Score: 3-1
Marcelo (OG) 11’ Neymar 29’ 71’ Penalty (unfair) Oscar 93’
Game attractiveness
rating – 6.1 – there were nice moments, but Brazil won what will
look like a convincing win whereas the game could have, and probably should have
been a 2-2 at most. More of a soap opera than a good football match.
Referee: Yuichi NISHIMURA (JPN)
Rating: 3.1 – Refering the first match of the World Cup is an honour that goes to the
best referees, and in this case Nishimura, who I learned to like and respect
over the years flopped miserably and set a worrying trend for this World Cup.
He gave in to the Brazillian crowd, awarded a non-penalty that changed
the game, and called off a legitimate Croatian equalizer. Possibly, there was a
foul on Modric by Ramires for the third Brazillian goal but it was a hard call.
His first half had been much better, and he gave a good card to Neymar
for purposefully smacking Modric in the face.
The statistics say it all, no one watching the Match would understand why Croatia was punished with 21 fouls and Brazil only 5, they were a bit more desperate but the second card to Lovren was undeserved and the first to Corulka would many times not been given.
Just like in the last Euro Croatia were screwed by a referee, for a team that plays such a great brand of football, and I must to say it wasn’t the only reason they lost, it never is, they go on with 0 points and many key yellow cards.
Ground enough to send Nishimura home, but since it was Brazil nothing
might happen.
Attendance: 61606
Brazilometer: the crowd seemed a bit sleepy at times during the
game, this Selecao is a bit too tame for them sometimes. Too much noise during
the Croatian anthem, show a little respect people.
Croatometer: A nice contingent of Croatians who were a minority
among the host fans, they could actually be heard to sing.
Goal of the Match: Neymar ’29, a very accuracte
bottom right pocket shot from 10 meters out of the box, excellent.
BRAZIL
Team cohesion: 6.8 – Brazil look breakable, the defence was the only unit that actually
seemed to tick as it should, the offence seemed all Neymar at times, the
midfield failed to do anything extraordinary for much of the match, too little
cooperation too many nerves in this team, watch this space.
Lineup
Júlio César:
4.5 – lucky, very lucky. My earlier
comments about Jeffersson were proven right. He was slow, had no ability to
catch even relatively easy balls remaining, made a mistake that could have
given Croatia the 2-2, and slapped loose a long range, weakfish Modric low
shot. Was one of the weak links for Brazil.
Dani Alves: 6.0 – Grandpa Olic rolled passed him two-or-three times too many. His passing
was very efficient with 70 passes completed, and he had 5 recovered balls, a
good defensive contribution, but added very little to the tempo. 10.34 km
covered.
Marcelo: 5.5 – made some decent tackles but was much less accurate in passing than
Dani Alves, and recovered 4 balls
and 2 tackles. Scored an unlucky own goal to open this tournament, something
terrible to be remembered for, what was he doing in the centre of defence? Ran
too little for a wingback with 9.21 km.
David Luiz: 6.9 – made good interventions,
two which I would call key. Was in the right place at the right time and made
up for Thiago Silva’s very quiet performance. At times there seemed to be too
much space between them.
Thiago Silva: 6.4 – quiet, mismarked a lumbering Jelavic at least twice. Not there in the
air or on the ground too often, had only 1 tackle and 5 balls recovered.
Paulinho: 6.3 – failed to be dangerous, ran a lot but inefficiently, actually seems to
be on the verge of being reconsidered by Scolari it seems. The effort was
decent. Subbed out 63’
Luiz Gustavo: 7.8 – quiet but very hard working game, recovering 7 balls, and running
11.16 km. His passing was also very efficient. High rating because he kept Kovacic
completely at bay and insulated the Brazillian center. Subbed out 88'
Oscar: 7.9 – defended a lot, in fact spent much of the game close to the half line,
and only ran 9.9 km. Scored an excellent goal late in the game, but perhaps
after a foul. Looked better than Hulk, but phased out often. Dribbled two to assist Neymar, and created some danger
throughout. The finish was instinctive, expertly timed, and very good. Was also
dangerous in the first half, and made four tackles.
Hulk 6.0 – energy was all that he contributed, if Scolari said before the game that
Hulk and Neymar linking will be key they looked highly disharmonious today,
even frustrated with each other. He was a bit wasteful, but his power makes him
a dange. 7.1 km covered, 7 shots. Subbed out 68'
Fred 5.8 – 9.1 km, no shots, 1 successful-penalty dive for a finger on his arm.
Looks a shadow of last year’s Fred. Was often late to the ball, and only came
deep a single time. His lack of inertia should be worrying for Scolari. He did
however work within that framework, which redeems him a bit.
Neymar 8.1 – he could have run more than 9.5 km and done more defensively. But two
goals, even if one was a lucky, nearly-saved penalty following a dive, the
first was excellent and typical of Neymar’s unique playing style. He had 4
shots on goal, which actually is not a great sign of Brazil’s attacking
capacity this World Cup.
