The opening match of the World Cup might be remembered more for the
refereeing decisions of Japanese ref Yuichi Nishimura than anything
else.
Fred collapsed under zero contact from Dejan Lovren and won what
proved to be a decisive penalty, handing Brazil the opportunity to
take the lead against Croatia.
Neymar took the chance, before Oscar added a third late into the second half.
But there's an interesting story about our friend from Japan.
He caused such dismay in a World Club Cup game that in the Democratic
Republic of Congo, fans of the offended team, TP Mazembe, went looking
for post-match vengeance.
Unfortunately, a lack of racial understanding from the Congolese saw
supporters get their revenge by vandalising Chinese restaurants after
the game, despite Nishimura being Japanese.
The match in question was between TP Mazembe and Inter Milan, in 2010,
with the referee awarding 21 fouls against the Congolese team, in
comparison to the 9 fouls awarded against Inter.
Nishimura was criticised for his refereeing decisions during the
Brazil vs Croatia match, in which he awarded Brazil a penalty, and
stopped play when Croatia had a goalscoring opportunity.
