The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
WORLD CUP ROUNDUP
BRAZIL 2, MEXICO 0
SAMARA, Russia — Flaunting his flair and his finishing touch wasn’t enough. Neymar put his theatrics on show, too.
What became clear in Brazil’s 2-0 victory over Mexico on Monday is that the wild side of the striker’s character is going nowhere at this year’s World Cup. And neither is Brazil.
“I don’t much care for criticism,” Neymar said, “not even for praise.”
With a goal and an assist, Neymar propelled Brazil into the quarterfinals of a tournament it has won five times. He also extended his platform to show he is as good — or better — than Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.
Although Neymar has scored only two goals in four games in Russia, he did enter the World Cup after spending three months recovering from a broken right foot. And it was the right foot that helped to break through Mexico’s stern resistance in Samara.
After releasing Willian with a back-heel, Neymar raced into the penalty area and slid to tap his teammate’s return cross into the net.
While his scoring is so often the focus, Neymar also creates goals for his teammates. A toe-poked attempt to beat Mexico goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa in the 88th minute was diverted into the path of Robert Firmino, who scored with a tap-in just like Neymar did. The world’s most expensive player has 11 goals and nine assists in his last 19 games for Brazil.
But before setting up the second goal it looked like Neymar’s game — or even his World Cup — could be over with 20 minutes to go. It turned out to be pure histrionics. Writhing in agony after his right ankle was stepped on by Miguel Layun, Neymar managed to get back on his feet. But not before trying to step on Layun.
Both escaped punishment, but the judgment elsewhere was less forgiving.
“We wasted a lot of time because of one single player,” Mexico coach Juan Carlos Osorio said, without naming Neymar. “I think this is a real shame for football, especially for kids who are watching because this has to be a sport of virility, of determination, a man’s sport, like other games, and not a charade.”
BELGIUM 3, JAPAN 2
ROSTOV-ON-DON, Russia — Jan Vertonghen started Belgium’s comeback with a wild, looping header and Nacer Chadli capped it by finishing off a 10-second, end-to-end attack in the final moments.
It added up to a 3-2 victory over Japan on Monday that gave the Belgians a spot in the World Cup quarterfinals for the second straight tournament.
Trailing 2-0, Vertonghen scored with a header in the 69th minute that appeared to be a cross but somehow dropped in under the bar. Substitute Marouane Fellaini headed in another from Eden Hazard’s cross in the 74th minute.
Chadli, who came on as a substitute in the 65th minute, decided it with virtually the last kick of the game in the fourth minute of injury time.
Belgium goalkeeper Thibault Courtois grabbed a corner kick and rolled the ball to Kevin De Bruyne, who dribbled to the top of the center circle and passed to Thomas Meunier on the right. Meunier one-timed the ball across the area and Romelu Lukaku let it roll by for Chadli to tap in with his left foot from 7 yards.
Belgium is the first team to overturn a two-goal deficit in a World Cup knockout match since West Germany beat England in extra time at the 1970 tournament. The last team do it in regulation was when Portugal beat North Korea in the 1966 quarterfinals.
Japan led through early second-half goals by Genki Haraguchi and Takashi Inui, but they couldn’t hold on.
“When we were up 2-0, I really wanted to score another goal and we did have opportunities,” Japan coach Akira Nishino said. “We were to some extent controlling the game, but Belgium upped their game when they had to.”