**Official World Cup Brazil 2014 Thread**

[BimboBob]

That's the good thing about World Cups. All the refs in the world get a chance, even the shit ones.

I thought he did very well last night apart from the elbow, the penalty and the non-foul/ goal for Croatia.

It can't be hard to be put in that position, with the world watching you, and to keep calm. At one point he had most of the Croatian team surrounding him.

 

[Le Havre Oswald]

Is Fernandinho the only player for Brazil to have won the league this year?

What do you mean? Thiago Silva won Ligue 1 with PSG this season.

I was asking a question and now you've answered it.

 

[chris85mcfc]

That's the good thing about World Cups. All the refs in the world get a chance, even the shit ones.

I thought he did very well last night apart from the elbow, the penalty and the non-foul/ goal for Croatia.

It can't be hard to be put in that position, with the world watching you, and to keep calm. At one point he had most of the Croatian team surrounding him.

Not sure if this is a Clarkie but, apart from getting three game changing decisions wrong, he did alright?

 

[CityFan94]

I thought Brazil were bang average.

As soon as they meet a good team .. they're out IMO.

They were wide open. Gustavo and Paulinho were terrible. I have no idea how Paulinho starts ahead of Fernandinho - an unbelievable decision. They offered no protection to the defence, despite Gustavo playing so deep. Against a good counter attacking team, they will concede 2 or 3. The 2 full backs (Alves and Marcelo) are brilliant going forward but totally abandon their defensive duties.

Neymar is the only player that looked like he had something about him. He was brilliant and everything good from Brazil went through him.

Oscar worked very hard, but apart from his goal (foul from Ramirez anyway), he didn't do a lot else. Oscar should have been creating chances and slipping people in (like David Silva does every week) but I saw none of that. He is miles below the creative players Brazil have had in the past.

The referee was atrocious. He was blantantly told that Brazil had to win this game. He awarded Brazil a penalty for no reason and disallowed a Croatia goal because the goalkeeper made a mistake. My opinion is that there were fears for even more protests and riots if Brazil lost last night and, basically, they HAD to win.

Is Fred actually a footballer? I'm sure he won a competition to play or something. He literally has no attributes whatsoever.

 

[conormcfc]

I thought Brazil were bang average.

As soon as they meet a good team .. they're out IMO.

People said the same after 1 game about Spain in 2010, Italy in '06 and Brazil in '02.

The first game isn't a barometer for anything.

 

[nijinsky's fetlocks]

I thought he did very well last night apart from the elbow, the penalty and the non-foul/ goal for Croatia.

That's a bit like saying Hitler did a great job in the second world war, other than invading Poland, the seige of Stalingrad, the Holocaust and the actual result.

 

[Blue Punter]

I thought Brazil were bang average.

As soon as they meet a good team .. they're out IMO.

People said the same after 1 game about Spain in 2010, Italy in '06 and Brazil in '02.

The first game isn't a barometer for anything.

You forgot about Italy in 1982. Didn't even win a group game.

Argentina in 1990 lost opening game to Cameroon and got to the final.

 

[nmc]

That's the good thing about World Cups. All the refs in the world get a chance, even the shit ones.

I thought he did very well last night apart from the elbow, the penalty and the non-foul/ goal for Croatia.

It can't be hard to be put in that position, with the world watching you, and to keep calm. At one point he had most of the Croatian team surrounding him.

I still remember Mike Riley's performance in the Latvia vs. Germany game at Euro 2004 - the most one sided and potentially bent performance by a referee - ever witnessed outside Old Trafford. The irony being that Mike 'the pen' Riley turned down the most blatant penalty of the tournament.

 

[lancs blue]

That's the good thing about World Cups. All the refs in the world get a chance, even the shit ones.

I thought he did very well last night apart from the elbow, the penalty and the non-foul/ goal for Croatia.

It can't be hard to be put in that position, with the world watching you, and to keep calm. At one point he had most of the Croatian team surrounding him.

I still remember Mike Riley's performance in the Latvia vs. Germany game at Euro 2004 - the most one sided and potentially bent performance by a referee - ever witnessed outside Old Trafford. The irony being that Mike 'the pen' Riley turned down the most blatant penalty of the tournament.

Ha ha, I was at that game sat near a few other English lads and we were embarrassed watching Riley's horrendous performance.

 

[RandomJ]

Neymar is the only player that looked like he had something about him. He was brilliant and everything good from Brazil went through him.

There are so many people trying to convince themselves and others that he is actually shit and overhyped etc etc but he is the real deal. He is one special player and 33 goals in 50 international appearances is pretty special. The Brazil team does piss me off but I'll continue to watch their matches just for Neymar.