Le Samba got
off to winning ways in the opening match of the 2014 FIFA World Cup on Thursday
night in Sao Paulo. Felipao’s men made
sure their fans' nerves were high up in the early minutes when Marcelo
inadvertently diverted a dangerous cross into his own net to hand the Croats
the lead. It wasn’t part of the script, so the Selecao had to dig deep to dowse
the anxiety that had gripped the stadium. True to type, main man
Neymar rose to the occasion and scored the equaliser in what was his 32nd
International goal. All the good work was done by Chelsea’s Oscar who seemed to
be pumped up and galvanised by the earlier announcement of Fabregas’ switch to
West London. The 22-year old playmaker likened to greats like Kaka and adored
by the even greater Zico, took matters into his own hands and provided the
needed energy and guile to restore confidence in his side. Croatia were missing
the aerial and attacking prowess of the suspended Mario Mandzukic and had to make
do with the hardworking Ivica Olic, Ivan Perisic and ‘Jellyfish’ Jelavic in
attack. The veteran Octopus, Stipes Pletikosa, was again chosen to keep goal.
Vedran Corluka and Dejan Lovren had the uneivable task of keeping Fred and
Neymar quiet and it was not for long that they had to provide answers to the
questions the Samba attack posed. Have passed the first few tests, the Neymar
question was left unanswered and the result was a deserved equalizer.
The
Barcelona star notched his 50th cap-the youngest ever to do so and
he was not done yet. The first half ended with both teams unable to add to the
score line.
The second
half wore on with both sides tearing at each other until twenty minutes to go.
Fred tumbled easily under the slightest of challenges from Dejan Lovren and the
Japanese man at the centre of proceedings wasted no time to point to the
penalty spot. Modric and his teammates were livid, distraught and astounded at
the rather appalling decision. Neymar was unperturbed by the uproar and in no
mood for favours as he stepped up and swept the resultant penalty just out of
the reach of the Octopus to give the hosts and hot favourites the lead. Croatia
and Modric made Julio Cesar work subsequently but there was no route past the
ex-Inter goalie. Oscar added gloss to the score line in stoppage time with a
quality toe poke to end any withering dream of a Croatia comeback.
The hopes of
the South Eastern European nation rested heavily on the shoulders of the RIC-TIC
duo. The senior member, Luka Modric was
not his usual best, but showed flashes of the form that set him apart from
everyone else in his position in the just concluded season. The Champions
League winning gem was joined by Europa League winning and Barcelona bound playmaking
genius, Ivan Rakitic in midfield but they couldn’t overpower the
Gistavo-Paulinho combo the way they would have liked. The ever dependable Darijo Srna, one of the
World’s greatest fullbacks and Leader of the team, played out of his skin last
night but it wasn’t enough to turn the match in Croatia’s favour. Niko Kovac
would have liked MM to play but his hands were tied. He will hope to have his
full complement of players on the 18th of June when they face
Cameroon. Time to go back to the drawing board for the ex-Croatian captain. Given the chance, he would have torn Yuichi Nishimura, the man at the centre, apart after the match but the most important step now is to re-strategize before Eto'o adds to their misery.
For the
Selecao, they looked far from their best last night. Even though poster boy,
Neymar delivered when it was most required, LFS (Luis Felipe Scolari) knows
that to actualise the ambition of winning the World Cup, his team must be on a
much higher level than they were against Croatia. Next Tuesday’s match v EL TRI
(Mexico) will be much more difficult and testing. A repeat of yesterday’s
sloppiness may well cost them dear. He must also make some adjustments to his
starting eleven. Some players failed to come alive and other teams will
definitely make them pay.
All in all,
it was a good opening day for the Hosts. Neymar scored his 32nd and
33rd International goals in his 50th cap, equaling Ronaldinho
(33 in 97) and Jairzinho (33 in 89) and just one behind Rivaldo (34 in 74) The star of the tournament so far, he may
well surpass Pele’s 77 in 92 at this rate. He has arrived and there’s no
stopping him.
Ohireime P
Eboreime
@ohiskaka1990
