Many felt that Brazil had luck on their side against Croatia to win that first game, but will it continue against the Mexicans?
The first match from the second round of games at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil sees the clash of the two sides sitting first and second in Group A as Brazil and Mexico meet at Estádio Castelão in Fortaleza. Both of these sides took all three points in their first matches as Brazil claimed a 3-1 victory against Croatia and Mexico defeated Cameroon 1-0, but it was not the final results in these games that were the main talking points – it was the performances of the officials.
Brazil were deemed to have been on the lucky side of several calls from the Japanese official Yuichi Nishimura while Mexico had two perfectly legal goals ruled out in their match against Cameroon that saw them need more than an hour to score the one and only goal in that match. Brazil will be hoping for a continuation of decisions being on their side, while Mexican will be hoping for a full 180 degree turnaround in this game, but who will open a three point gap at the top of Group A at the full time whistle?
Brazil to beat Mexico – 1.30
Both sides to share the points – 5.25
Mexico to beat Brazil – 10.00
(All odds provided by AllYouBet.ag are accurate as of today and subject to change)
After two goals from Neymar and a late third from Chelsea’s Oscar, Brazil lead Group A at the second ever World Cup tournament they are hosting after 1950, but they can feel lucky that Barcelona’s Neymar was still on the pitch to score both of those goals. He elbowed Real Madrid midfielder Luka Modrić and received only a yellow card when it looked as if he should have walked. The biggest piece of luck they received from the referee on the opening night was for their second goal as Fred went down easily in the box before Neymar scored his second from the spot. They also had a goal chalked off against them from an apparent foul on Julio Cesar in goal that would have seen Croatia level at 2-2 in an impressive performance from the Europeans. Brazil were certainly the second best side in that match and Luis Felipe Scolari will have his work cut out to improve his team to the level to is expected from the Brazilian fans for this game against Mexico.
Mexico were on the end of some controversial refereeing decisions in their opening Group A game too as they had two goals ruled out for offside against Cameroon when both goals were legitimately netted by former Tottenham Hotspur man Giovanni dos Santos. These ‘goals’ early on showed how up for the match Mexico were and they dominated the Africans, but it did take 61 minutes for them to break the official imposed deadlock and take all three points. Unlike Brazil, Miguel Herrera’s men will be hoping for a change in their luck with the men in charge in Fortaleza as despite Brazil making an underwhelming debut on home soil this summer more goals ruled out without cause will make it very difficult for Mexico to take the points in this game.
Brazil have the better record between these two sides in recent times as they have won three of the last four meetings of the sides, including securing a 2-0 win at the Confederations Cup last summer. However, having seen both of these teams in action at the 2014 World Cup it is the Mexicans who look to be the more confident and fluid going forwards as Brazil struggled all over the pitch against Croatia. Despite this, Brazil could not play any worse than they did in their opener and they are sure to improve in this match but will they be able to improve to the level that they can beat Mexico without assistance from the officials, who will have the eyes of the world turned on them?
Brazil have the quality to win this match, but following last week’s performance I do not feel that they are as good as the match odds suggest and Mexico are certainly going to be a challenge to the hosts. As a result of this, I can see this being an open and exciting match that sees goals coming easily and readily and my money for this opening match of the second round of group games is on both Brazil and Mexico to find the net at the Estádio Castelão.
Betting Instinct tip – back both Brazil and Mexico to score in their Group A match at the 2014 World Cup @ 1.90 with AllYouBet.ag.
ANTONY JORDAN has more than ten years experience in the online gaming industry and writes sports betting content for several online gaming sites and companies. Read his work on Facebook, Twitter and Google+.
