Clockwise from left, Debbie Gow, Anita Galland, Jan Christensen, Dubravka Dujic and Mijo Katavic. Croatian breakfast club meet monthly. RGP 14Jun14 - HIGHS AND LOWS: Croatian football fans (clock
A BIG game player.
That is the best compliment you can give a sportsman or sportswoman, I think.
To perform when all the pressure is on, when it feels like the weight of the world is on your shoulders.
Yesterday morning I watched a big game player.
His name was Oscar dos Santos Emboaba Junior, better known as Oscar. He was playing on the biggest stage there is - the Fifa World Cup.
Oscar played in midfield for Brazil and helped his side defeat Croatia 3-1 in the opening match of the 2014 Fifa World Cup.
But before I talk about what he did, I have to talk about how big the game was.
Brazil have won the most world cups in history (five), making them the most successful footballing nation on earth.
However, they are missing one rare gem.
They have not won a World Cup at home in front of their own people.
The whole world expected them to perform yesterday and their fans, across the country, expected them to win.
The stage was simply made for big game players.
After 90 minutes of football yesterday morning, Brazil came away with the win.
You could argue moments of controversy won them that game.
But there were also heroes. Big game players in that Brazil team who rose to the challenge.
And none stepped up like Oscar. He was involved in every goal and created chances every time he touched the ball.
He even scored himself a nice toe-poke near the death (if there is such thing).
After the game, I simply had to give Oscar the top compliment: a big game player.
And something tells me he's not the only one we'll see this Fifa World Cup.
Jack Coombe would have been happy to beat his PB, before his time sent everyone googling.