Host country Brazil beat Croatia on Thursday, June 12, in the first match of the football World Cup 2014. The match, which was played in Sao Paolo, ended 3-1 for the Brazilians, who are also among the main favorites for winning the tournament.

Croatia started the game surprisingly well and was first to score, after 11 minutes, thanks to an auto-goal from Brazilian defender Marcelo.

Brazil fought back and its star attacker Neymar scored the equalizer in the 29th minute of the game with a well-placed shot from outside the box.

It was only after an easy given penalty in the second half (min. 71) that Brazil managed to get into the lead. Again, it was Neymar who scored from the penalty.

Few minutes before the final whistle, Brazilian midfielder Oscar scored the final goal of the match, setting the score 3-1.

Brazil got the three points after a game which it controlled most of the time, but their performance was lackluster. For the moment, the Brazilians lead Group A. Their next match against Mexico is on June 17, when Croatia will face Cameroon.

On Friday, June 13, Mexico faces Cameroon, but the highlight of the day is the match in Group B between Spain and Netherlands. The two teams met in the 2010 World Cup final, which was won by Spain.

editor@romania-insider.com