Breitmann Tuning » Martin Reway had a short-handed goal and chipped in

SAO PAULO, Brazil -- Neymar showed why he is carrying Brazils hopes at the World Cup, scoring twice on Thursday to help the underwhelming hosts escape a disappointing start to the tournament. With Brazil struggling and down a goal against a spirited Croatian team, Neymar came through to lead his team to a 3-1 win in the opening match, scoring once in each half. The killer goal to make the score 2-1 was a hotly contested penalty awarded by Japanese referee Yuichi Nishimura. "Things werent going well," he said. "The first match is always difficult, we were anxious, we were nervous. Im glad I was able to get the goals we needed at the time we needed them." "He is a special player and we know that," Brazil coach Luiz Felipe Scolari said. "And he needs to know that we know that." Brazil got off to a slow start in its home tournament. Defender Marcelo found his own net while trying to clear a low cross by Ivica Olic in the 11th minute, stunning the crowd of more than 62,100 packing the Itaquerao Stadium. But Neymar equalized in the 29th, firing a perfectly placed low shot that went in off the post. He said he didnt hit the ball perfectly, "but it went in, its all that matters." "Its important to start these tournaments on the right foot, with a victory," said Neymar. "Im happy that I got to score, but the entire team deserves credit. We maintained our calm and showed we could battle back." The game turned on a controversial penalty awarded by Nishimura in the second half after striker Fred went down inside the area under minimal contact from defender Dejan Lovren. Neymar scored from the spot in the 71st minute, getting his 33rd goal with Brazil. Croatia goalkeeper Stipe Pletikosa nearly saved Neymars shot, but it was struck hard enough to deflect into the net. The Croatians were furious. "If that was a penalty, we should be playing basketball. Those kinds of fouls are penalized there," Croatia coach Niko Kovac said. "That is shameful, this is not a World Cup referee. He had one kind of criteria for them and another for us. The rules were not the same," Kovac said. As Croatia searched desperately for an equalizer, Oscar added to the lead in the first minute of injury time with a toe poke from just outside the penalty area. A draw would have been a huge disappointment for Brazil, which had won its opening match the last eight times and is overwhelming favourite to win the competition. "The team didnt give up," Brazil defender David Luiz said "We knew it would be hard but we played well and got that first goal and then the victory." The tournament finally got underway as planned after months of talk about the preparation problems that plagued Brazil since it was picked as host seven years ago. The troubled Itaquerao, which wasnt fully finished for the opener, held up without major setbacks to fans or the match itself, although part of the lights atop the pitch went out a few times for brief periods in the first half. ------ Lineups: Brazil: Julio Cesar, Dani Alves, Thiago Silva, David Luiz, Marcelo, Luiz Gustavo, Paulinho (Hernanes, 63), Oscar, Neymar (Ramires, 88), Hulk (Bernard, 68), Fred. Croatia: Stipe Pletikosa, Sime Vrsaljko, Darijo Srna, Dejan Lovren, Vedran Corluka, Ivan Rakitic, Nikica Jelavic (Ante Rebic, 78), Luka Modric, Ivan Perisic, Ivica Olic, Mateo Kovacic (Marcelo Brozovic, 61). Zack Kassian Oilers Jersey . -- Patrick Kueng of Switzerland was nearly flawless as he captured his first World Cup and halted Aksel Lund Svindals streak of four straight super-G victories on Saturday. Kris Russell Jersey .C. -- After a listless first half, the Washington Wizards used a big third quarter run to beat the Charlotte Bobcats Bradley Beal scored 21 points and the Wizards used a 17-0 run in the third quarter to take control of what had been a close game and beat the Bobcats 97-83 on Tuesday night. http://www.hockeyoilersshop.com/leon-draisaitl-jersey/ . MLS Commissioner Don Garber and Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Gimenez also will attend the session, which was announced Monday. The league