Brazil v Croatia, 12 June 2014

Kick-off 5.00pm local (9.00pm BST) Man of the Match: Neymar (Brazil) Assistant referees: Toru Sagara (Japan) Toshiyuki Nagi (Japan) Fourth official: Alireza Faghani (Iran) Fifth official: Hassan Kamranifar (Iran) The opening game of the 2014 World Cup saw hosts Brazil play Croatia who were without Mario Mandzukic who was suspended following a red card against Iceland. Brazil began their World Cup campaign in disastrous fashion with an own goal by Marcelo. They had the better of the possession and showed a lot of flair, and managed to go ahead thanks to two goals from the impressive Neymar – the first thanks to a poor piece of goalkeeping and the second the result of a highly debatable penalty. Croatia managed to fashion a number of good chances but, in injury time, Oscar finished the game off with a goal on the break as Croatia threatened to equalize. The game was notable for a number of pioneering events:- 1. This was the first occasion in FIFA World Cup history on which an own goal (which was also the first ever own goal scored by Brazil in World Cup finals) opened scoring in the tournament. 2. As the first game played at this World Cup, the match also saw the first use of vanishing spray to mark free kick spots, and the advent of goal-line technology, two innovations introduced during the tournament.