• Mexico has been the aggressor in the first half of this World Cup knockout match against Brazil. We’re scoreless.
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How to watch: In the U.S., Fox and Telemundo have the broadcast at 10 a.m. Eastern, but you can stream it here.
23’: Mexico’s Counterattack
About those Mexico counterattacks: they’ll probably want to go faster, more urgently, when they can to try to catch Brazil, which won’t like it anymore than Germany did. But the tired legs and three games in the group may be showing a bit; the pace just isn’t there so far.
21’: Mexico Keeps Running
Another breakout for Mexico — this is where they can be at their most dangerous — but the runs don’t have the same pace as the ones that tormented Germany in the opening game. Still, the secondary buildup produces a chance — Herrera pulls a ball around a sliding Miranda just in side the top of the area, but pulling the trigger takes a beat too long, and his attempt is blocked.
18’: Herrera Blocked
Crazy attacking sequence by Mexico there: Vela bad header, Chicharito overhead kick from the sideline to Guardado in the center, one-touch to Vela, cross to Herrera for a shot. Which is blocked. Feels like we deserved better after all that.
16’: Mexico’s Midfield Scrambling
In the “frantically scrambling back to help out at the first sign of danger” statistics, I’m giving Mexico’s midfield the early edge.
13’: Danger for Brazil
A bit more danger for Brazil there, as a cross proves troubling problematic. Mexico with a corner, but Brazil’s winning all of these aerial battles for now.
12’: New Look
Just to clarify: Salcedo is the blond Mexican in defense. Chicharito is the blond Mexican in attack.
11’: Mexico Aggressive
Danger for Brazil there, as they lost Chicharito down the left. But they scramble back and Miranda, losing his footing in the area, pokes the ball off his feet just long enough for a teammate to clear.
9’: Threat From Vela
Great run by Carlos Vela up the left ends up in the area; he seemed surprised, almost, that Fagner let him in so easily.
On the corner that follows, a header sails high into the air and Alisson and Chicharito battle for it. The giant Brazilian keeper wins that fight every time.
7’: Marquez Solid in the Middle
Marquez has parked himself in front of the center backs, Ayala and Salcedo, as a deep-lying midfielder/forward-covering center back. He’ll be there all day, providing cover and guidance as Brazil charges in.
5’: Neymar Kicks a Knuckleball
A giveaway by Mexico gives Neymar an open look at the top of the penalty area. THIS IS NOT A GOOD STRATEGY MEXICO! His knuckling shot fools Ochoa a bit, but it’s straight at him, so he just punches it away.
4’: Neymar Tumbles
And Neymar takes his first dramatic tumble to win a free kick. It won’t be his last.
3’: Chicharito Flattens Fagner
Fagner gets run over, and stepped on, by Chicharito as he tries to break across the midfield stripe. Sorry not sorry, Hernandez says. Free kick for Brazil.
2’: Corner for Mexico
That one from Guardado is better: he gets in faster, and sends in a dangerous cross that Alisson has to dive to poke away. The clearance gets Mexico a corner though, which they promptly waste.
1’: Mexico Pushes Early
Mexico gets us going and tries to spring Guardado down the left. But he’s got no option, and ran a bit deep, and then kicks the ball out himself for a goal kick. Mexico will want to be direct again, though. But loner runs like that are easy for Brazil to handle.
Brazil vs. Mexico: The Crew
There’s an Italian in the middle today — Gianliuca Rocchi — and an all-Italian V.A.R. team back in Moscow.
Expect Mexico to Counterattack
Mexico Manager Juan Carlos Osorio, while praising Brazil, hinted his team would approach today’s game much as it did its win over Germany: by acknowledging the opponent’s technical skill, but also running right at them on the counter.
“Our footballing style has more to do with creating defensive problems in the opposition line,” he said. “We never throw in the towel and give up on attacking.”
