Following the controversial loss of Croatia to Brazil in Thursday's opening match at the 2014 World Cup, the UEFA qualifier has somewhat found an unlikely ally in Japan.
The Indian Express observed that social media in Japan had blown up over referee Yuichi Nishimura's controversial performance that had somewhat aided Brazil in a 3-1 victory over Croatia. Several online users have created Internet photos of Nishimura wearing a Brazil jersey in an apparent attempt to stress their belief that the Japanese referee's call to give a soft penalty to Brazil.
One Twitter user wrote, "There's a lot of Nishimura bashing but quite right. That was not a penalty. Feel so sorry for Croatia."
Sharing the sentiments of Croatia's furious coach Niko Kovac, who earlier said that the referee was out of his depth, another Twitter user commented, "It's a tough job for us dithering Japanese."
One user provided his own conspiracy theory, given the fact that Brazil is a tournament favorite given the home court advantage, He tweeted, "Oh dear, if Brazil win the World Cup the whole world will say Nishimura was the MVP (most valuable player)."
Apart from the controversial call, the Indian Express also observed how the 42 year-old referee had disallowed a Croatian goal and disregarded Brazilian threat Neymar's elbowing of Croatia's Luka Modric, of which the online news site said would have been a red card call,
Nishimura's international refereeing career since 2004 has been marred with controversies. Although he has been voted twice by the J-League as its referee of the year, the Japanese's performance in other international matches had drawn ire from fans. At the 2008 Africa Cup of Nations, Angolan players showed their dislike with Nishimura's performance during a quarter-final. For his Club World Cup game performance, Congolese fans took their anger out of a Chinese restaurant back home and vandalized it, thinking that either Nishimura is either Chinese or that the restaurant is Japanese.
