Niko Kovac says his Croatia side are facing their own FIFA World Cup “final” against Mexico today, with only a triumph guaranteeing them a place in the last 16.
Croatia bounced back from their 3-1 defeat to hosts Brazil in Group A with a 4-0 rout of Cameroon on Wednesday to keep their knock-out dreams alive.
Striker Mario Mandzukic scored two second-half goals as Croatia sent 10-man Cameroon crashing out of the tournament in disarray.
Photo: EPA
VfL Wolfsburg pair Ivica Olic and Ivan Perisic also got on the scoresheet, but Croatia still remain third in the table, behind leaders Brazil and Mexico.
Kovac knows his side face an uphill task against Miguel Herrera’s side in Recife in the wake of Mexico’s ego-boosting draw with the Selecao.
Mexico goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa wrote himself into World Cup folklore with a string of top-class saves, including one from point-blank range to deny Brazil’s Neymar in Fortaleza on Tuesday.
A draw against Croatia would be enough to put Mexico through after the Blazers’ goalless draw with Brazil and 1-0 win over Cameroon.
“The match against Mexico will be like a final,” Kovac told Croatian channel HTV. “Mexico are strong, but so are we. The Mexico players are very patriotic, just like us.”
Mexico have four points — one more than Croatia — as their draw with Brazil came after their 1-0 win over Cameroon thanks to Oribe Peralta’s second-half winner, but El Tri are bidding to finish on top and want to beat the Croatians to pile the pressure on Group A leaders Brazil.
Stuttering Brazil will look to clinch their berth in the last 16 of as they host Cameroon in their final group match at the National Stadium in the capital, Brasilia, today.
Luiz Felipe Scolari’s side have struggled to convince in either of their first two matches, but both the coach and his players have said in recent days that the hosts are “evolving” as the tournament progresses.
Brazil head into their final group game — their 100th at the World Cup — uncertain of a place in the knockout rounds, but goalkeeper Julio Cesar said that the quality of opposition they have come up against so far has helped the Selecao.
“This is a tough group, but that’s great for us. We prefer to play against these sides and face these difficulties because it gets you focusing right from the start, which is important in short-term competitions,” he said.
The pressure on Brazil to do well is enormous, but Scolari’s team need not panic about their situation in the group. They lead the group on goal-difference from Mexico and a draw will be enough to take them through to a second-round clash with either Chile or the Netherlands.
They would still progress even if they lose to the African squad, as long as El Tri beat Croatia in the group’s other game, due to be played at the same time in Recife at the Arena Pernambuco.
In any case, the prospect of Brazil losing to a Cameroon side in disarray seems extremely unlikely. Volker Finke’s campaign has been beset by trouble since the very beginning.
A row over bonuses overshadowed their build-up to the finals and star striker Samuel Eto’o is struggling with a knee injury. Yet despite this, Brazil are wary of Cameroon for what will be the nations’ first clasg since the Indomitable Lions stunned the then-world champions 1-0 in the 2003 Confederations Cup in France.
“Their [Cameroon’s] pride has been hurt and they will be looking to beat Brazil because it would be like winning the World Cup for them,” Brazil defender David Luiz said.
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was
RALLY: It was only the second time the Taiwanese has partnered with Kudermetova, and the match seemed tight until they won seven points in a row to take the last set 10-2 Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova on Sunday won the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix women’s doubles final in Stuttgart, Germany. The pair defeated Norway’s Ulrikke Eikeri and Estonia’s Ingrid Neel 4-6, 6-3, 10-2 in a tightly contested match at the WTA 500 tournament. Chan and Kudermetova fell 4-6 in the first set after having their serve broken three times, although they played increasingly well. They fought back in the second set and managed to break their opponents’ serve in the eighth game to triumph 6-3. In the tiebreaker, Chan and Kudermetova took a 3-0 lead before their opponents clawed back two points, but