Brazil expected to defeat Mexico for early passage

World Cup favourites Brazil will be expected to defeat Mexico and secure their passage to the round of 16. However, their Latin neighbours have no reason to feel overawed. The Mexicans have won big matches against Brazil before, beating them 4-3 in the final of the Confederations Cup in 1999 and more recently in the Olympic final in London.

Although that game was not a full international, the match featured several players expected to line up in the Fortaleza match, including Neymar, Oscar and captain Thiago Silva for Brazil, and Oribe Peralta, the striker whose brace gave Mexico a 2-1 victory. It gives Brazil pause for thought as they seek their 11th consecutive victory.
Mexico will also be encouraged by a rain-sodden 1-0 win over Cameroon on Friday when they received fantastic support from their travelling fans. The home side, however, have won 22 of the 38 previous encounters including the most recent match almost exactly a year ago in the same stadium in the Confederations Cup when Brazil romped home more comfortably than the 2-0 score suggests.

Even a draw will dramatically improve their chances of qualifying from the group with Croatia considered the most likely team to join hosts Brazil in the round of 16.

Both teams—and fans the world over—will also be watching the referee almost as closely as the players. Brazil were given a contentious penalty at a crucial moment of the Croatia match, prompting talk about home field bias.

And TV replays showed Mexico had two good goals disallowed before they finally got the winner in their opener against Cameroon.

HULK INJURY UPDATE

Hulk left a training session due to a muscle injury in his left leg, but is expected to be fit to play Mexico tomorrow in his team’s second World Cup match. Though he wasn’t as influential as experts expected him to be, the striker is considered an essential part of the forward three.

“I felt a small discomfort and decided to leave as a precaution,” Hulk said. “I was already thinking about the next match, it’s only two days away and in the World Cup you don’t want to miss any match. I hope to be ready so I can help the national team again.”