Croatians Cry Foul Over World Cup Defeat

Brazil came from behind to win the first match of the World Cup in Sao Paulo on Thursday night after an own goal had initially put Croatia ahead.

The Brazilians took the lead with a disputed penalty that sparked an angry outburst at the referee from Croatia’s national team coach Niko Kovac.

“I looked at it on tape, if it’s a penalty, then we do not have to play football anymore, let’s play basketball!” 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,” he claimed.

Croatian newspapers echoed Kovac, insisting that the decision was unfair.

“A great robbery in Sao Paolo,” said Jutarni List in its headline.

“Brazil needed a victory for the opening and the referee made it happen,” claimed Novi List.

The Croatian team’s next World Cup match is against Cameroon in Manaus on June 18 – a game in which the Balkan side needs to notch up at least a point to retain hopes of progressing further in the tournament.

Croatia did not qualify for the last World Cup in 2010; the country’s best placing since becoming independent from the former Yugoslavia was third in the 1998 tournament in France.

Fans gather across the region

Although Serbia failed to qualify for the World Cup, crowds of football fans gathered in cafes across Belgrade to watch the opening game, although the atmosphere was far less exuberant than four years ago when Serbia took part.

In contrast to the mood in Zagreb however, there was applause as the Brazilians advanced to threaten the Croatian net.

The exception was at the KC Grad club, where fans gathered to cheer for Croatia...