Photographs: Fabrizio Bensch - Pool/Getty Images
"I’m very happy, really happy indeed, more than I ever dreamed or imagined. We started off on the right foot, with a victory. The merit belongs to the team as a whole, which remained cool and calm to come from behind and win."
Brazil’s Neymar, after their win over Croatia in the opening match of the FIFA World Cup on Thursday. Brazil were trailing before Neymar's double sparked a revival and the hosts won 3-1.
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'That was outright thuggery by a referee who was just out of his depth'
Photographs: Christopher Lee/Getty Images
"If that's a penalty, we don't need to play football any more. Let's play basketball instead. The lads played their hearts out but that was outright thuggery by a referee who was just out of his depth for a game of this magnitude."
Croatia’s coach Kovac shows his disappointment over referee Yuichi Nishimura awarding Brazil a contentious penalty.
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'The only comment I can make is that Brazil has five World Cup titles'
Photographs: Christopher Lee/Getty Images
"I'm not going to comment on what my colleague (Kovac) said. The only comment I can make is that Brazil has five World Cup titles. Those weren't five circuses in favour of Brazil. The referee saw a penalty. It's the referee that has to decide."
Brazil coach Luis Felipe Scolari reminds his Croatian counterpart that Brazil has won the World Cup more times than any country and did it without any help from referees.
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'That was outright thuggery by a referee who was just out of his depth'
Photographs: Andrew Kelly/Reuters
"I'll never eat sushi again. I guess the world was against us today."
Goran, a Croatian fan shows his unhappiness towards Japanese referee Yuichi Nishimura, who wrongfully awarded Brazil a penalty on Thursday.
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