Brazil vs Croatia: Japan fans disappointed with country man referee.

Japanese football fans has crictise their country man referee Yuichi Nishimura after controversial performance in the World Cup opener that helped Brazil to a 3-1 win over Croatia.

Social media in Japan lit up after the official's decision to give a soft penalty to Brazil which changed the balance of the closely fought match. Several posts showed mocked-up photos of Nishimura wearing a Brazil jersey. "There's a lot of Nishimura bashing but quite right," tweeted @shinokc. "That was not a penalty. Feel so sorry for Croatia." Echoing the sentiments of Croatia's furious coach Niko Kovac, who claimed Nishimura had been out of his depth, @sanadamasayuki2 commented: "It's a tough job for us dithering Japanese." Anticipating further backlash, @tonbuhin tweeted: "Oh dear, if Brazil win the World Cup the whole world will say Nishimura was the MVP (most valuable player)." The 42-year-old Nishimura also disallowed a Croatian goal and should arguably have shown Brazilian star Neymar a straight red card for elbowing Luka Modric.