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　　SAO PAULO, June 12 (Xinhua) -- Star striker Neymar stroke twice to help five-time champions Brazil rally to beat Croatia 3-1 in the World Cup opener here on Thursday.
Midfielder Oscar scored an injury-time goal to seal the win for the hosts.

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Neymar, the Barcelona tailsman, said after the match, "I'm very very happy to score two goals to help the team win the match. I'm happy that we react strongly to turn the match around. We have a strong squad¹. If we don't play connected we wouldn't win the match."X Brazil coach Luiz Scolari said, "Neymar has great quality, and he has a lot of pressure not to score. Today he scored two goals. All we want is Naymar to be happy playing. He plays for the team and we also play for him. He doesn't need anyone to tell him he is the best in the world. He just need to continue playing for the team, for Brazil."
The most dramatic scene emerged in the 11th minute which saw the first goal of the World Cup. But it was an own goal made by Brazilian defender² Marcelo.
Croatia midfielder Olic broke Brazilian defense³ in the left, and hit a low cross towards goal which was flicked⁴ on by Nikica Jelavic at the front post. Marcelo could not stop his feet in time and touched the ball home.
It was the first-ever own goal in a World Cup opener in history.
The early deficit⁵ pushed Brazil into the corner but ignited their fighting spirit. They controled the game soon with their brilliant individual skill.
Forcing the Croatians to make errors, the Brazilian team laid siege to the opponents' goal.
On 29 minutes, Neymar beat Croatian defenders⁶, leaving them in his wake before setting himself and shooting across Croatian keeper Pletikosa with his left foot.
It was Neymar's fifth goal in his last six competitive games for Brazil. However, the Barcelona tailsman got the first yellow card of the World Cup for a forearm smash on Croatian playmaker Modric in the first half.
The second half witnessed a balancing start but the turning point came in the 71st minute when the Japanese Umpire Nishimura pointed⁷ straight away to the spot after Brazilian veteran forward Fred was taken down in the area by Lovren. Neymar took a stutter-step approach and shot to Pletikosa's right. The Croatian keeper managed to get a hand on, causing a gasp⁸ from the crowd, but the shot was too powerful and found its way into the goal.
Croatia coach Niko Kovac said, "I'm a sporting person, I know I should not blame the referee⁹. but our team deserve at least a point from the game."
"Whenever we play, the host team has some advantage, but we are playing a sport match, we have the rules, the FIFA has respect to both teams. The referee is ridiculous, if we continue with that we will have a crisis. I'm the first to say that, because we are the first team to play. It's not just the penalty. The third goal, it's a foul¹⁰."
However, Scolari told the press, "It's up to the referee to decide if it's a penalty, for me it's also a penalty. I watched maybe 10 times of the play and I think it's a penalty."
Neymar, the Man of the Match, was substituted by Ramires on 88 minutes. But Brazil punished Croatia after the latter squandered¹¹ several scoring chances.
In injury time, midfielder Oscar weaved his way through the Croatian backline and fired a low strike from long range, catching¹² Pletikosa off-guard.
Both teams fielded their strongest starting 11 and shared the same formation 4-2-3-1. Brazil were superior in statistics with 58 percent of ball possession and 9 shots on target against Croatia's 4. Brazil deserved the win tonight.
This was the third encounter between the two teams. The first was a friendly held in 2005 in Split that finished 1-1. The second took place in the opening round of the 2006 World Cup in Berlin, when Brazil secured a 1-0 victory.
This was also the fourth time that Brazil played a World Cup opener. In the previous curtain-raisers, Brazil notched¹³ two wins (4-0 over Mexico in 1950 and 2-1 against Scotland in 1998) and one draw (0-0 against former Yugoslavia in 1974).

1 squad   

n.班，小队，小团体；vt.把…编成班或小组

参考例句：

• The squad leader ordered the men to mark time.班长命令战士们原地踏步。
• A squad is the smallest unit in an army.班是军队的最小构成单位。

2 defender   

n.保卫者，拥护者，辩护人

参考例句：

• He shouldered off a defender and shot at goal.他用肩膀挡开防守队员，然后射门。
• The defender argued down the prosecutor at the court.辩护人在法庭上驳倒了起诉人。

3 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

4 flicked   

（尤指用手指或手快速地）轻击( flick的过去式和过去分词 )； （用…）轻挥； （快速地）按开关； 向…笑了一下（或瞥了一眼等）

参考例句：

• She flicked the dust off her collar. 她轻轻弹掉了衣领上的灰尘。
• I idly picked up a magazine and flicked through it. 我漫不经心地拿起一本杂志翻看着。

5 deficit   

n.亏空，亏损；赤字，逆差

参考例句：

• The directors have reported a deficit of 2.5 million dollars.董事们报告赤字为250万美元。
• We have a great deficit this year.我们今年有很大亏损。

6 defenders   

n.防御者( defender的名词复数 )；守卫者；保护者；辩护者

参考例句：

• The defenders were outnumbered and had to give in. 抵抗者寡不敌众，只能投降。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• After hard fighting,the defenders were still masters of the city. 守军经过奋战仍然控制着城市。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

8 gasp   

n.喘息，气喘；v.喘息；气吁吁他说

参考例句：

• She gave a gasp of surprise.她吃惊得大口喘气。
• The enemy are at their last gasp.敌人在做垂死的挣扎。

9 referee   

n.裁判员．仲裁人，代表人，鉴定人

参考例句：

• The team was left raging at the referee's decision.队员们对裁判员的裁决感到非常气愤。
• The referee blew a whistle at the end of the game.裁判在比赛结束时吹响了哨子。

10 foul   

adj.污秽的；邪恶的；v.弄脏；妨害；犯规；n.犯规

参考例句：

• Take off those foul clothes and let me wash them.脱下那些脏衣服让我洗一洗。
• What a foul day it is!多么恶劣的天气！

11 squandered   

v.（指钱，财产等）浪费，乱花( squander的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He squandered all his money on gambling. 他把自己所有的钱都糟蹋在赌博上了。
• She felt as indignant as if her own money had been squandered. 她心里十分生气，好像是她自己的钱给浪费掉了似的。 来自飘（部分）

12 catching   

adj.易传染的，有魅力的，迷人的，接住

参考例句：

• There are those who think eczema is catching.有人就是认为湿疹会传染。
• Enthusiasm is very catching.热情非常富有感染力。

13 notched   

a.有凹口的，有缺口的

参考例句：

• Torino notched up a 2-1 win at Lazio. 都灵队以2 比1 赢了拉齐奧队。
• He notched up ten points in the first five minutes of the game. 他在比赛开始后的五分钟里得了十分。