Brazil's elation, Mexico's consolation

If the first halves of Italy-Brazil and Japan-Mexico somewhat failed to fire, the second halves were frantic and fabulous, witnessing seven goals as Group A finished on a real high.

 The opening goal in Salvador was straight out of a storybook. Only on the field because of an injury to David Luiz, Bayern Munich defender Dante scored in his hometown and his first competitive game as the hosts took the lead just before half-time. Almost 850 miles away in Belo Horizonte, the crowd went wild at the news of the goal. They were to be off their seats in both cities a further three times after the break as a Freddouble and another moment of brilliance from Neymar ensured they finished at the section’s summit. Although Emanuele Giaccherini and Giorgio Chiellini were on target for Gli Azzurri, this was the first time since the final of UEFA EURO 2012 that Italy have conceded four goals.

In the group’s other game at the Estadio Mineirao, Mexico continued their recent fine run over Asian opposition with a 2-1 win over Japan. El Tri have now enjoyed success against teams from the AFC in their last five matches. This was a deserved and welcome victory for Jose Manuel De La Torre and his men, who had won only one of their 11 games in 2013. Two headers from Javier Hernandez gave them all three points, with the Manchester United man missing a late penalty following Shinji Okazaki’s consolation. Japan, who impressed in their 4-3 loss to Italy appeared out of sorts in this match, with coach Alberto Zaccheroni a frustrated figure on the touchline.(Source: FIFA.Com)