ZAGREB // Japanese referee Yuichi Nishimura bore the brunt of the Croatian media's anger on Friday for awarding what they said was a non-existent penalty to Brazil in the World Cup opening match with Croatia, which the hosts y ultimately won 3-1.
"Injustice!" "Shame!" and "Referee shamelessly broke the Fiery Ones [Vatreni – the team's nickname]!" read the leading dailies front-page headlines as they lamented over an "invented penalty".
The press gave great coverage, too, to Croat coach Niko Kovac's comments to Croatian state-run HRT television that: "If that was a penalty, then we should not play football any more."
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Nishimura – Asian referee of the year in 2012 – turned the game when the match was evenly poised at 1-1 in the second half. He awarded a penalty for a foul on striker Fred by Dejan Lovren, though there appeared to be no contact.
The influential Jutarnji List daily slammed an "inexcusable mistake by the referee at the World Cup opening match" by which he "pierced Croatia's heart with a sword".
"With a rather peculiar interpretation of the rules by Japanese referee Nishimura, Croatia was deprived the right to fight against Brazil on an equal footing," wrote one of the paper's columnists.
Sports daily Sportske Novosti gave credit to Neymar, who converted the penalty to secure himself a brace in the match, but had no mercy for Nishimura.
"Neymar and Japanese referee Nishimura took away Croatia's big dream," it commented.
"Croatia began the match in excellent fashion and silenced Corinthians Arena with Marcelo's own goal. But Brazil woke up and turned the match the other way with the referee's help."
The papers said the upside was that there was much to encourage Croat fans that their team could go further in the tournament where their best showing was a semi-final appearance in 1998.
Sportske Novosti said that Kovac's squad "showed that it can be counted on at the tournament".
Croatia produced a "solid game", it said, but warned that the team lacked a player capable of orchestrating the flow of the match.
Jutarnji List stressed that Croatia performed bravely, while the Vecernji List daily estimated that "after the defeat, the pride remains".
Croatia next play Cameroon then Mexico. Those two sides open their campaign later on Friday in Natal.
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Greatest of All Time
Starring: Vijay, Sneha, Prashanth, Prabhu Deva, Mohan
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BEETLEJUICE BEETLEJUICE
Starring: Winona Ryder, Michael Keaton, Jenny Ortega
Director: Tim Burton
Rating: 3/5
Infobox
Western Region Asia Cup Qualifier, Al Amerat, Oman
The two finalists advance to the next stage of qualifying, in Malaysia in August
Results
UAE beat Iran by 10 wickets
Kuwait beat Saudi Arabia by eight wickets
Oman beat Bahrain by nine wickets
Qatar beat Maldives by 106 runs
Monday fixtures
UAE v Kuwait, Iran v Saudi Arabia, Oman v Qatar, Maldives v Bahrain
PSA DUBAI WORLD SERIES FINALS LINE-UP
Men’s:
Mohamed El Shorbagy (EGY)
Ali Farag (EGY)
Simon Rosner (GER)
Tarek Momen (EGY)
Miguel Angel Rodriguez (COL)
Gregory Gaultier (FRA)
Karim Abdel Gawad (EGY)
Nick Matthew (ENG)
Women's:
Nour El Sherbini (EGY)
Raneem El Welily (EGY)
Nour El Tayeb (EGY)
Laura Massaro (ENG)
Joelle King (NZE)
Camille Serme (FRA)
Nouran Gohar (EGY)
Sarah-Jane Perry (ENG)
Results
Stage 5:
1. Jonas Vingegaard (DEN) Team Jumbo-Visma 04:19:08
2. Tadej Pogacar (SLO) UAE Team Emirates 00:00:03
3. Adam Yates (GBR) Ineos Grenadiers
4. Sergio Higuita (COL) EF Education-Nippo 00:00:05
5. Joao Almeida (POR) Deceuninck-QuickStep 00:00:06
General Classification:
1. Tadej Pogacar (SLO) UAE Team Emirates 17:09:26
2. Adam Yates (GBR) Ineos Grenadiers 00:00:45
3. Joao Almeida (POR) Deceuninck-QuickStep 00:01:12
4. Chris Harper (AUS) Team Jumbo-Visma 00:01:54
5. Neilson Powless (USA) EF Education-Nippo 00:01:56
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Israel Palestine on Swedish TV 1958-1989
Director: Goran Hugo Olsson
Rating: 5/5
Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
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Company Profile
Name: Thndr
Started: 2019
Co-founders: Ahmad Hammouda and Seif Amr
Sector: FinTech
Headquarters: Egypt
UAE base: Hub71, Abu Dhabi
Current number of staff: More than 150
Funds raised: $22 million
Tips for entertaining with ease
· Set the table the night before. It’s a small job but it will make you feel more organised once done.
· As the host, your mood sets the tone. If people arrive to find you red-faced and harried, they’re not going to relax until you do. Take a deep breath and try to exude calm energy.
· Guests tend to turn up thirsty. Fill a big jug with iced water and lemon or lime slices and encourage people to help themselves.
· Have some background music on to help create a bit of ambience and fill any initial lulls in conversations.
· The meal certainly doesn’t need to be ready the moment your guests step through the door, but if there’s a nibble or two that can be passed around it will ward off hunger pangs and buy you a bit more time in the kitchen.
· You absolutely don’t have to make every element of the brunch from scratch. Take inspiration from our ideas for ready-made extras and by all means pick up a store-bought dessert.
MATCH INFO
FA Cup final
Chelsea 1
Hazard (22' pen)
Manchester United 0
Man of the match: Eden Hazard (Chelsea)
The view from The National
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Pakistan World Cup squad
Sarfraz Ahmed (c), Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq, Abid Ali, Babar Azam, Haris Sohail, Shoaib Malik, Mohammad Hafeez(subject to fitness), Imad Wasim, Shadab Khan, Hasan Ali, Faheem Ashraf, Junaid Khan, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Mohammad Hasnain
Two additions for England ODIs: Mohammad Amir and Asif Ali
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Blackpink World Tour [Born Pink] In Cinemas
Starring: Rose, Jisoo, Jennie, Lisa
Directors: Min Geun, Oh Yoon-Dong
Rating: 3/5
The Bio
Name: Lynn Davison
Profession: History teacher at Al Yasmina Academy, Abu Dhabi
Children: She has one son, Casey, 28
Hometown: Pontefract, West Yorkshire in the UK
Favourite book: The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
Favourite Author: CJ Sansom
Favourite holiday destination: Bali
Favourite food: A Sunday roast
How to protect yourself when air quality drops
Install an air filter in your home.
Close your windows and turn on the AC.
Shower or bath after being outside.
Wear a face mask.
Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.
If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.
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