Brazil's decisive penalty against Croatia was a stonewaller, reckons Selecao boss Luiz Felipe Scolari. Of course he does.

"Millions didn't see the penalty?" he asked afterwards. "The referee did and he said it was a penalty and they are the ones that must decide.

"We also think it was a penalty. I have seen it 10 times and I think it is a penalty."

Former England defender Rio Ferdinand, who is part of the BBC Sport team in Brazil, on Twitter:, external Brazil with the opening day win! Neymar two goals....confidence will grow from here. Right, I'm off for some beach volleyball with the Da Silva twins!

Playing volleyball while doing his World Cup research, obvs...

Penalty? Or no penalty? Surprisingly this seems to be splitting opinion. Those saying it was a spot-kick must be either Brazilian or a striker...

Nick, London, via text: Very stupid from Lovren, even if Fred went down too easily, holding onto his shoulder like that is inviting the ref to give a penalty.

Image source, Getty Images

Italy right-back Mattia De Sciglio has been ruled out of his side's opening World Cup match with England in Manaus on Saturday.

The AC Milan defender has a left thigh injury and is likely to be replaced in the starting line-up by club colleague Ignazio Abate.

"Just because you are sweating, you are not tired. It is natural, it is nature. There is a physical side but you have to mentally tell yourself 'I am not tired'."

Who needs sports science when you have the Yorkshire common sense of former England batsman Geoffrey Boycott, the slayer of bowling attacks in Chennai, Brisbane and Durban?

Never one to shy away from the uncomfortable truth, he has told Roy Hodgson's men that they are "going to have to play a lot better than we think you are".

Thankfully for Marcelo, and millions of Brazilians, Neymar stole the show to stop Croatia stealing today's headlines.

But left-back Marcelo's hapless deflection past Brazil team-mate Julio Cesar has put his name into the history books for the wrong reason - it was the first time that the Selecao have been credited with an own goal in World Cup history.

Image source, @hns__cff/twitter

Croatian Football Federation:, external Luka Modric congratulates his Real Madrid teammate Marcelo after Brazil v Croatia. Congrats to Brazil!

Don't think Marcelo would have been giving it a cheery thumb-up if his own goal had proved costly...

Multi-taskers of the world were tapping away on social media while the opening game of the World Cup got under way last night.

Twitter weighs in with news of 12.2m tweets related to Brazil v Croatia last night across 150 countries. The most-shared messages included Chelsea's Eden Hazard tweeting his congratulations to club team-mate Oscar and popstar Keaton Stromberg's picture of himself in a personalised Brazil shirt. , externalNope, me neither.

Facebook are coming at you with 58 million people having more than 140 million "interactions" around the match. Lionel Messi's picture of himself watching the game was among the most popular posts.

Image source, Leo Messi

England coach Gary Neville defends photographs that appeared in the Daily Mail, external seeming to show the team's instructions of how they plan to deal with Italy on Saturday.

Neville tweeted: "Media feel routine, innocuous training notes are the biggest story of the day. People surely more interested in what Wazza said today!"

Neville was referring to Wayne Rooney's press conference yesterday when he told reporters that he's not going to "respond to media pressure" for him to perform like he has at previous World Cups.

Would allowing teams to challenge a set number of decisions in each match help get more refereeing decisions right?

Your views have been coming in on #bbcworldcup on Twitter and via text on 81111.

Martin Pryce: , externalThe only issue I can see with challenging decisions is who challenges? Manager? Captain? Both? Could be difficult to be simple.

Howard not the duck:, external 1 ref/2 linesmen introduced in 1891. No big money, played by gents. In 1896, speed limit was 14mph. Times change. Sort it out.

David Ornstein
BBC Sport in Salvador

"Xavi was quizzed by the assembled reporters in Spain's final news conference ahead of their opener against the Netherlands, and warned of the danger posed by Arjen Robben, Wesley Sneijder and Robin van Persie ('three very important players, three very important pillars; the chances of the Netherlands rely greatly on that triangle').

"Most interesting, however, was the 34-year-old's bullish response to questions about whether Spain would remain faithful to their 'tiki-taka' style of play, vowing that they plan to 'win or die' by the philosophy that has brought such success over the past six years."

