Neymar perhaps lucky to just get yellow. He looks for the opportunity but has an open hand so there is no power in the contact with Luka Modric. He’s not endangering his opponent and so a yellow card is a sensible decision by the referee. Croatia manager Niko Kovac blasted referee Yuichi Nishimura for his poor performance during the opening match of the 2014 World Cup. The Japanese official had a night to forget, allowing Neymar to stay on the pitch following a cynical elbow on Luka Modric in the first-half, before awarding the tournament hosts a soft penalty and disallowing what looked like a legitimate equaliser by Croatia.
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Brazil's poster boy clashed with Luka Modric in Sao Paulo opener
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The Barcelona player appeared to elbow the Real Madrid man in first-half
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Japanese referee Yuichi Nishimura brandished yellow to relief of host nation
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Fred earned Brazil a soft penalty which Neymar scored to give Brazil lead
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Nishimura ruled out a late Croatia goal for a foul on Julio Cesar by Ivica Olic
the game, but @placeholder players were rightly incandescent with a harsh