When the man of the match isn't even of the nationality of the two opening teams, somethings amiss.. However I will weigh in only slightly on the referee, because lets be honest; how many adjectives would be required to indicate how poorly/badly Croatia played? They passed and ran themselves out of bounds like 3rd rate MLS player, and that might actually be insulting them 'mericans. Can you imagine if the game had finished in the tie, I think this would be Scolari's press conference, " if we are going to kick the ball in our own net, we may as well just join the circus". Croatia's ball percentage for the game an abysmal 39% which would like translate to about 5% in the offensive zone (stat from goal.com), shots on net - 3, and they likely had to count the goal, which makes it actually 2. Two Shots on Goal. When your only goal comes from an attempted pass, you likely shouldn't blame the ref for the outcome of a game. Now on to the man of the match. Yes it was a dive in the end, yes it was a bad call. However and/or but.... Lovren the guilty Croatian did, that is D. I. D. pull/tug Fred (the standby Brazilian Olympian diver) shoulder, so upon feeling the tug practiced his high dive maneuver that would be sure to win a medal in another sport. So that turns the attention to the Mr Referee, and for this, not being a referee myself, nor understanding the insurmountable pressure I can't imagine why anyone on earth would want that job, and then throw in opening match of the world cup... wow, no thanks.... I can only imagine his pre-game thought process of something like, 'it doesn't matter time nor team, if I see something in the box, I will call the penalty, I am not afraid of that decision making'. So perhaps we should be applauding him for having the courage to make such a call. I'm sure he could still say, I saw the tug, I called the foul - end of story.
And now on to Day2
How much more drama could possibly unfold today!
And now on to Day2
How much more drama could possibly unfold today!
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