Brazil’s Starting Lineup
There’s confirmation that Brazil makes only one change, sending out Filipe Luis for the injured Marcelo.
1 Alisson (Roma)
2 Thiago Silva (Paris St Germain)
3 Miranda (Inter Milan)
5 Casemiro (Real Madrid)
6 Filipe Luis (Atletico Madrid)
9 Gabriel Jesus (Manchester City)
10 Neymar (Paris St Germain)
11 Philippe Coutinho (Barcelona)
15 Paulinho (Barcelona)
19 Willian (Chelsea)
22 Fagner (Corinthians)
Marquez Starts for Mexico
The presence of Marquez in the Mexico lineup today sends a couple of signals. The first, shown in his first appearances in the tournament and confirmed by today’s start, is that Mexico is not letting anything affect its preparations or team selection for matches at the World Cup. But the more important signal is this: Manager Juan Carlos Osorio has clearly decided that he needs a veteran presence in the center of his defense against Brazil. And he trusts Marquez, who has seen it all in a long club and international career.
In some ways, the move is reminiscent of Russia’s starting 38-year-old Sergey Ignashevich against Spain (and every other game). Even at their age, he and Marquez act as a security blanket for a coach, a relief that no matter what happens, they won’t be fazed by it.
Mexico’s Starting Lineup
13 Guillermo Ochoa (Standard Liege)
2 Hugo Ayala (Tigres)
3 Carlos Salcedo (Eintracht Frankfurt)
4 Rafael Marquez (Atlas)
11 Carlos Vela (Los Angeles FC)
14 Javier Hernandez (West Ham)
16 Hector Herrera (Porto)
18 Andres Guardado (Real Betis)
21 Edson Alvarez (America)
22 Hirving Lozano (PSV Eindhoven)
23 Jesus Gallardo (Monterrey)
Neymar’s Numbers
Brazil star Neymar certainly has his critics, but consider his numbers in group play:
dribbles (17), fouls won (17), shots (16), and chances created (11).
All of those numbers were the highest from Group E.
Mexico Goes Blond
The teams are out for warmups in Samara, giving everyone their first extended look at the bleached blond dye jobs Javier Hernandez and Miguel Layun got done between games. It’s, um, something.
Chicharito and Miguel Layun‘s new look. #eltrieng pic.twitter.com/bFjZ1KI095
— Tom Marshall (@mexicoworldcup) July 1, 2018
Back-Handed Compliment
In a bit of unfortunate timing, a bit of Juan Carlos Osorio’s pregame praise for Brazil on Sunday reads kind of like a dig today.
“Brazil are a great team, they’re the best team in the world,” Mexico’s manager said. “That is because each of their players can control, pass and they behave as a unit just like Spain, Germany.”
Behaving as a unit “just like Spain” hardly qualifies as a compliment today.
Keep an Eye on Chicharito
Javier "Chicharito" Hernandez’s could be playing in his final World Cup game for Mexico. Or he could cement his legend as one of the country’s all-time greats. He scored the game-winner against South Korea in the group stage and will be crucial to Mexico’s attack against Brazil
Mexico’s Manager on the Hot Seat
Mexico’s fans were grumbling about their manager, Juan Carlos Osorio, before the World Cup and then singing his name after the team won its first two games. What happens if El Tri goes out today in the second round, for the seventh straight World Cup?
Brazil vs. Mexico: The History
Brazil and Mexico have played four previous matches at the World Cup. Brazil is 3-0-1 in them, and has outscored Mexico by 11-0.
Mexico’s Momentum
Mexico is looking to avoid its seventh straight second-round exit from the World Cup. But it has to wonder if it lost its momentum in its collapse against Sweden. This is the fourth game in two weeks for each team, and the weekend games showed the heavy legs starting to show up — especially in the two games that went to extra time.
Interactive Feature
Spot the Ball
We’ve pulled some photos from group stage games and made one very important change — we removed the ball. See if you can guess where it was.
Bagikan Berita Ini
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