Brazil vs. Croatia, World Cup 2014: Phantom penalty leads to 3-1 win for the hosts

It looks like he’s doing fine, and he hasn’t been removed from the lineup, but UH OH.

Keep an eye on Neymar early. He also turned his ankle in training earlier this week. Hopefully he’s okay.

Croatia, meanwhile, have always been a side that has enjoyed playing attractive football too, and there should be no change for that at this tournament. They have a reasonably well-balanced side, but along with diminutive, dainty ball-players, they also possess some muscle, from defensive midfielder Ognjen Vukojevic to their physical forwards. Croatia play nice soccer, but they know how to be nasty too.

There are still World Class players around this team though. Firstly, as we see so often, club form doesn’t always have much of an effect on international form, and it’d be no surprise to see the likes of Neymar and Paulinho look a hundred times better than they do for their clubs. Meanwhile, for perhaps the first time, Brazil have full-backs who are not only capable of doing the spectacular, but are also used to operating in four-man defenses where they’re expected to contribute more in their own half of the pitch, which makes left back Marcelo and right back Dani Alves very complete players. There’s also Thiago Silva of Paris Saint-Germain, probably the classiest defender in the world, and Hulk, who has been in pretty sparkling form of late. This is a more egalitarian Brazil than usual, but it’s also arguably a more well-balanced side too.