has discussed placing its next two expansion teams in Miami and Atlanta. Andrew Ference Oilers Jersey . Three days after falling to Hamilton, Abbotsford scored three goals in 53 seconds en route to a convincing 5-1 win over the Bulldogs Saturday in American Hockey League play. Esa Tikkanen Oilers Jersey .com) - The Los Angeles Kings werent playing their best hockey before the league went on break during the Winter Olympics.HALIFAX -- Nikolaj Ehlers scored two goals and assisted on two more to lead the Halifax Mooseheads to their third straight win, 5-1 over the Charlottetown Islanders in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League action on Wednesday. Jacob Jacques, Andrew Ryan and Jonathan Drouin also scored for Halifax (37-18-3), who outshot the Islanders 40-26. Kevin Darveau stopped 25 shots. Bradley Kennedy had the lone goal for Charlottetown (18-33-5), which has nine losses in its last 10 games. Eric Brassard started in net for the Islanders, but was pulled after giving up three goals on 13 shots through the first period. Mason McDonald stopped 25 of 27 shots in relief. --- DRAKKAR 3 VOLTIGEURS 2 DRUMMONDVILLE, Que. -- Charles Hudon scored his 23rd goal of the season with 15 seconds left as the Drakkar broke a 2-2 tie to edge the Voltigeurs. Jeremy Gregoire had a goal and an assist and Valentin Zykov also scored for Baie-Comeau (40-14-4). Hudon chipped in with an assist on Gregoires goal for a two-point night. Christophe Lalancette had a goal and an assist and Charles-David Beaudoin also scored for Drummondville (34-20-3). Drakkar goalie Philippe Cadorette stopped 21 shots for the victory, while his Voltigeurs counterpart, Louis-Philip Guindon shouldered the loss after making 20 saves. --- OCEANIC 9 PHOENIX 3 RIMOUSKI, Que. -- Alexis Loseau scored four goals and assisted on two more, and Michael Joly had seven points on a goal and six assists to power the Oceanic over the Phoenix for their fifth win in a row. Peter Trainor had a goal and three assists, Patrik Zdrahal scored one and assisted on another, and Jan Kostalek and Samuel Courtemanche also scored for Rimouski (34-15-7), which outshot Sherbrooke 38-23. Jean-Francois Lavoie, Jeremy Roy and Chase Harwell scored for the Phoenix (15-34-7). Oceanic goalie Philippe Desrosier made 23 saves for his 222nd win of the season.dddddddddddd Francis Derosiers started in net for Sherbrooke, giving up four goals on 21 shots before being replaced by Maxime Lagace, who stopped 17 of 22. --- TITAN 4 TIGRES 2 VICTORIAVILLE, Que. -- Jacob Brennan stopped 35 shots and the Titan got goals from four different skaters en route to a victory over the Tigres. Jake Primeau, Raphael Lafontaine, and Vytal Cote also scored for Acadie-Bathurst (17-34-6), and Alexandros Soumakis added an empty netter with 13 seconds to go as the Titan picked up their eighth win in 10 games. Philippe Hudon and Jan Mandat replied for Victoriaville (29-21-6), who outshot Acadie-Bathurst 37-22. Cameron Yardwood chipped in with two assists. Tigres goaltender Brandon Whitney made 18 saves in the losing effort. --- OLYMPIQUES 4 WILDCATS 3 GATINEAU, Que. -- Martin Reway had a short-handed goal and chipped in with an assist to lead Gatineau over Moncton. Elie Berube, Vincent Dunn, and Alexis Pepin also scored for the Olympiques (35-19-4), who snapped a two-game losing streak. J.C. Campagna and Ivan Barbashev each had a goal and an assist for the Wildcats (30-26-3), and Christophe Lalonde added a power-play goal with 18 seconds left in the game. Robert Steeves stopped 19 shots in the Gatineau victory, while Alex Dubeau took the loss for Moncton with 24 saves. --- FOREURS 3 HUSKIES 2 ROUYN-NORANDA, Que. -- Julien Gauthiers second-period goal held up as the winner and Antoine Bibeau made 31 saves as red-hot Val-dOr edged Rouyn-Noranda. Anthony Richard scored a power-play goal and Maxime Presseault also scored for the Foreurs (37-18-2), who have won six in a row. Marcus Power and Jason Fuchs replied for the Huskies (31-21-5), who failed to score on five opportunities with the man advantage. Rouyn-Norandas Alexandre Belanger made 25 saves in the losing effort. ' ' '