Fred ‘penalty’ sparks first controversy of 2014 World Cup

It took all of 70 minutes for the 2014 FIFA World Cup to awash itself in controversy on the field, and boy what a controversy it was thanks to Fred’s pretty obvious dive (have a look for yourself).

Neymar would put home the penalty, just overpowering Croatian goalkeeper Stipe Pletikosa to the goalkeepers right. That conversion put the host Brazilians up 2-1 and changed the complexion of a game that was pretty entertaining up until that point.

Croatia had been on the front foot for much of the second half up until that point, holding on to a 1-1 tie and hopefully taking a slice out of the Group A favorites. It wasn’t to be though, as we’ll always be left wondering “what if?”

The game ended 3-1 after an Oscar toe-poke goal in the 91st minute, but all the talk is sure to be about Fred’s dive and how the game would’ve played out without that penalty being given.

About Andrew Coppens

Andy is a contributor to The Comeback as well as Publisher of Big Ten site talking10. He also is a member of the FWAA and has been covering college sports since 2011. Andy is an avid soccer fan and runs the Celtic FC site The Celtic Bhoys. If he's not writing about sports, you can find him enjoying them in front of the TV with a good beer!

Quantcast