You could barely see him through the crowd of angry clowns in checkerboard shirts. The Croatians’ anger was building, but Japanese referee Júichi Nishimura shook his head and calmly repeated: “It’s a penalty, gentlemen.” It wasn’t enough for him. Dejan Lovren briefly held the shoulder of the Brazilian Fred in the penalty area, which is not an exaggeration, he added enough.
Today, the stern Nishimura could be corrected by his colleagues on video, but at that time it was June 12, 2014. The World Cup in Brazil didn’t even start properly – and right after the prologue, the first scandal was dealt with. Neymar converted the disputed penalty and the Croatians lost 1:3.
“Shame. Circus. If this really were a penalty, then let’s not play football anymore, let’s play basketball,” Croatian coach Niko Kovač enraged at the time. He was right, for example, the former famous referee Graham Poll: “They say that big teams make important decisions, and this was a clear example.”
On Friday evening, the Croatians will meet the Brazilians again – and again at the World Cup. Only instead of the first group game like in summer 2014 or in Germany 2006 (Brazil won 1:0), it will be a ticket to the semi-finals against the best duo Netherlands/Argentina.
In Doha, among other things, there will also be the Croatian stopper Lovren, the sad hero of the memorable match in San Paolo, which we talked about at the beginning. The program of his last days is not difficult to guess, he addressed a single topic with his companions. How to stop the Brazilian savages?
The group in the canary jersey decided the round of 16 with South Korea already in the first half, and the celebratory dances, which was joined by coach Tite, entertained the entire football planet. There were also some criticisms, for example, Roy Keane – the former Manchester United star spoke of disrespect for the opponent. “Everyone can celebrate as he wants. Also, Brazilians have been dancing and singing since birth,” noted Lovren.
Montage of the match of the group of 16 of the World Cup Brazil – Koreavideo: Czech television
“We still have a lot of celebrations planned,” said Vinícius Júnior, one of Brazil’s young attacking aces today. Since the easy round of 16, the famous Neymar has returned to the lead: the sprained ankle at the start of the tournament doesn’t bother him more, which multiplies the optimism of the Brazilians, who have been waiting for the world title for 20 years.
The Croatians were sacked after a happy round of 16 match against Japan, the shoot-out lottery win in the Adriatic country reminding them of their silver medal from the previous championship. But now there’s Brazil, who haven’t batted in four attempts. “We are facing the best team in the tournament, we are afraid of them – coach Zlatko Dalič bowed -. But we are not giving up. Compared to our opponents, we are a small country, but certainly not an outsider.”
Montage of the eighth final of the World Cup Japan – Croatiavideo: Czech television
