itsbeautifuloutside

Any suspicions that Brazil’s footballers would shrink beneath the weight of expectations were dispelled before kick-off. TV shots from the tunnel and the singing of the second verse of their National Anthem showed that the guys in the yellow were up for the challenge.

It was interesting that both Paulinho and Gustavo got the nod in the middle. Hulk and Oscar were asked to play wide and Neymar was sat behind Fred. My paper suggested Lovren wouldn’t start but there he was alongside Corluka. Both Croatian full backs were right footed. Rakatic was asked to sit so Modric could get forward. Jelavic led the line with Perisic and Olic on the flanks.

There was nothing cautious about this opening game. Brazil moved the ball quickly as they sought openings and Croatia gave as good as they got. Indeed, Croatia created the first opportunity when Olic got his head to Perisic’s cross but missed the target. On 10 minutes Croatia were one up.

Modric set Olic free down the left. His low cross reached Jelavic whose bungled shot went through Luiz and was swept into the goal by the backtracking Marcelo. A nation gasped.

Marcelo looked uncomfortable but Brazil had plenty of time to put things right. Down the right Oscar was tormenting the stand-in left back. On 14 minutes he swung in a decent cross but Fred, not for the only time, seemed static. The ball also evaded Neymar’s acrobatic attempt to control it beyond the far post. Then Alves brilliantly controlled a long forward pass before hitting his cross straight at the keeper.

On 20 minutes Paulinho evaded both centre backs and struck a firm shot which was beaten away by Pletikosa. The keeper was again called to action when Neymar’s cross found Oscar and his shot was saved. Croatia’s only on-target attempt of the half came when Jelavic met a cross but headed the ball straight at Cesar.

Neymar collected the first booking of the competition when he straight-armed Modric in the middle of the park. Two minutes later Neymar levelled the scores. Oscar rode a couple of firm tackles in the centre circle. He prodded the ball forward and Neymar hit it low and early and in off a post.

There followed a period of intense Brazilian pressure. Croatia defended deep and Modric made a superb interception to thwart Hulk. As the tackles became more desperate, free kicks were awarded. On 40 minutes Rakatic upended Neymar who blasted his shot against the wall. The following short corner was wasted.

Croatia still looked to get forward and were exposed to the counter attack. Only a linesman’s flag halted Oscar as he drove downfield. Back on the attack, Brazil were halted when Lovren blocked Neymar. Then Olic lost possession but Hulk fired wide. 2 minutes of injury time passed without incident. Half time 1-1.

The second period saw more Brazil pressure. Despite promising not to “park the bus” there were periods when Kovac’s team did just that. Oscar won a free kick but it was wasted. I had to laugh on 51 minutes when Lovren tried to shepherd a ball out and was pushed over by Paulinho. Away at Spurs in the Prem, no foul: here in Sao Paolo, Dejan was given a free kick.

Neymar and Oscar continued to mount attacks, the former over-hitting a pass from a promising position. From the hour mark substitutes began to come on. Croatia enjoyed a good period of possession after Brozovic joined. Then Hernanes came on for Paulinho.

On 65 minutes Neymar was chopped down by Corluka who was booked. Dani Alves fired over from the free-kick. Brazil then replaced the misfiring Hulk with Bernard and on 69 minutes they went ahead.

It would appear Dejan Lovren has requested a transfer to a club in the Champions League (try Dnipro or Donetsk maybe but don’t forget the flak jacket). Should he get his wish he’ll find himself regularly marking international centre-forwards. Hopefully he will learn that, should he grab their shoulder as a ball is played into the box, such forwards will collapse like a sack of spuds and claim a penalty. Fred did just that and Mr Nishimura obliged by pointing to the spot. Soft it may have been but entirely predictable. Neymar struck the ball at a reasonable height and, despite getting both gloves on it, Pletikosa managed to shovel it into the goal. 2-1 Brazil.

From that point onwards we had a cracking game as Croatia sought an equaliser and Brazil counter-attacked. Even the stupidity of the commentators could not detract from some lovely football.  After 72 minutes Perisic drove an excellent cross in from the right and Luiz managed to clear over his own bar. Then Brazil went forward. Oscar hit an even better cross to the back post but Luiz headed wide with Neymar closing in behind him.

On 77 minutes Jelavic came off, Rebic went left side and Olic moved up-front. On 79 minutes Neymar’s left wing corner was met at the near post by Fred and/or Corluka and the ball flashed across the Croat goal and out for a throw.

On 83 minutes Olic met a cross at the back stick with Cesar flapping and falling over. The ball was blocked by Luiz, then rolled in by a Croat but the lino had his flag up and Brazil got a free kick. No-one seemed sure what it was for. Croatia kept at it, winning corners and Cesar was forced to save from Modric.

On 87 minutes Neymar was replaced by Ramires. In the 89th minute Hernanes skinned a couple of Croat defenders on the left wing and the ITV commentators mistook his fabulous skill for a fluke. How I hate bloody ITV!

In injury time Cesar was forced into another save and Luiz blocked the follow up. Immediately Oscar gathered the ball in midfield, broke forward at pace and then toe-poked past the sluggish keeper for a 3rd. 3-1 Brazil.

The remaining injury time ticked away and Brazil ran out deserved winners. Oscar’s goal was the icing on the cake but I’d already marked him down as Man of the Match. He was excellent.

I could not listen to the ITV idiots droning on about cheating. There was none. The Japanese ref had a reasonable game: he may have been generous with some decisions but that is what happens at World Cups. People looking for evidence of skulduggery might well start with the performance of Croatia’s goalkeeper – 2 soft shots that he took ages getting down to either side of a penalty he had both hands on yielded 3 goals. I’d be really disappointed if Artur played that poorly for Saints.

Anyway, the World Cup is up and running. Brazil won their first match yet the public still seem pissed off. So are Croatia but they have two winnable games to put things right.

Bring it on!