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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). Riley Nash Jersey . LOUIS -- When Braves second baseman Tyler Pastornicky backpedaled into shallow right field to catch the popup and Jason Heyward didnt arrive fast enough to take charge, Kolten Wong got the green light. Cam Atkinson Jersey . -- The taxing preseason, which included two games in China, is finally over. http://www.authenticbluejacketspro.com/Customized/ . -- Two out of three aint bad. Nick Foligno Jersey .The other side of the Bruins special teams unit delivered in the end.Gregory Campbell netted the game-winner with less than 10 minutes remaining and the Bruins fended off a late four-minute San Jose power play to earn a wild 5-3 win over the Sharks. Ryan Murray Jersey . Cleary also had two assists and Patrick Eaves added two goals for the Red Wings, who also ousted Phoenix in seven games during the first round of the 2010 postseason. Todd Bertuzzi had a goal and an assist for Detroit, which got a goal apiece from Tomas Holmstrom and Niklas Kronwall and suffered no shortage of offense despite the absences of Henrik Zetterberg and Johan Franzen.Laurent Duvernay-Tardif made it a record-setting final day of the NFL draft. The McGill Redmen offensive tackle went in the sixth round, 200th overall, to the Kansas City Chiefs, making him the fourth Canadian-born player taken, the most ever. All four were selected Saturday, the final day of the draft. "For sure, its a long time to wait . . . but at the same time I was saying to myself, Theres not much financial advantage to being drafted at that point, its more to get a good fit with a team," Duvernay-Tardif said during a conference call. "When I went to Kansas City I really enjoyed my time there and think I developed a good chemistry with the coaches so I was really happy the Chiefs got me." Montreal Carabins offensive lineman David Foucault, a blue-chip CFL draft prospect, will attend the Carolina Panthers rookie mini-camp next week but hasnt signed with the NFL club. The Baltimore Ravens figured prominently in the record day. They took Virginia defensive lineman Brent Urban, a six-foot-seven, 295-pound native of Mississauga, Ont., in the fourth round, No. 134 overall, before picking Winnipeg native John Urschel, an offensive lineman at Penn State, in the fifth, No. 175 overall. Notre Dame receiver T.J. Jones -- another Winnipeg native -- went in the sixth, No. 189 overall, to the Detroit Lions. Last year, Rice tight end Luke Willson, a native of LaSalle, Ont., was the lone Canadian drafted, going in the fifth round to the Super Bowl-champion Seattle Seahawks. But in 2012, four players from Canada were selected. Three Canadians -- defensive linemen Tyrone Crawford of Windsor, Ont. (third round, Dallas) and Christo Bilukidi of Ottawa (sixth round, Oakland) and centre Philip Blake of Toronto (fourth round, Denver) -- were drafted. So was Akiem Hicks, an American defensive lineman who played at the University of Regina (third round, New Orleans). The six-foot-five, 314-pound Duvernay-Tardif, of Mont-Saint-Hilaire, Que., is the 10th CIS player taken in the NFL draft but only McGills second. Randy Chevrier, a defensive lineman/long snapper with the CFLs Calgary Stampeders, went in the seventh round to the Jacksonville Jaguars in 01. J.P. Darche, a former Redmen and Toronto Argonauts long-snapper, signed as a free agent with Seattle in 2000 and remained there through the 2006 season before spending his final two campaigns with Kansas City. And like Duvernay-Tardif, Darche was a medical student who juggled his studies with football. Duvernay-Tardif was twice an All-Canadian at McGill and last year was Canadian university footballs top lineman. He also remained firmly entrenched atop the CFL scouting bureaus top-15 prospects list for Tuesday nights draft but will be a definite future selection now. One adjustment Duvernay-Tardif faces in the NFL is having defensive lineman set up across from him instead of a yard off the ball. But he successfully dealt with that in January at the East-West Shrine game. "I think Im physical enough, I think Im athletic enough," he said. "For sure, it (no yard off ball) will be an adjustment but when I went to the Shrine game it took me a practice to get used to it and after that I was ready to go. "Ill be able to work on technique so when training camp starts I think Ill be pretty used to