Japanese referee Yuichi Nishimura endeared himself to Brazil fans with a contentious penalty award in the World Cup opener on Thursday, as Neymar put away the spot kick to give his side a 2-1 lead against Croatia late in the Group A opener.
Brazil striker Fred has denied accusations he cheated to win a crucial penalty in the 3-1 opening World Cup win over Croatia and said contact from a defender was enough to "knock me off the ball and stop me scoring."
Japanese referee Yuichi Nishimura wrongly awarded a soft penalty to Brazil, which brought the hosts back into the match.
A lot was expected from Brazil forward Neymar and boy, he matched expectations and how! The 22-year-old came up with a man-of-the-match performance to rescue the hosts after an early blunder.
Neymar wasted little time in living up to his billing as Brazil's World Cup spearhead when he scored twice to lead the host nation to a 3-1 comeback victory over Croatia in a terrific opening game of the tournament on Thursday.
The Western Sydney Wanderers hailed themselves Asia's biggest club after displaying trademark Australian grit to win the AFC Champions League on Saturday, three years after their formation.
Saudi club Al-Hilal have furiously demanded a formal probe into the appointment of the referees for the Asian Champions League final, which they lost 1-0 on aggregate to Australia's Western Sydney Wanderers last weekend.
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