Just one game into the World Cup, and referees are already in the spotlight.

The refereeing standards at the World Cup are always hotly debated, and Yuishi Nichimura made sure this one won't be any different after a controversial performance in the opening match on Thursday.

Neymar showed why he is carrying Brazil's 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.

The big rematch between Spain and Netherlands has come around quickly. The teams that played in the final of the last World Cup meet again on Day 2 in Brazil.

The 2014 tournament kicked off with host nation Brazil beating Croatia 3-1 after conceding an early own goal on Thursday. The Group B clash between defending champion Spain and Netherlands is one of three games set for Friday.

With his trademark shadow-boxing routine at the corner flag, Australia forward Tim Cahill may provide one of the iconic goal celebrations at this World Cup.

And if anyone is going to score in Brazil for the tournament's lowest-ranked team, it's most likely going to be Cahill.

American teens are smoking less, drinking less and fighting less. But they're texting behind the wheel and spending a lot of time on video games and computers, according to the government's latest study of worrisome behavior.

Generally speaking, the news is good. Most forms of drug use, weapons use and risky sex have been going down since the government started doing the survey every two years in 1991. Teens are wearing bicycle helmets and seat belts more, too.

A new young-adult trilogy to launch in October with "Endgame: The Calling" is at the center of an interactive project that includes a puzzle that leads to a key that leads — at least for one lucky person — to $500,000 in gold coins.

The subsequent two books will have progressively larger payouts, and all will require the use of a website that has not yet gone live, publisher HarperCollins said.

Wire stadium fences were being unfolded, new X-ray security machines were being unpacked at entrances and clouds of dust billowed across roads leading to the World Cup venue.

There appeared to be a desperate sense of urgency among construction workers as Arena Fonte Nova in Salvador was being prepared to host a Group B game on Friday, a rematch of Spain's victory over the Netherlands in the 2010 final.

New French Open champion Maria Sharapova has something else to celebrate: a new fragrance.

The tennis ace is the face of Avon Luck, for men and women. It's her first partnership with the beauty brand, but not her first perfume; she launched an eponymous one with Parlux nearly 10 years ago.

A nasty mosquito-borne virus that has been spreading rapidly in the Caribbean has made its way to the U.S. Virgin Islands, authorities said Wednesday.

Health officials in the U.S. Caribbean territory said they confirmed the islands' first locally transmitted case of chikungunya. They did not disclose any information about the patient. A second patient in the three-island territory was infected elsewhere.

The military junta that overthrew Thailand's elected government struck a blow for freedom Thursday — the freedom to watch football.

As part of its goal to "return happiness to the Thai people," the junta engineered a World Cup coup that will enable the country's many football fans to watch all of the tournament's 64 matches for free.