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He was horrible man. Oscar dominated that flank and without some help he should've been off before the half was over. Considering he was often on his own back there he was solid. Olic hardly helped out! We watched completely different games, IMO Olic was excellent all game. He kept covering for Vrsaljko and without his cover I think we would've won this game easily. You have to remember that Olic can't defend both Oscar and Dani by himself. Guess so. Thought he did well considering he was out of position. He certainly kept Bulk quiet when he went out there. It's all subjective anyways.

He was horrible man. Oscar dominated that flank and without some help he should've been off before the half was over. Considering he was often on his own back there he was solid. Olic hardly helped out! We watched completely different games, IMO Olic was excellent all game. He kept covering for Vrsaljko and without his cover I think we would've won this game easily. You have to remember that Olic can't defend both Oscar and Dani by himself.

The three peace doves they released before the game: 1 was found in the press box in the end of th evening and the other two flew into the stadium walls and died. Told my dad about it and he told me that in Seoul in the olympics the peace doves flew into the fire Why do they do this to the poor birds? There's no peace one earth, give up.

He was horrible man. Oscar dominated that flank and without some help he should've been off before the half was over.

"I asked the sales girl for something exciting. She found these and said they are canary. I said they're not canary, they're pants and they're yellow. Giggled for days."

Like Mole said though, I think he should've been playing further up the pitch.

I'm not saying he was since he basically gave us a goal. But I can't believe people are complaining about a disallowed goal that came 1000seconds and 2 shots after the whistle was blown correctly. Anyways 3 points is 3 points at this stage and I think both teams know it very well that it was a massively unfair scoreline.

Cannavaro said after the game that 'FIFA rules' say that you can't touch the keeper in the 6-yard box? In which case it is a foul but it's a f***ing stupid rule Rule has been around for ages. That's what the 6 yard line is there for. That said, I'm not even sure that qualified last night. Actually, that may be wrong. Just googled for a rule protecting a goalkeeper in the 6 yard box, but it appears to not or no longer exist. Maybe somebody with a better grasp of the rules can explain. You can touch the goalkeeper I think, but you can't impede the goalkeeper to move in the 6-yard-box which is exactly what Olic did. At least in SA these fouls are always blown, honestly, I don't think I've ever seen a ref not blow a foul for that. Even in the PL and big European leagues we see that consistently, but because it was Brazil and they got a horrible pen people are trying to make more out of it. Now Unbelievable, I'm going to Arena Fonte Nova to watch your god damn team, and I'm starting to hope they actually win. I'm starting to think that Spain shouldn't get out of that group because they'll win it all if they do.

The pen wasn't dodgy, the pen was appaling. Was horrible to give it, but I've seen this ref give stuff under pressure. It's all on FIFA. However, if he was a ''homer'' is bullshit. He let some Croatian players make 5-6 fouls. Vrsaljko who scissored Oscar down at the corner flag had more than his fair share of terrible tackles to still be on the pitch. He just had a bad game all around, my new hero though: http://www2.pictures.zimbio.com/gi/Yuichi+Nishimura+Olympics+Day+5+Men+Football+XB-BkwQlreyl.jpg

Until today I can't really figure it out He covers Dani well, but he played most part on the left and looked lost. I understand playing Neymar centrally but you can't put Hulk on the left as his it hurts the only thing he's good at, cutting inside and unleashing a shot (that 95% of the times goes outside the stadium) He's excellent defensively tbf to him, i think Scolari put him on the left to stop Srna getting forward. Which worked to be fair, he was a non-factor. Possibly, but Srna was always going to be a non-factor with any of our wingers there since he can't bomb forward and let our wingers exploit the space behind him. I personally think it was more down to Neymar doing well centrally and Oscar not getting enough time on the ball centrally in previous games. So he moved Neymar into the center, Oscar wide right and let Hulk play left hoping he'd whip a cross in or two for Fred to head home. Never happened though

He played with heart and hustle. Something that he's lacked over the last 18 months for the national team. Back to his early season Chelsea form.

Until today I can't really figure it out He covers Dani well, but he played most part on the left and looked lost. I understand playing Neymar centrally but you can't put Hulk on the left as his it hurts the only thing he's good at, cutting inside and unleashing a shot (that 95% of the times goes outside the stadium)

Oscar getting far less love than Neymar in the media. Neymar even got the official MOTM. Oscar produced one of the best 70minutes I've seen from a national team player in a very long time. he started dead, was calling for him to be subbed off, but then something happened. Scolari looked like telling him to wake up and he apparently started running and playing like a man possessed.

Haven't seen him play before (Kovacic), but yeah I felt Rakitic was playing to deep as well.

Kovacic disappeared. Corluka was slow and he would've had tons of problem had Neymar run more at him. Vrsaljko got killed all day. Srna was decent though. It's clear he got respect from Brazilian players as neither Neymar, Marcelo or Bernard were trying to challenge him. I really enjoyed Olic. What an engine he was tonight. Never stopped running. Isn't he like 45 years old? His crosses will be deadly with Manduzkic there and Perisic attacking far post from behind the fullbacks like he did tonight against Marcelo. Brozovic didn't get much time, but is he a promising player?

