Japanese referee Yuichi Nishimura endeared himself to Brazil fans with a contentious penalty award in the World Cup opener on Thursday, as Neymar put away the spot kick to give his side a 2-1 lead against Croatia late in the Group A opener.
Neymar wasted little time in living up to his billing as Brazil's World Cup spearhead when he scored twice to lead the host nation to a 3-1 comeback victory over Croatia in a terrific opening game of the tournament on Thursday.
Javier Hernandez came off the bench to help Mexico reach the last 16 of the World Cup as their watertight defense and swift counter attacks gave them a 3-1 win against Croatia on Monday to emerge from Group A as runners-up behind Brazil.
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