BY FLORA LYIMO FASHION POLICE BLOG'Neymar the Redeemer: Brazil's No 10 strikes a pose after his second goal and looks like the famous statue in Rio'
Oscar scored the goal of the night, so in the end it did not matter. A lovely little prod, knowing Croatian goalkeeper Stipe Pletikosa was dreadfully slow down, put sufficient distance between these teams to restore credibility.
Until that moment, however, this was one for the conspiracy theorists. After the penalty that gave Brazil the lead, and Croatia’s disallowed goal, if this is the way the World Cup is to be won, it appears the scandals will not be limited to events off the field.
One of the softest penalty decisions of recent memory was all that divided the teams until Oscar intervened in the last minute, giving the more extreme cynics a head start on their speculation about the lengths the governing body will go to in order to keep the hosts in the tournament.
Brazil had the best of the game, but were struggling to find a way through when Fred – not as exciting a forward as his name suggests – backed in to Dejan Lovren and then fell beneath the merest contact from the Croatian defender. Yuichi Nishimura, the Japanese referee, needed no second invitation to do the bidding of the Arena Corinthians and pointed to the spot. Brazil’s No 10 did the rest.
BY FLORA LYIMO FASHION POLICE BLOG'Spot on (just about): Neymar puts his penalty past Stipe Pletikosa despite the Croatia keeper getting a hand to it''
BY FLORA LYIMO FASHION POLICE BLOG'Finishing it off nicely: Oscar curls in the third Brazil goal with the outside of his right foot
BY FLORA LYIMO FASHION POLICE BLOG'No stopping that: Stipe Pletikosa looks on as the ball goes past him and into the net for No 3
BY FLORA LYIMO FASHION POLICE BLOG' He's all heart: An emotional Oscar celebrates scoring Brazil's clincher''
BY FLORA LYIMO FASHION POLICE BLOG'Going down easily: Fred falls under the challenge of Dejan Lovren and the referee gives a penalty to Brazil'
BY FLORA LYIMO FASHION POLICE BLOG' A big hug from Big Phil: Luiz Felipe Scolari embraces Neymar following his equaliser for Brazil
BY FLORA LYIMO FASHION POLICE BLOG'Running the show: Neymar (left) is jubilant after scoring Brazil's first goal of the World Cup''
BY FLORA LYIMO FASHION POLICE BLOG' Left foot forward: Neymar rifles in a shot from outside the box which sneaks into the corner''
BY FLORA LYIMO FASHION POLICE BLOG'Despairing dive: Croatia goalkeeper Stipe Pletikosa fails to save Neymar's effort from the edge of the box''MBUTA NANGA!!
BY FLORA LYIMO FASHION POLICE BLOG' Clattered: Neymar is flattened by Vedran Corluka in the second half
BY FLORA LYIMO FASHION POLICE BLOG' Smash: Luka Modric takes one in the face from Neymar during the first half
BY FLORA LYIMO FASHION POLICE BLOG'Elbowed out: Modric goes down after his clash with Brazil's No 10
BY FLORA LYIMO FASHION POLICE BLOG'In trouble: Neymar looks uncomfortable as Modric hits the deck
BY FLORA LYIMO FASHION POLICE BLOG' Cautionary tale: Neymar (left) receives a yellow card for his suspected elbow on Modric
BY FLORA LYIMO FASHION POLICE BLOG' Shocker: Marcelo (right) looks aghast as his own goal gives Croatia the lead, much to the delight of Ivan Perisic'
BY FLORA LYIMO FASHION POLICE BLOG' Unexpected: Marcelo (second right) steers the ball beyond his own keeper Julio Cesar
They bounced back, bravely, energetically, to level the scores by half-time through Neymar. That this World Cup’s poster boy should score the first Brazilian goal was fitting: whether he should have been on the field by then is another matter.
In the 27th minute, he jumped for a ball with Luka Modric. Before he leapt, however, glanced across to check the position of his opponent and, when he went up, poked a forearm in his face. The look was the key. Referees will sometimes let such incidents slide if it looks inadvertent, but Neymar knew precisely what he was doing. So did Croatia, who reacted instantly. Japanese referee Yuichi Nishimura brandished a yellow card, instantly, but could just as easily have reached for red. It would have been a brave man who sent off Brazil’s hero in waiting in front of his home crowd less than 30 minutes into his first World Cup game, though. Few referees are that brave.
BY FLORA LYIMO FASHION POLICE BLOG'Samba skills: Neymar (left) tries to turn past Croatia's Ivan Rakitic''
BY FLORA LYIMO FASHION POLICE BLOG'Nerves: Marcelo (left) and Neymar look pensive during the first half of the World Cup opener
BY FLORA LYIMO FASHION POLICE BLOG'Glamour: Claudia Leitte (left), Jennifer Lopez and Pitbull (right) perform during the opening ceremony'
The price of Nishimura’s leniency was high for Croatia, though, for two minutes later Neymar equalised. Oscar of Chelsea did the hard yards, mopping up in midfield and riding two challenges to slip the ball to his team-mate, and there was undoubtedly contributory negligence from goalkeeper Pletikosa who fell with all the grace of the giant in Jack and the Beanstalk, but it was a priceless moment, nonetheless.
Neymar’s shot did not have great power and it wasn’t struck cleanly, either, but he somehow squirrelled it away, low, into a corner and with Pletikosa going down in instalments, as the professionals say, it was enough to level the scores via the inside of a post.
Sadly, Pletikosa’s clumsiness erased the memory of a fine save made from an Oscar shot earlier, but that is the nature of World Cups. Moments, moments.
TUMECHOTA NA KUMIMINA KUTOKA DM ILIMJIFUNZE' NA FLORA LYIMO ATAHAKIKISHA ANAWALETEENI MATOKEO YOTE YA WORLD CUP HAPA HAPA'' SO MSIKOSEE'JUST FOLLOW THIS BLOG'
FLORA LYIMO FASHION POLICE BLOG
No comments:
Post a Comment