Neymar at the double as Brazil scrape win

Neymar was the star during the World Cup's opening game but Croatia feel the referee denied them a win against hosts Brazil.

The Barcelona forward struck twice after Marcelo had put through his own net, but one was a soft penalty and he could also have been sent off earlier on.

Despite his good fortune, Neymar was Brazil's stand-out performer, along with Oscar, who put in a performance on a level much higher than anything he had shown for Chelsea in the previous six months. 

With the weight of expectation on Brazilian shoulders, perhaps we shouldn't have been surprised that it was Croatia who took the lead. 

Ivica Olic charged down the left and played a low ball into the box, searching for Hull striker Nikica Jelavic. 

The centre-forward stretched and made slight contact with the ball, diverting it into the path of the unfortunate Marcelo.

Real Madrid's left-back could do nothing but watch, aghast, as the ball hit his leg and rolled into the back of the net.

It was certainly not the start to the game Brazil had envisaged, one goal down just 11 minutes into their World Cup.

They picked up the pace, Neymar failing to meet a cross at the back post by a whisker and Oscar forcing Stipe Pletikosa into a fine save with a long distance left-foot strike. 

Then came a moment of controversy and one which could have changed the game, and even the tournament, completely, had referee Yuichi Nishimura seen fit to produce his red card.

Neymar moved towards Luka Modric, with his eyes on the Croatian as the duo prepared to compete for a header.

Then, in a moment straight out of the Clasico, Neymar levered his arm into Modric's neck and lower face.

The referee decided to book the Barcelona forward, rather than sending him off. And just a couple of minutes later, he equalised for Brazil.

Strong, battling work by Chelsea's Oscar in the centre of the pitch led to Neymar receiving the ball some way out.

He strode forward, towards the edge of the box, and placed a low shot perfectly in Pletikosa's bottom-right corner.

Sao Paulo exploded and Brazil had arrived at their own World Cup. 

Croatia put plenty of work into the game, with Ivan Rakitic, Barcelona's new man, their star player on the night. 

Though the game had been billed beforehand as Neymar v Rakitic, nobody had really expected that to be a common confrontation during the evening.

But the Croatian was more than willing to put his fair share of defensive work in and frequently came up against his new team-mate at club level. 

Referee Nishimura then stepped up again and made another decisive impact. 

He decided that Fred had been fouled by Dejan Lovren when the striker went down in the box.

It looked like an extremely soft penalty and that was before the replays which proved there was barely any contact at all.

Croatia protested furiously but it did them no good, and Neymar stepped up to the spot, firing the penalty into the top left corner, via the tip of Pletikosa's gloves.

Croatia had a goal ruled out late on, when Olic was adjudged to have fouled goalkeeper Julio Cesar, before Ivan Perisic tucked it into the empty net. 

Niko Kovac and his men were furious again and the Samba stars had got away with another slice of luck left for them by the officials. 

Oscar capped his magnificent individual display with a fine goal late on, flicking the ball into the bottom-left corner from 20 yards with a careful toe punt. 

It put a gloss on the scoreline but this was not the smooth start to the tournament Brazil and Luiz Felipe Scolari had hoped for. 

This could be the game though, that starts Neymar's ascent to true stardom.

Match facts

Brazil: Julio Cesar 6, Dani Alves 5, Thiago Silva 6, Luiz 6, Marcelo 5, Paulinho 5 (Hernanes 63, 6), Gustavo 6, Hulk 5 (Bernard 68, 6), Oscar 9, Neymar 8 (Ramires 88), Fred 6.

Booked: Neymar, Gustavo.

Goals: Neymar 29, 71 pen, Oscar 90.

Croatia: Pletikosa 4, Srna 6, Corluka 5, Lovren 6, Vrsaljko 6, Modric 7, Rakitic 7, Perisic 6, Kovacic 6 (Brozovic 61, 6), Olic 7, Jelavic 6 (Rebic 78).

Booked: Corluka, Lovren. 

Goal: Marcelo 11 og.

Referee: Yuichi Nishimura (Japan).