The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)

World Cup roundup

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• Philippe Coutinho scored in the first minute of stoppage time, and Neymar followed six minutes later to give Brazil a 2-0 victory over Costa Rica on Friday at the World Cup. Unlike Argentina and Lionel Messi, Brazil is still in a good position to advance to the round of 16. Costa Rica has been eliminated. A few minutes before the end, Neymar flopped backward to initially earn a penalty, but the contact was so exaggerate­d that the referee reversed the call after using video review. Neymar then angrily punched the ball a short time later as Costa Rica’s players tried to waste time. It earned Brazil’s biggest star a yellow card. Coutinho was first to get the ball past goalkeeper Keylor Navas. Rising superbly to meet a header from Marcelo’s cross, Roberto Firmino nodded the ball down to striker Gabriel Jesus, who then flicked it to a sprinting Coutinho in the penalty area. In the seventh minute of injury time, Douglas Costa whipped in a cross from the right and Neymar deftly tapped it into the net. Both Firmino and Costa had come on as substitute­s in the second half. Brazil has four points in Group E and plays Serbia in its final match in Moscow on Wednesday. Costa Rica has zero points and cannot advance. • Ahmed Musa gave Nigeria its first win at this year’s World Cup, and gave Argentina a gift. Musa scored two second-half goals to help the Nigerians beat Iceland, 2-0, Friday and move into second place in the group behind already-qualified Croatia. Nigeria will face Argentina in its final group match on Tuesday in St. Petersburg. If Nigeria wins, it will advance to the round of 16. But if Argentina claims all three points, it can still advance depending on the result of the other match between Croatia and Iceland. Musa gave Nigeria the lead in the 49th minute after Victor Moses sprinted deep into the Iceland half and curled a cross to the near post. Musa deftly controlled the ball before slamming it past Iceland goalkeeper Hannes Halldorsso­n on the half-volley. He doubled the lead in the 75th. Picking up the ball on the left side of the Iceland penalty area, Musa mazed his way past Halldorsso­n and picked his spot in the Iceland goal. Iceland had a chance to get one back but Gylfi Sigurdsson sent a penalty kick way over the Nigeria bar in the 83rd minute. The penalty was awarded after a video review showed that Alfred Finnbogaso­n had been brought down by Tyronne Ebuehi.

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