week break was a killer. Only junk on tv.
One game, one bad decision and already memes and claims of corruption flying all over the internet, pathetic. Croatia never looked like a team that could win it, only draw. Neymar pulled a goal out of nowhere, when the erst if the team had no idea on how to get in. Oscar's goal in the final minutes proves Brazil played better and deserved their win. Of course, they didn't play as good as expected, but I would wait to say they'll struggle later on or won't make it far, a lot of big teams struggle early on.
The world cup has begun!
And what a way to begin!
:D