FIFA World Cup 2014: Neymar Stars in Brazil's 3-1 Win Over Croatia

Neymar showed why he is carrying Brazil's hopes at the FIFA World Cup, scoring twice on Thursday to help the underwhelming hosts escape a disappointing start to the tournament. (Match Highlights)
With Brazil struggling and down a goal against a spirited Croatian team, Neymar came through to lead his team to a 3-1 win in the opening match, scoring once in each half. The killer goal to make the score 2-1 was a hotly contested penalty awarded by Japanese referee Yuichi Nishimura.
Things weren't going well," he said. "The first match is always difficult, we were anxious, we were nervous. I'm glad I was able to get the goals we needed at the time we needed them."
"He is a special player and we know that," Brazil coach Luiz Felipe Scolari said. "And he needs to know that we know that."
Brazil got off to a slow start in its home tournament.
Defender Marcelo found his own net while trying to clear a low cross by Ivica Olic in the 11th minute, stunning the crowd of more than 62,100 packing the Itaquerao Stadium.
But Neymar equalized in the 29th, firing a perfectly placed low shot that went in off the post. He said he didn't hit the ball perfectly, "but it went in, it's all that matters."
"It's important to start these tournaments on the right foot, with a victory," said Neymar. "I'm happy that I got to score, but the entire team deserves credit. We maintained our calm and showed we could battle back."
The game turned on a controversial penalty awarded by Nishimura in the second half after striker Fred went down inside the area under minimal contact from defender Dejan Lovren.
Neymar scored from the spot in the 71st minute, getting his 33rd goal with Brazil. Croatia goalkeeper Stipe Pletikosa nearly saved Neymar's shot, but it was struck hard enough to deflect into the net.
The Croatians were furious.
"If that was a penalty, we should be playing basketball. Those kinds of fouls are penalized there," Croatia coach Niko Kovac said.
"That is shameful, this is not a World Cup referee. He had one kind of criteria for them and another for us. The rules were not the same," Kovac said.
As Croatia searched desperately for an equalizer, Oscar added to the lead in the first minute of injury time with a toe poke from just outside the penalty area.
A draw would have been a huge disappointment for Brazil, which had won its opening match the last eight times and is overwhelming favorite to win the competition.
"The team didn't give up," Brazil defender David Luiz said "We knew it would be hard but we played well and got that first goal and then the victory."
The tournament finally got underway as planned after months of talk about the preparation problems that plagued Brazil since it was picked as host seven years ago.
The troubled Itaquerao, which wasn't fully finished for the opener, held up without major setbacks to fans or the match itself, although part of the lights atop the pitch went out a few times for brief periods in the first half.

India announce squads for Asia Cup, World T20; Yuvraj in, Ishant and Raina dropped

New Delhi:  Pacer Ishant Sharma has been dropped from India's squads for Asia Cup and T20 World Cup. Middle-order batsman Suresh Raina too has been excluded from the squad announced for Asia Cup and will be replaced by Cheteshwar Pujara. Veteran Yuvraj Singh though has been recalled to the T20 side.

Selectors named the Indian team for the two major cricket tournaments on Tuesday and took a hard look at India's poor performance in the ongoing tour of New Zealand. While Ishant was penalised for his jaded performance in the ODI series - picking two wickets in two of the five matches, Raina has also been woefully out of form - averaging 28 from three matches.


Asia Cup starts from February 25 and World T20 begins March 16 - both to be played in Bangladesh.

India Asia Cup squad: MS Dhoni (C), Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ambati Rayudu, Ajinkya Rahane, Ravindra Jadeja, R Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar, Mohammad Shami, Varun Aaron, Stuart Binny, Amit Mishra and Ishwar Pandey.

India squad for WT20: MS Dhoni (C), Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, Yuvraj Singh, Ajinkya Rahane, Ravindra Jadeja, R Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammad Shami, Stuart Binny, Amit Mishra, Mohit Sharma and Varun Aaron.

Nemanja Vidic to end Manchester United career in the summer

The Serbia defender has enjoyed a hugely successful career at Old Trafford since joining from Spartak Moscow in 2006, helping the club win a string of trophies.
But Vidic's contract runs out in the summer and he will seek out a fresh challenge, with Inter Milan thought to be favourites to sign the 32-year-old.
Injuries have restricted Vidic's appearances in recent years and he featured in just 23 games last season, but the centre-back has been a regular starter in United's defence this campaign.
He becomes the latest long-serving player to announce their departure and it remains to be seen if he will be followed by Patrice Evra, Rio Ferdinand and Ryan Giggs, who are all out of contract in the near future.

"I'm not considering staying in England as the only club I ever wanted to play for here is Manchester United and I was lucky enough to be part of this club for so many years."

Nemanja Vidic

A statement from Vidic on Manchester United's official website read: "I never could have imagined winning 15 trophies and I will certainly never forget that fantastic night in Moscow, memories that will live with me and the fans forever.
"However, I have decided that I will move on at the end of this season. I want to challenge myself again and try to make the best of myself in the coming years.
"I'm not considering staying in England as the only club I ever wanted to play for here is Manchester United and I was lucky enough to be part of this club for so many years.
"I've got a few options to move on and I will choose the right one for me and for my family.
"I am now going to focus all my efforts on playing for Manchester United and do the best I can for the team until the end of the season.

