Mexico Too Hot For Japan

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A brace from Javier Hernandez secured a 2-1 victory for Mexico over Japan in a group A 2013 Confederations Cup tie at the Estadio Mineirao in Belo Horizonte on Saturday evening.

Shinji Okazaki found the back of the net for the Asian side.

Shinji Kagawa had a great opportunity to open the scoring on the night in the fifth minute of the match, the Manchester United midfielder though couldn?t manage to find the back of the net with only Guillermo Ochoa to beat.

Okazaki deflected a Yasuhito Endo shot past Ochoa four minutes later but the goal was disallowed after the assistant referee adjudged the striker to be in an offside position.

Mexico?s best chance of the half fell to Andres Guardado five minutes before the break, the Valencia midfielder found himself unmarked in the area but he could only manage to find the post with his resulting header.

The first half ended goalless

Manchester United forward Javier Hernandez opened the scoring in the 54th minute of the match. The El tri ace met a superb Andres Guardado cross with his head to register his second goal of the tournament.

Chicharito doubled his sides and his tally on the night 12 minutes later. Hiram Mier flicked the ball into the path of the Mexican forward who nodded in from close range. The goal was the Red Devils striker?s 35th in 59 appearances of El Tri.

Okazaki pulled one back for the Samarui Blue four minutes before the end. Kengo Nakamuru played an excellent ball into the path of the Stuttgart forward who made no mistake to set up a nervy final few minutes.

Hernandez had an opportunity to complete his hat-trick from the penalty spot in second half stoppage time. The El Tri number 14?s effort though was saved by Ochoa before his follow up effort cannoned off the bar.

Both teams went into the game knowing that they had no chance of progressing to the semi-finals after losing to Brazil and Italy. The win though means that Mexico bow out of the tournament in third spot in group A while Japan leave Brazil without a win.

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