Written by: World Cup

Brazil Beats Croatia 3-1

The opening match of the 2014 FIFA World Cup saw hosts Brazil face Croatia in a thrilling 3-1 win for Brazil.

After a modest opening ceremony highlighting the gifts of Brazil: Nature, Dance, and Football, the two world cup squads headed toward the pitch as most of the Brazilian team fought back tears. The game started out slow as both teams took time to get rid of their pre-match nerves and from the first whistle Brazil showed that it would be playing as the dominant side as they controlled possession. After just 11 minutes of play Croatian forward, Ivica Olić crossed the ball into the box where it met with Brazilian defender, Marcelo who touched the ball and led it into his own side’s net, marking the first ever own goal Brazil has scored in a FIFA World Cup. 18 minutes later a fierce and hungry Brazilian team progressed up the pitch with a pass from Oscar to Neymar who dribbled to his left before taking a shot that bounced off the post and into the net barely beating Crotia’s defense and goalkeeper. The next goal wouldn’t come until the 71’st minute where referee Yuichi Nishimura mistook a flop from Fred and gave the Brazil national team a penalty which Neymar netted in after brushing the fingertips of Croatian goalkeeper, Stipe Pletikosa. Again at the 90+1st minute the referee made a mistake that would prove to cost Croatia the game even further when he denied a clear foul by Ramirez that led to Oscar clearing up the pitch and taking a shot that poked into a crevice in the Croatian net.

While the Brazilian fans roared in joy, the win was far from convincing. Although the statistics show a stronger Brazilian side, it was the Croatians who looked promising from the initial whistle. Brazil managed to keep possession but struggled to create clear chances that threatened their opponent. While Brazil may have won, many questions are still left to be answered and the road ahead looks very bumpy.

Tomorrow Group A continues with Mexico v Cameroon at 11:30 A.M. and The Florida Villager will continue to report post game every day of the World Cup, also expect to see game analysis for Brazil v Croatia.

(Visited 8 times, 1 visits today)
Tags: , , , , , , Last modified: June 13, 2014