63rd Hernanes for Paulinho: Came on to add a bit of decisive
pass, worked a lot with 3.4 km.
68th Bernard for Hulk: An inspired sub adding a lot in
defence and improving Hulk’s performance.
88th minute Ramires
for Luiz Gustavo:
two key tackles and an assist in 3 minutes, no wonder the Brazilian public
wants him to start.
Manager:
Luiz Felipe Scolari
7.0
Got lucky today, the team look imperfect and beatable, and given Brazil’s
talent some players looked questionably not the best choice the country can
offer. The subs were good, but the mechanics of the team were imperfect. Let’s
see if he pays for his faith in Julio Cesar. Ramirez substitution to steal the
ball from Modric was a sign of his high level of managerial ability.
CROATIA
Team cohesion: 7.8 – Croatia looked more the team between the two, covering each other’s
mistakes, with accurate well-understood passes, the link to Jelavic was weak
and Kovacic looked out of sorts. They definitely looked better than in 2013 in
this regard.
Lineup
S.Pletikosa: 7.0 – unlucky on the penalty and could do nothing against two good shots,
maybe could have not been 35 and slow on Neymar’s goal, but stopped Oscar’s
shot well in the first half. 3 saves, 3 conceded. Felt solid but slow.
D.Srna: 6.8 – the captain had moments of a good game, but spend most of it
defending (effectively) and made the Brazilian right less effective than the
left. Ran 10.57 km.
Corulka: 7.9 – one of the key players on the pitch, his interventions were clever and
well timed, he had a good game in Croatia’s defence. His yellow card might
prove a major problem for Croatia.
D.Lovren: 7.4 – very unlucky to get the penalty against him, got Corulka the
yellow for being out of position in the centre, but otherwise had a good and
composed game.
S.Vrsaljko: 6.9 – looked young and made
to work by Oscar, but kept his composure most of the time although once or
twice looked ready to give away stupid fouls. Lost Oscar for the Neymar assist.
To be fair he is right footed but played on the left, and Strincic would have
been much better. 10.88 km covered and 8 balls recovered.
Modric: 7.5 – showed a lot of hallmark
quality playing deep and making some excellent passed, but seemed to be caught
offguard more and more as the game went along until he lost the ball to Ramires
and thereby gifted Oscar the third goal.
Rakitic: 7.3 – his movement was great
in a tough midfield contest, and linked the Croatian team well together with
Modric. Could have been better on his set pieces.
Perisic: 7.0 – kept Marcelo stressed
throughout, and Olic should have scored his perfect cross in the first half.
Wasted an opportunity or two himself, but looked one of the better Croatian
players.
Kovacic: 5.6 – often ineffective in
the three-quarters zone, Luiz Gustavo shut him down. Subbed 61’
Olic: 6.8 – started the game dangerously with 3 good chances, the second of which
led to an own goal. Afterwards he slowly phased out of the game, and became
more predictable. He also pressed too little on the Brazilian defence. Moved to
a central role at 78’ but his game will be remembered for the non-foul on Julio
Cesar and missing the great cross from Perisic.
Jelavic: 5.8 – it’s not easy to play the lone striker against Brazil, and he was
often behind the play, he contributed decently with pressure.
61’ Brozovic for Kovacic: Came on to pull play back a bit, and started badly with
some bad touches, never to pick himself up.
78’ A.Rebic for Jelavic: too move Olic centrally, and he did very well. This
interesting youngster should get more playing time in the next two games.
Manager:
Niko Kovac
7.5
His team were well orchestrated and much improved. He could have done
better on using his third sub, for instance for Olic, but the idea and concept
was efficient and nearly worked multiple times. In fact it did work but you can’t
plan for the referee can you?
Man of the match: Neymar, but not as
overwhelmingly as the Newspapers will gloat tomorrow.
Weakest of the match:
Julio Cesar, unless you consider luck a strength. The goalkeeper
that sent Brazil crashing out to Holland last time seems even worse this time.
Slow, unable to get his grip around the ball and often out of position, did he
buy Scolari a car?
Play of the match: Neymar taking things into his own hands, running down the middle and
scoring Brazil’s equalizer at 29’.
Shame of the match: Fred diving and the referee’s calling off of the second Croatian goal.
Catimba vs. Fair Play: This game was a 5.5 on the Catimba scale. Scolari and Marcelo tried to
work the referee too much, and Fred god a false penalty call with his well rehearsed
theatrics. It seems we might have to stomach this type of influence-wielding a
while more. The match was actually not dirty, and the referee was far too harsh
on the Croatians.
Funniest moment of the
match: When the broadcasters showed the goal-line technology
for Marcelo’s own goal (which obviously crossed the line)
Both yellow cards to central defenders were unnecessary and Croatia
could really be hurt by these in their next two matches.
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