Hockey World League Final Where to Watch Live: India vs Australia Free Live Streaming Information

ndia will look for a big upset when they take on Australia in the quarterfinals of the Hockey World League Final at the Major Dhyan Chand Stadium on Wednesday.
Where to Watch Live
The India vs Australia match is scheduled for an 8 pm IST start with live coverage on Ten Action and Ten Sports, with the first match of the day beginning at 1.15 am. The game can be watched online via live streaming around the world HERE. Note: Some territories will be Geo Blocked.
Terry Walsh's men have been pretty disappointing in the tournament so far, losing their first two matches to England and New Zealand respectively, even if there were some signs of improvement following a 3-3 draw against Germany.
"We are consistently improving and will continue to fight and play the same way in the next match as well," coach Walsh said after the 3-3 draw with Germany on Monday. "We need to keep ourselves motivated and improve with every game.

Pakistan-Australia Test series

Australia's Test series against Pakistan in October this year will be downsized to the minimum two matches, while the venue for the encounter is expected to be confirmed as the UAE.

Despite the ICC Future Tours Programme dictating that the tour would consist of three Tests, the PCB has negotiated for the removal of one five-day match to be replaced by a series of limited-overs matches, likely to include three ODIs and a Twenty20 fixture.

While the location of these matches is yet to be finalised, the loss of a Test from the fixture list is certain. This schedule is expected to bring in a more lucrative broadcast fee for the cash-pressured governing body of cricket in Pakistan, forced to subsist on series played in neutral venues since the terrorist attack on the touring Sri Lankan team in Lahore in 2009.

"Our expectation will be that it will be in the UAE, and my expectation is that it won't be three Test matches, it will probably be two Test matches and a combination of one-dayers," James Sutherland, the Cricket Australia chief executive, told ABC Radio during the Sydney Ashes Test. "Perhaps with a view to the fact there's a World Cup here in Australia and New Zealand in February and March 2015.

"It's the hosts' call on that and we'll work as closely as we can with them, there's a reciprocal arrangement, we wouldn't like to be playing a series of less than three but that's their choice how they balance that, and at the end of the day, Pakistan are not able to host international cricket in Pakistan, their commercial viability is really affected by that, so we respect their position and the decisions they need to make there."

Apart from the UAE, the only other plausible venue for a Test match is Qatar, where the PCB is presently hosting a women's tournament. However stadium facilities and infrastructure in the nation set to host the next football World Cup are not as advanced or varied as those in the UAE, with Dubai host to the ICC's headquarters and global cricket academy.

The most recent encounter between the two nations was also played over just two Tests, the "MCC Spirit of Cricket" series which took place in England in the northern summer of 2010 and was split 1-1 when Pakistan won at Headingley after Australia's victory at Lord's. While CA have spoken consistently of their desire for Test bouts of at least three matches' duration, their own schedule is increasingly light on such series.

Apart from blue-chip contests against England (five Tests) and India (four), Australia have played two-Test series against New Zealand, Pakistan and South Africa in recent times. Their next visit to the West Indies in May 2015 is also scheduled to include the bare minimum two Tests.

"The programme is a real challenge, there's no doubt for us as administrators it is one of the most difficult things we do and we often talk about it in the context of being a three-dimensional game of chess," Sutherland said. "Unlike other sporting codes we don't have a unilateral ability to work out what our programme might be, we have to see what's going on in other parts of the world, what country is playing where and how. And we need to work out the international programme and then work out the best we can from the domestic programme."

Marca’s front cover pictured

Marca’s front cover pictured the Portuguese wiping away a tear, with the headline ‘Lloro’ --  a pun on the words ‘cried’ and ‘golden’.
AS went with ‘The Best Won’ on its cover, with a photo of Ronaldo holding the trophy and Madrid’s seven winners through history in a strip down the side of the page.
Inside AS editor Alfredo Relano wrote that Ronaldo had deserved to take the prize ahead of fellow finalists Lionel Messi and Franck Ribery.

OtherMarca's front page, headlined 'Lloro', punned on the Spanish words for 'cried' and 'golden'.

“Cristiano Ronaldo won the 2013 Ballon d’Or, and it was fully justified,” Relano wrote. “…This has been a bad year for Messi, while Cristiano has maintained his insistence on excellence. Ribery, ‘the best of the rest’ was just third. Which is already a lot.
“But even more was Cristiano, who yesterday was sincerely emotional on receiving the prize he had worried so much about, after suffering for so many years.”
Marca took the chance to poke fun at Messi -- and his fashion sense -- in a blog on their website which hoovered up the best and worst of the twitter reaction to the ceremony.
More seriously, El Pais writer Jose Samano picked up on how Ronaldo’s moment of triumph -- with his three-year-old son accompanying him on the podium and his mother crying proudly in her seat -- had served to humanise a player who for years was seen as egotistical and unfeeling.
“With his son in tow, Cristiano left in Zurich an image to remember, the poster of an emotional hero, a mortal divinity,” Samano wrote. “Bit by bit, Cristiano has left behind the image of a capricious show-off. We now see a superstar footballer who is more and more commendable, a person who is more and more substantial.”
The Catalan press was less delighted at the result, with Mundo Deportivo maintaining some objectivity by leading with ‘Cristiano Wins’, while also finding room on its cover for Messi vowing to return stronger in 2014.
Sport was slightly more partisan, claiming ‘This time the best has not won’ on its front page.
The general feeling around Catalonia, however, seemed to be that this year Ronaldo had deserved the recognition, with Mundo Deportivo’s online poll on Tuesday morning  showing a clear majority agreeing with the result.