SAO PAULO: Fans of the Croatian football team blasted world football governing body FIFA following their 3-1 defeat to Brazil in the opening match of the World Cup on Thursday.

“It’s FIFA mafia”, came a roar from the stand where some 5,000 Croatian fans were sitting after referee Yuichi Nishimura awarded a soft penalty to the hosts after Dejan Lovren made very little contact with Brazil striker Fred in the 71st minute.

The match was tied 1-1 at that stage and Neymar scored from the resulting penalty, having levelled for Brazil following Croatia’s early goal, and Oscar completed the scoring.

“We feel like we were robbed,” Croatian fan Bojan Splavski told Dawn as he and several Croatian fans chanted anti-FIFA slogans over the appointment of Nishimura for the game in the subway back from the stadium.

“At that stage, it was a very bad decision. We were pressing hard at that time and a draw would’ve been a fair result,” Splavski, dressed in Croatia’s distinctive red-and-white checks jersey, added.

However, he looked forward to their next match and hoped his team can progress from Group ‘A’.

“I hope our players aren’t too disappointed with the result,” he said. “We have to play Cameroon and Mexico in the remaining games and hopefully we’ll make it to the knockout round.”

The Croatian fans’ emotions were in deep contrast to those of the Brazilians, who revelled at the joy of the victory after a troubled build-up to the tournament.

More importantly for Brazil, the Arena Corinthians passed its biggest test.

The World Cup’s opening stadium hadn’t hosted a test event with its full 61,000 capacity, causing concerns over its readiness to handle the pressure of the high-profile opener.

But the stadium, where three people died in accidents during its construction, withstood the pressure and will next host the game between Uruguay and England on June 19.

By that time, Brazil will hope that its victory would’ve given most of its locals the feel-good factor required following protests against heavy in­vestment on hosting the tournament. There was a protest six hours before the opening match 13 kilometres from the Arena Corinthians and police had to use tear-gas and stun grenades to disperse the demonstrators.

After the game, though, it was an all-night party. Thousands of Brazilians danced and sang in downtown Sao Paulo, at bars and cafes, celebrating the victory.

And the national sentiment was at its peak.

“I’m glad that we were able to win,” a Brazilian volunteer at the stadium’s media centre told Dawn. “If Brazil had lost, the protestors would’ve had an excuse to come back to the streets again.”

Published in Dawn, June 14th, 2014