that." Duvernay-Tardif, a converted defensive lineman, saw his draft stock skyrocket following his pro day in Montreal in March. The Chiefs were among nine NFL teams --Oakland, Philadelphia, Arizona, New York Jets, Green Bay, Chicago, San Francisco and Buffalo were the others -- to attend, along with four CFL clubs -- Montreal, Calgary, Toronto and Ottawa. Duvernay-Tardif didnt disappoint, posting a 40-yard dash time of 4.94 seconds, a 31.5-inch vertical and 34 reps in the bench press. Duvernay-Tardif was bypassed for the NFL combine but those numbers were as good aas any offensive lineman who tested in Indianapolis.dddddddddddd After his workout he visited with nine teams, including Kansas City. But it was Urban who came in as the most highly regarded Canadian. Ravens coach John Harbaugh had given Urban a second-round grade before the draft and was surprised to see him still available in the fourth. "Hes a guy when I first watched him thought second round at the latest," Harbaugh told NFL Network. "This guy is a guy who fits our scheme perfectly, a big, strong guy who fell to us so we couldnt be more happy with him." Urban, 23, started eight games last year before suffering a severe high ankle sprain. He still led all NCAA Division 1 defensive linemen with nine pass knockdowns and was invited to the Senior Bowl but couldnt play in the game due to injury. Urban has been compared to Houston Texans star J.J. Watt, one of the NFLs top defensive linemen, and came into the draft projected as a defensive end in a 3-4 scheme -- three defensive linemen, four linebackers. "We feel like were getting a potential starter down the road as a five-technique," Ravens director of college scouting Joe Hortiz said on the clubs website. "Hes a guy we really liked throughout the whole process." Urban went in the second round of last years CFL draft to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats but returned to school. This marks the second straight year Hamilton has lost a highly touted defensive lineman to the NFL. The club drafted Calgary Dino Linden Gaydosh first overall in 13 but he signed with Carolina as a free agent and spent all of last season on injured reserve after undergoing back surgery. A converted hockey player, Urban took up football his first year at Lorne Park Secondary School. After high school, he attended Virginia and redshirted as a freshman. He served as a backup defensive end for two seasons before starting at tackle in 2012. Last season, Urban recorded 13 solo tackles, 11.5 tackles for loss and a sack. He attended the Senior Bowl but just practised twice because of his ankle injury. Injuries were the major knock against Urban prior to the draft. He suffered a torn ACL in 2010 and played through a wrist ailment in 2011 that required surgery after the season. He had an ankle operation in February and missed the NFL combine but expects to be ready for training camp. "Hes a raw pass rusher," Hortiz said. "The potential is there to give you an inside pass-rush presence." The six-foot-three, 313-pound Urschel was born in Manitoba but played at Canisuis High School in Buffalo, N.Y. He was a captain at Penn State, earned all-Big 10 honours his final two seasons there and was among 15 guards invited to the combine but will likely play centre as a pro. Urschel is more than a football player, having earned a masters degree in math and receiving the Campbell Trophy as U.S. college footballs top scholar. Hes also been published in a scientific journal, prompting the Ravens to ask if football was a priority before drafting him. "I guess I passed with flying colours," he told reporters afterwards. "My intelligence certainly helps. "I feel like I really bring a toughness, a real get-after-it attitude and thats something I take pride in." The six-foot, 195-pound Jones was born in Manitoba but moved to Georgia, where he went to high school. He had his most productive season at Notre Dame in 13 with 70 receptions for 1,108 yards and nine TDs. Jones heads to the NFL with a definite pro pedigree. His late father, Andre, was a defensive end at Notre Dame who also played for the CFLs Winnipeg Blue Bombers. His uncle, Philip Daniels, is a former NFL defensive lineman whos currently Washingtons director of player development. Also, his godfather is former Notre Dame star Raghib (Rocket) Ismail, who helped Toronto win the 91 Grey Cup. 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