Japan fans shamed after ref aids Brazil in opener

[Jonathan Fairfield]

Japan fans shamed after ref aids Brazil in opener

ODD ANDERSEN / AFP

Japanese football fans hung their heads in shame Friday after referee Yuichi Nishimura's controversial performance in the World Cup opener helped Brazil to a 3-1 win over Croatia, further clouding FIFA's showpiece tournament.

Social media in Japan lit up after the official's decision to give a soft penalty to Brazil which changed the balance of the closely fought match. Several posts showed mocked-up photos of Nishimura wearing a Brazil jersey.

"There's a lot of Nishimura bashing but quite right," tweeted @shinokc. "That was not a penalty. Feel so sorry for Croatia."

Echoing the sentiments of Croatia's furious coach Niko Kovac, who claimed Nishimura had been out of his depth, @sanadamasayuki2 commented: "It's a tough job for us dithering Japanese."

Anticipating further backlash, @tonbuhin tweeted: "Oh dear, if Brazil win the World Cup the whole world will say Nishimura was the MVP (most valuable player)."

The 42-year-old Nishimura also disallowed a Croatian goal and should arguably have shown Brazilian star Neymar a straight red card for elbowing Luka Modric.

He has been an international referee since 2004, and has officiated in several tournaments including the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

At the 2008 Africa Cup of Nations, Nishimura was shoved by Angolan players during an ill-tempered quarter-final with Egypt but failed to send any of them off, and did not feature in the rest of the tournament.

In 2010, Congolese fans incandescent at his performance in a Club World Cup game took rather misguided revenge by vandalising a Chinese restaurant in their country.

And although twice voted by the J-League as its referee of the year, he has long been controversial among Japanese fans, not least for his reputation for awarding dubious penalties.

@JAZUMAN deadpanned after the Brazil-Croatia match: "Premier League: no penalty, Serie A: no penalty, J-League: Oh, Nishimura!"

Fellow Japanese referee Masayoshi Okada was sent packing by FIFA after just one game of the 1998 World Cup, after England players reacted furiously to his invigilation of their 2-0 win over Tunisia.

However, Nishimura's display is likely to linger longer in the memory, having significantly altered the momentum of the opening game.

It comes as further embarrassment for FIFA after months of public protests and strikes in Brazil, and with soccer's ruling body battling renewed allegations of corruption over its award of the 2022 World Cup to Qatar.

Japanese people felt pressure around the world on Friday, with @chizurufgarcia in Argentina claiming she had been e-mailed by local reporters for comment on Nishimura.

Some took refuge in humour. Japanese fans were among more than 16,000 who retweeted @FootballFunnys account's "Man of the Match - The Referee".

Mainstream media in Japan have so far steered clear of the controversy surrounding the World Cup opener, but the Nikkan Sports daily gave the match official a measure of support.

"Referee Nishimura resolutely gives Brazil a penalty," it headlined.

But @SpursJapan was resigned to a wave of criticism to come from the footballing fraternity, tweeting: "Japan's battle with the world has begun."

-- (c) Copyright AFP 2014-06-13

[sustento]

"In 2010, Congolese fans incandescent at his performance in a Club World Cup game took rather misguided revenge by vandalising a Chinese restaurant in their country."

[jellydog]

A bad decision by the ref, but actually not much worse than botched PK's given by refs in any professional league from time to time.

Fred fooled him and there you go. How come Freddie ain't gettin' slammed as hard ?

Toyko Rose

[In Town]

Right. Fred cheated, and Brazil's victory in the tournament, if it happens, will be forever tarnished...

[Prbkk]

delete

Edited June 13, 2014 by Prbkk

[bigbamboo]

A bad decision by the ref, but actually not much worse than botched PK's given by refs in any professional league from time to time.

Fred fooled him and there you go. How come Freddie ain't gettin' slammed as hard ?

Toyko Rose

It was a shocking decision but as you say it won't be the last at this WC. Fred conned him, simple as that.

The consolation for all the other challengers is that Brazil didn't look anything special. I still can't see past Argentina but Chile at 40/1 or more is the best long shot for me.

[PlanetX]

At the end of the day Brazil scored all of the goals anyways (3 + own-goal for Croatia)

Croatia needed to score

[RickBradford]

Nishimura could easily have sent Neymar off for the neck chop on Modric in the first half. Neymar (whose histrionic behaviour seems to be channelling Gazza), tried to pretend he hadn't seen Modric, whereas the replay showed he knew exactly what he was doing.

He might have allowed Croatia's equaliser to stand -- Julio Cesar wasn't exactly roughed up during the challenge.

As for the penalty, well, I have some sympathy for Nishimura. He was wrong, undoubtedly, but the Croats had been niggling all night and thought they could get by with it, and this was one (gentle) arm restraint too many.

To go back to my first point; Neymar seems to be a very excitable and emotional character -- before kick-off, he'd already hugged almost everyone but the ballboys.

I can see him being at the centre of more strife before this tournament is over.

[Travel2003]

A bad decision by the ref, but actually not much worse than botched PK's given by refs in any professional league from time to time.

Fred fooled him and there you go. How come Freddie ain't gettin' slammed as hard ?

Toyko Rose

Because we expect Brazilians and Italians to cheat all the time.

So when they fall or claim innocence when caught out, we are never really surprised.

Simple as that.

[TheWizardofRnR]

I sure am glad I wasn't the only one who felt like Brazil had an extra man on the field !

Of course , he might have had his life threatened or been in fear for it if they lost !

Good for the guy who kicked the own-goal for Croatia , that it didn't matter cause Brazil won !

South Americans have killed their player before in losing cases ! Those Latinos take their Football

too seriously....or should we say Deadly ! If u shoot own goal ,we shoot you ! A S.A. Fan once said !

[Henrico]

A sign of things to come... but despite the home team bias Brazil won't win this World Cup. Frail defence

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