Brazil and Italy sealed their places in the semifinals of the Confederations Cup with contrasting victories in a goal-filled day Wednesday.
The hosts Brazil continued their good form in front of an incredible partisan crowd at the Estadio Castelao in Fortazela, with Neymar again sending them on their way to victory with an early goal, with Jo, like he did in the last game as well, scoring late on to clinch a 2-0 win over Mexico.
Neymar had opened the tournament with a wonderful strike against Japan, and the Barcelona forward showed his prowess again, striking a sweet left-footed volley after the ball had come out to him following an initial cross from the right by Dani Alves.
Mexico created a few chances, and looked capable of finding the equalizer, but just could not get the ball into the back of the net, as their goalscoring woes, which has seen their World Cup qualification campaign derailed to a certain extent, continued.
Brazil, who had been roused by a stunning acapella rendition of the national anthem by 50,000 fans, put the icing on the cake in the third minute of stoppage time, with Neymar turning provider for Jo to slot in.
"Our start was fantastic. Then, Mexico turned it around and dominated us for a bit," Brazil coach Luiz Felipe Scolari told reporters after the match.
"I would say we did very well. The entire team. I believe that the atmosphere from the fans here in Fortaleza spooked Mexico at the beginning of the match."
In the day's second match, the crowd at Arena Pernambuco in Recife witnessed a thrilling match which eventually ended 4-3 in favor of Italy.
Japan, who were trying to recover from the disappointing 3-0 defeat to Brazil in their opening match, needed to win to keep them on course for the semifinals, and it seemed very much likely when they took an early 2-0 lead.
An underhit backpass from Mattia De Sciglio saw Shinji Okazaki nip the ball ahead of Italy goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon, who brought down the Japanese player in the process.
Keisuke Honda, who scored a crucial penalty against Australia to book their place in the 2014 World Cup, stepped up and calmly slotted the spotkick home, before Shinji Kagawa doubled Japan's lead in the 33rd minute with a sweet strike from the edge of the box.
Daniele De Rossi, however, cut the deficit four minutes from halftime courtesy a header from an Andrea Pirlo corner, before Italy found themselves in the lead with two quickfire goals at the start of the second half.
Atsuto Uchida turned the ball into his own net in the 50th minute off a cross from Emanuele Giaccherini, with Italy making it 3-2 in their favor, soon after, courtesy a penalty from Mario Balotelli, after Makoto Hasebe was adjudged to have handled a Sebastian Giovingo strike inside the box.
Japan refused to lie down, though, and Okazaki was again the main man, heading home a freekick from Endo in the 69th minute.
The Blue Samurai were then incredibly unlucky not to go 4-3 up, when, after some pressure on Italy's goal, Okazaki struck the post. The rebound fell kindly to Kagawa, but unfortunately the Manchester United playmaker could only direct his header onto the crossbar.
Just when it looked like the game was heading for a draw, Italy got that crucial winner four minutes from time.
De Rossi combined well with Marchisio, who then picked out Giovinco to tap home from close range. Japan still had time to make it an incredible 4-4, and even put the ball in the back of the net, but unfortunately the goal was disallowed after Maya Yoshida was adjudged offside, leaving Italy to breathe a huge sigh of relief.
Italy and Brazil now face off in their final group game, with the match basically becoming a straight shootout for top spot.
