BRASIL 3-0 JAPAN
Hosts, Brasil easily dispatched Asian champions, Japan in the opening fixture of the tournament.
Neymar got the ball rolling in the third minute, unleashing a thunderbolt into the top right hand corner. Neymar who hadn’t scored in 9 games prior to this fixture, showed why he’s been touted the next Pele with a tremendous strike.
Midfielder, Paulinho made it 2 just three minutes after the restart, controlling Daniel Alves’ cross before unleashing a shot past Kawashima in the Japanese goal.
Jo made it three, few minutes after coming on as a substitute for Fred, rushing onto Oscar’s pass to drive the ball home.
Brazil: 12 Julio Cesar – 02 Alves, 03 Thiago Silva, 04 David Luiz, 06 Marcelo – 17 Luis Gustavo – 18 Paulinho – 19 Hulk (Hernanes – 75′), 11 Oscar, 10 Neymar (Lucas Moura – 74′) – 09 Fred (Jo – 81′)
Subs: 01 Jefferson, 22 Cavalieri, 13 Dante, 14 Filipe, 16 Araujo Rever, 05 Fernando, 07 Lucas Moura, 08 Hernanes, 15 Jean, 20 Bernard, 23 Jadson, 21 Jo
Japan: 01 Kawashima – 06 Uchida, 15 Konno, 22 Yoshida, 05 Nagatomo – 17 Hasebe (Booked) – 07 Endo (Hosogai – 77′), 08 Hiroshi Kiyotake (Maeda – 51′), 10 Kagawa – 04 Honda (Taka Inui – 88′), 09 Okazaki
Subs: 12 Nishikawa, 23 Gonda, 02 Inoha, 03 Sakai, 16 Kurihara, 21 Sakai, 13 Hosogai, 14 Nakamura, 19 Taka Inui, 20 Takahashi, 11 Mike Havenaar, 18 Maeda
Ref: Proenca
Att: 68,000
MEXICO 1-2 ITALY
Italy took the lead through Andrea Pirlo on his 100th appearance for the Azurri. Pirlo became the fifth man to notch up a century’s worth of international caps for the Italian national side and capped this illustrious achievement with a goal, curling a freekick past the Mexican wall in the first half.
Mexico equalised through a Javier Hernandez penalty after Andrea Barzagli fouled Mexican playmaker, Giovani dos Santos in the box.
Mario Balotelli made sure of maximum points for Italy, bulldozing his way past the hapless Mexican defenders before firing a low shot past Corona.
Mexico: 12 Corona – 22 Flores, 02 Rodriguez, 15 Moreno (Booked), 03 Salcido – 11 Aquino (Mier – 53′), 06 Torrado, 17 Jesus Zavala (Jimenez – 85′), 18 Guardado – 10 Giovani (Booked) – 14 Hernandez
Subs: 01 Ochoa, 23 Talavera, 04 Diego Reyes, 13 Meza, 20 Torres, 21 Mier, 05 Molina, 07 Barrera, 08 Reyna, 16 Herrera, 09 De Nigris, 19 Jimenez
Italy: 01 Buffon, 20 Abate, 15 Barzagli (Booked), 03 Chiellini, 05 De Sciglio – 21 Pirlo, 16 De Rossi (Booked) – 08 Marchisio (Cerci – 68′), 18 Montolivo, 22 Giaccherini (Aquilani – 88′) – 09 Balotelli Booked (Gilardino – 85′)
Subs: 12 Sirigu, 13 Marchetti, 02 Maggio, 04 Astori, 19 Bonucci, 06 Candreva, 07 Aquilani, 17 Cerci, 23 Diamanti, 10 Giovinco, 11 Gilardino, 14 El Shaarawy
Ref: Enrique Osses
Att: 80,000
SPAIN 2-1 URUGUAY
Reigning World and European Champions, Spain got their campaign off to a flying start with a comfortable win over Uruguay on Sunday night.
Spain went close early on through Cesc Fabregas whose low drive hit the post before Pedro’s shot was deflected by Uruguay captain, Diego Lugano into his own net in the 22nd minute.
Spain doubled their lead soon after, Fabregas picking out Soldado on the arc, and then Valencia fired a shot past Fernando Muslera to give the Spaniards a healthy lead going to the break.
Luis Suarez curled a free kick late on in the game to reduce the deficit for the South Americans but it was too little, too late.
Spain: 01 Casillas – 17 Arbeloa (Booked), 03 Pique (Booked), 15 Ramos, 18 Alba – 16 Busquets – 08 Xavi (Martinez – 77′), 06 Iniesta – 11 Pedro (Mata – 81′), 14 Soldado, 10 Fabregas (Cazorla – 65′)
Subs: 12 Valdes, 23 Reina, 02 Albiol, 05 Azpilicueta, 19 Monreal, 04 Martinez, 20 Cazorla, 21 Silva, 22 Navas, 07 Villa, 09 Torres, 13 Mata
Uruguay: 01 Muslera – 16 Pereira, 02 Lugano (Booked), 03 Godin – 22 Caceres – 05 Gargano (Lodeiro – 63′), 15 Perez (Forlan – 69′), 07 C Rodrigues, 18 Ramirez (Gonzalez Luengo – 46′), 09 Suarez – 21 Cavani (Booked)
Subs: 12 Castillo, 23 Silva, 04 Coates, 13 Aguirregaray, 19 Scotti, 06 Pereira, 08 Eguren, 14 Lodeiro, 17 Arevalo Rios, 20 Gonzalez Luengo, 10 Forlan, 11 Hernandez
Ref: Y Nishimura
Att: 46,000