Thank f*** you're just an idiot on N-O than a refereee then. I'd rather be an idiot on N-O than agree with Andy Townsend tbh. It's never a penalty though Tron. Brazil got extremely lucky with that call.

http://i60.tinypic.com/29cqd11.png You took an image after the play. While I was looking again now from that angle, maybe there isn't really an elbow into his face, bu there was definitely a 'support' he put his body onto Cesar to 'elevate'. I was seeing it from the other angle. He still clatters all over him and if he doesn't Cesar catches that ball with ease. I'll hold my hand up and say that maybe it's not a straight elbow to his face, still maintain it's a clear foul.

He doesn't really have a team in the NFL, so it's not that bad, he uses the NFL thread like everyone else, to laugh at Mike. I think the NBA thread is where he's most like this. In the NBA thread my team is dead for another year or two. Luckily your teams are doing alright in the NFL. As if I'm Pip. Dick.

Hard to show on screenshots though Get to watch the clip again, I maintain that it's a foul. I've never seen a player allowed to clatter a goalie from behind with arms in the goalies face before the ball even gets there. But I might be wrong here, like I said, I'm trying to be as unbiased as I can, maybe I'm used to something different or maybe I'm being biased as fuck in this situation. It just looks like a clear foul FOR ME.

He doesn't really have a team in the NFL, so it's not that bad, he uses the NFL thread like everyone else, to laugh at Mike. I think the NBA thread is where he's most like this. In the NBA thread my team is dead for another year or two.

So saying that it was a ''good'' dive automatically makes me say it was a deserved penalty? http://i58.tinypic.com/14t0ayg.png The elbow is there up in his face. The pic wasn't to show the elbow, was to show that Olic clattered over him before the Cesar even got to the ball. It's a foul every day of the week. We got lucky, because the game-changer was the penalty and without it I could've even seen us lose this. Doesn't change the fact that the foul on Cesar is still a foul does it?

You see B-More. This is pathetic. It's like he doesn't see the point that I've said time and time again that the penalty was wrong. He makes shit up in his mind, but it's Luca. The guy who defends Pardew so I'll quit here. For shame.

Was way too harsh. Calling someone a Brazilian politician should be ban worthy I still maintain the fact that Luca is slow though

It was a wrong decision but I can see why the ref gave it. From his position and angle it looks like first Fred got his left hand pulled and then he saw Lovren's hand on Fred's shoulder. Add to those the perfect dive from Fred and it does look like a pen from his position. Impossible to tell from his angle whether Fred really got pulled or threw himself to the ground. Nothing corrupt, just the way football sadly works now. Thank you. It's nothing more than an appaling decision. But Fred sold it so I can see how the ref was conned. To think the ref just pointed to the penalty spot for no reason is ridiculous. I still don't agree with saying three decisions went Brazil's way. There really was only one game changer and it was the penalty. A draw would've been fair, but if Neymar deserved a red for that then I'm sorry to disappoint but you won't see any reds like that in football. He gets a yellow because he shouldn't have his arm up there, but peoples bias and hate towards him thinks he deliberately elbows him in the face in the first half of the World Cup in pure rage. It's ridiculous. You had a better angle to see it than the ref. The ref is exactly in the position to see the arm on the shoulder and Fred throwing himself. I'm happy with three points, I think by the end of the game it owuld've come anyways. Also for all of you guys saying the ref is corrupt, how was Croatia able to escape this game with 11 men on the field? 21 fouls against Brazils 5. Persistent fouling and not a yellow ones to Vrsaljko or Perisic. This ref is horrible, but that's on FIFA for putting a god damn japanese ref that in the last World Cup was pretty bad as well for an opening game. ** Before some tiresome posters on here begin, I'm not being biased at all. I think a draw would've been fair. But you guys want a red for Neymar and an allowed goal for Olic who jumps elbow first into Julio Cesar. Neymar checked over his shoulder to make sure the player was there then smacked him in the face. And the "penalty," from every angle, looks like a dive. There was nothing even remotely convincing about it. He clearly just drops to his arse hopefully. Of course you're showing bias. I'll leave the Neymar incident out, maybe I'll have to check it again, but I didn't see the deliberate smack across the face, I saw a bad elbow coming up for a header just like Paulinho, Olic and Corluka did in the game. I'm not going to go lenghts with dicussions. Penalty wasn't a penalty, but I can see why the referee would give it other than he was handed a bag with millions of gold coins to trade back in Japan. He gave it because he bottled it. It was big club syndrome at play again. Doesn't change the fact Croatia were robbed of at least a point. It doesn't, and I haven't tried to change that fact either ffs. I've said that they deserved a draw. How slow are you? Alright, Tier 1. Nah, it's true, he's a freaking turtle at times. He's trying to make it like I'm defending the penalty, like I'm saying we deserved three points. Luca is like a Brazilian politician. I 100% agree after having some negotiations with him last season. (Sima was three times worse though) I actually deleted that post, was too harsh. No one is a Brazilian politician on here

Absolutely, no one is saying it wasn't. Neither me nor pata. It's a dive as clear as day from most angles. But Fred sold it with an arm on his shoulder.