Oh how Marcelo must be thanking his lucky stars that Croatia didn't play the entire game the way they started it. An entire nation watched in stunned silence as Jelavic's scuffed shot went off the unfortunate Real man into the goal. Marcelo's reaction said it all. A loss on the opening day, due to an own goal no less, would be unforgivable. Thankfully for every Brazilian in the stadium, especially Marcelo, it wasn't one of those days. A fine left footed effort by Neymar restored parity before the Barcelona man scored a somewhat controversial penalty ,midway through the second half, giving Brazil the lead. A nation cheered, as the young man from Mogi looked heavenwards.
Croatia certainly had their moments, with the brilliant pair of Ivan Rakitic, and Luka Modric running the game in the opening 15 minutes. Rakitic in particular was sublime, sending Olic through that eventually led to the opening goal. Mateo Kovacic too offered glimpses of class, while veteran striker Olic consistently looked to exploit the gaps left in the right side of the Brazilian defence by the attack minded Dani Alves.
But in the end, the game belonged to the Selecao, with Oscar capping off an impressive display with a goal in injury time. With him, Neymar, Hulk and Fred all in good touch, Brazil can be absolutely terrifying going forward.
The defence, however, underwhelmed. Both David Luiz and captain Thiago Silva had a decent game, although the former was guilty of losing Jelavic in the build up to the own goal. Marcelo played the game with renewed vigour post his unfortunate mishap, sprinting up and down the left, but it was Dani Alves who left the most to be desired. Bombing ahead as always, his runs down the wing left space for Olic, which led to the first goal. A natural winger would've caused a whole lot more problems than the veteran out wide. Leaving so much space against a side like Germany or even Holland, whom they may face in the last 16, could cost them heavily.
Felipao Scolari's men have started the tournament positively, but sterner tests will tell if the hosts are truly the contenders they're being billed to be. The world will be watching.
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