Brazil v Croatia: Hosts victorious opening night at 2014 World Cup is tarnished by Freds dive to earn penalty Striker takes a fall to ensure this tournament keeps coming up with new ways of alienating its audience when Neymar should have been star of the show Brazil v Croatia: Hosts victorious opening night is tarnished by Freds dive to earn penalty Penalty: The grounded Fred appeals after a challenge by Dejan Lovren Photo: GETTY IMAGES By Paul Hayward, Chief Sports Writer, Sao Paulo 12:18AM BST 13 Jun 2014 Comments11 Comments After all the acrimony and scandal, the last thing this World Cup needed was for a referee to reward a dive in the penalty box by the host nation’s centre-forward, thus tarnishing a night that should have belonged to Neymar, the elected world beater of this Brazil team. Not long after elbowing Croatia’s Ivica Olic in the face, Neymar decided that his feet needed to do the next bit. The dragged shot that brought the hosts level in this dramatic World Cup opening match was a catharsis for the star and his nation. His disputed penalty, after Fred had dropped like a bag of lead under a feather challenge, was less worthy of celebration. This tournament is ingenuous in finding new ways to alienate its audience. Oscar’s toe-poke for Brazil’s third at the end did not remove the fug of disillusionment. Pity, because there were two immense emotional highs. The first was a belting out of the Brazilian national anthem that showed how much pressure the country has been under not to embarrass itself in the eyes of the world. The other was when Neymar’s first goal brought squad and staff together for a mass touchline love-in while the Sao Paulo crowd let rip with their joy. The anthem told a mighty story. The impromptu acapella encore was so loud, so passionate, that several of Luiz Felipe Scolari’s team started pogoing and shaking their heads around. After the strikes, protests, waste and justifiable cynicism, this was Brazil relocating its togetherness, its love of football and its hope that the next four weeks will achieve what the 1950 final in Rio so miserably failed to do. Related Articles Brazil survive early scare in Sao Paulo 12 Jun 2014 Five things we learnt from Sao Paulo 13 Jun 2014 Brazil v Croatia, World Cup 2014: as it happened 12 Jun 2014 World Cup kicks off in Sao Paulo 12 Jun 2014 Brazil gears up for World Cup kick off 12 Jun 2014 Violence on streets as unrest mars start 12 Jun 2014 BOSS Watches Marilyn is the first to join BOSS Watches H1 Club As the players went to work, none carried quite the burden of Neymar, still only 22, and the country’s biggest recent footballing export. As if the young waif in the No10 shirt needed any reminding of his leading role in the country’s quest, Dunga, captain of the 1994 World Cup-winning side, said: “I feel just like everyone else, that Neymar must be more than just a promise. He can’t be a promise. He must be reality in order for us to win the World Cup.” Dunga’s hope was that in Brazil’s open spaces and without Lionel Messi to cramp his style at Barcelona, Neymar would join the ranks of his country’s great No10s by carrying the game to opponents. “His best thing is his dribbling, which he can’t show off at Barcelona,” he said. Neymar showed plenty to Olic before his goal. Rising for a header, he thrust his arm into the Croatian striker’s jaw and was shown a yellow card. With more of a bend in his arm – more of a pointed elbow – he might have been dismissed. Yuichi Nishimura, the Japanese referee, was doubtless mightily relieved not to have to shoot Bambi minutes into Brazil’s first World Cup for 64 years. In the anthem, this line caught the eye, or the ear: “Brazil, an intense dream, a vivid ray, Of love and hope descends to earth.” Neymar is meant to be that vivid ray. Frankly, Brazil’s back four give you the heebie-jeebies. The full-backs, Dani Alves and Marcelo, are not hard to get behind and the centre-halves, David Luiz and Thiago Silva, are often not within phoning distance. This open style spreads the play. But Croatia will not be the only team at this World Cup to see wide open spaces to attack. If the hosts are to slay the demons of 1950, it is likely to be with a risky defensive strategy. This only increases the responsibility on Neymar, who answered the call on 29 minutes when Chelsea’s Oscar danced his way round three Croatian shirts and released the ball for him to advance and cut a left-foot shot wide of Stipe Pletikosa. The other day, Rivelino, another to wear the sacred jersey, said: “The importance of the No10 shirt has unfortunately ended. Today the holding midfielders open the game up more than the No10. What used to be the function of the No10 doesn’t exist in Brazilian football anymore.” An interesting point, but not one that applied to this game. We gathered for this game in a changed world. The previous night, kids on bikes and curious locals had buzzed all round the stadium. Their faces wore the glow of proximity to a huge event in their front yard. The next morning they were gone. The same faces peered through a distant exclusion zone manned by paramilitary police. The Fifa bubble had closed, leaving only the accredited and the lucky ones inside. Brazilians have a lot to protest about, but the government was never going to allow its $11.5billion (£6.8billion) splurge to overshadowed by mass protest. A public holiday drained much of the traffic from the roads. Concession stalls advertised an array of food but sold only crisps and peanuts. The point had come where the country could/would do no more to please its visitors. In the words of the old military junta slogan: “Brazil: love it or leave it.” Or, as Pope Francis said in a televised message: “To win, we must overcome individualism, selfishness, all forms of racism, intolerance and manipulation of people.” Thus began probably the most political of all World Cups. The game itself was good. Neymar is off the mark. But there is still no escaping what the head of the Brazilian federation said: “If we don’t win, we’ll go to hell.”
Posted on: Fri, 13 Jun 2014 05:29:18 +0000
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