Mexico2-0 at the Castelao on Wednesday.
Neymar lit up the occasion with an outstanding volley nine minutes in,
but what threatened to be a goal glut for the hosts progressed in
somewhat anticlimatic fashion, until the Barcelona forward brilliantly
set up Jofor the clincher in the dying seconds.
Brazil's victory sees them move on to six points from two matches in
Group A, and should Japan fail to defeat Italy in Wednesday's later
match, their qualification for the last four will be guaranteed, a
result which will also see Mexico eliminated.
Luiz Felipe Scolari named an unchanged XI from the side that
dismantled Japan 3-0 on the opening matchday, while for Mexico, Javier
Aquino and Jose Zavala were dropped for Hiram Mier and Gerardo Flores.
The hosts, fuelled by a raucous atmosphere inside the Castelao, made
an electric start to the game, and Marcelo fired an early warning shot
with an effort from a short free-kick that was well saved by Jose de
Jesus Corona.
And though Flores stung the palms of Julio Cesar shortly after at the
other end, there was only one side likely to profit from all the early
momentum, and with nine minutes gone, Brazil duly delivered in
sensational fashion.
Dani Alves scampered down the right and delivered into the box, but
the Mexico defencecould not clear any further thanNeymar, just inside
the area, who rifled a stunning volley into the corner.
Carlos Salcido attempted to respond for the visitors with a long-range
attempt that flashedwide, but it was Alves' subsequent effort that got
the crowd off their feet, the right-back's cheeky clip just missing
the top corner thanks to Corona's fingertips.
But despite Brazil's dominance, there were signs of shakiness at the
back, and when Marcelo gave the ball away a quarter of an hour in,
determination from Mier forced play back into the box, where he
drilled agonizingly wide of the far post.
Not long after, Neymar nearly struck again in equally brilliant
fashion after holding off his marker at the top of the box and
unleashing apiledriver that whistled inches over the crossbar.
However, as the first half neared its' end, it Mexico began to wrest
themselves back onto a more even footing, and caused a few tense
moments in the Brazil ranks when working the ball into the box.
Not long after the restart, Thiago Silva had a header from Neymar's
free-kick ruled out for offside, before a scintillating Brazil move
saw Fred play in Hulk who, from point blank range,missed the target
completely.
Neymar, to his credit, was doing everything in his power to extend his
side's lead, first lashing inches wide from 18 yards out, beforenearly
fooling Corona by angling towards his near post, but the keeper
managed to make the save.
The atmosphere inside the ground, once frenzied, was becoming ever
more tenser as the second half wore on, with Brazil still holding onto
their precarious advantage.
Paulinho came mightily close to putting the supporters' fears at ease
with six minutes to go, blasting over the bar from close range after
another fine piece of skill by Neymar to set him up in a great
position.
But in the end, the fans needn't have worried, as Mexico failed to
muster any serious challenge to Julio Cesar in goal before, deep into
stoppage time, Neymar bamboozled a pair of defenders to square toJoto
fire home the clinching goal.
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