So what is top of the shop at the top of the hour? These are your headlines at 10:00 BST.

• Croatia defender Dejan Lovren says that referee Yuichi Nishimura's performance in their 3-1 defeat by Brazil last night was a "scandal", adding that the official "should not be at this World Cup".

• Brazil forward Neymar says his two-goal performance in the victory against Croatia was beyond his wildest dreams.

• Global players' union FIFPro have added to criticism of the pitch on which England will play Italy in Manaus on Saturday, saying: "The players deserve a quality playing surface. This isn't the case in Manaus".

Image source, Getty Images

Pele was the youngest player to ever to appear in the World Cup finals when he played for Brazil in their third match at the 1958 World Cup against the USSR aged just 17 years and seven months old.

He became the youngest-ever goal-scorer at a finals when he scored against Wales in the quarter-finals, before notching a hat-trick against France in the semi-finals and another two in the 5-2 final win over Sweden.

Pele went on to lift the trophy in 1962 and 1970 as well.

Image source, PA

Dodgy pitches are part and parcel of Sunday league football. But not at the World Cup, surely? Oh yes they are.

Following concerns about the pitch for England's opening World Cup group game against Italy at the Arena Amazonia in Manaus, global players' union FIFPro has chipped in to the debate.

"The players deserve a quality playing surface," said FIFPro in a statement. "This isn't the case in Manaus. Nobody wants to see the players and the spectacle in general suffer."

Ground staff were appearing to spray the playing surface with green paint ahead of Saturday's Group D match.

Jonathan Peel, external: Of course they should be allowed to challenge penalty decisions. If they do then ref gets a look at video. Stop the theatrics.

Nat Garfield:, external Just watch the hockey world cup, each team gets one review for the match and if they get it right they keep it, simple!

Stephen Pearce:, external People always say football is not stop start yet, the game stops when a pen is awarded, so why not review the decision then.

So we asked if football bosses should be allowed to challenge controversial refereeing decisions. Fifa president Sepp Blatter suggests coaches should be able to ask a video official in the stands to adjudicate on contentious rulings - like Japanese official Yuichi Nishimura choosing to point to the Croatian penalty spot.

Your views are welcome on #bbcworldcup , externalon Twitter, on 81111 on text and the BBC Sport Facebook page. , external

Earlier (see 08:52) we heard Croatia defender Dejan Lovren hit out at Japanese official Yuichi Nishimura for giving the softest of soft penalties to Brazil in Thursday's opening match.

Now his defensive partner Vedran Corluka has stuck the boot in to the referee too, saying he thought that the decision was "embarrassing".

"It was the first game of the World Cup. Brazil played well, but they didn't deserve to win in this way," complains the former Manchester City and Tottenham player.

"It's ridiculous he was so keen to give the decision - it was difficult to accept it."

BBC Radio 5 live

Employers across the UK will be expecting a few bleary eyes over the next few weeks as World Cup fans substitute sleep for soccer.

Productivity won't be hampered too much by England's late kick-off against Italy because it takes place on Saturday (23:00 BST). But, despite the prospect of a long Sunday lie-in, many claim they still won't be staying awake until the early hours to cheer on Roy Hodgson's boys.

So BBC Radio 5 live have kicked off this question on Your Call - 'Will you be staying up for England?'

Get involved on Facebook,, external Twitter, external or text 85058.

Image source, Getty Images

Michael Owen started England's opening game of the 1998 World Cup on the bench as manager Glenn Hoddle opted for a front two of Teddy Sheringham and Alan Shearer against Tunisia.

But after coming on to score and hit the post in the 2-1 defeat by Romania in the next game, the 18-year-old Liverpool striker was not to be denied his starting place.

Owen's fantastic solo strike against Argentina, after he won the penalty for England's first goal of the game, ensured that when England departed on penalties he was immediately linked with big-money moves to Juventus and Real Madrid.

Former Brazil striker Romario, who has been a strong opponent of the way the World Cup has been organised, spoke to BBC Brasil about the protests.

"I think the message sent by the demonstrations in Brazil has been sent and the protests left a legacy of political awareness to Brazilians," said the ex-Barcelona striker.

"We are able to support our national team but also to show our grievances. But right now it is time to enjoy the party."