Japan v Mexico, 22 June 2013

Kick-off: 4.00pm local (8.00pm BST) Match Report The first clear chance of the game fell to Kagawa. The Manchester United man fired straight at goalkeeper Ochoa who had replaced Corona in the starting line up. Mexico then hit the woodwork through Guardado. His header smashed the post following a cross from Torres. Shortly after the break Mexico took the lead. Guardado controlled a cross field pass brilliantly on the left then crossed for Hernandez who headed in at the near post. Hernandez then got his second with another header. He called upon his goalscoring instinct when he stole in at the back post following a Mexican flick on. Japan pulled one back through Okazaki. Endo volleyed a cross in after some creative work by Kagawa. Okozaki forced the ball in despite Ochoa getting a hand on it. Hernandez should have ensured victory and notched his hat-trick in stoppage time. He was brought down and stepped up himself only for the keeper to save. He pounced on the rebound but lashed against the bar. Nevertheless, Mexico held on to grab their first points of the tournament. Both sides will be disappointed to be exiting at such an early stage and Japan in particular might feel their performances merited more. Preview Both teams will be looking to restore some pride before they exit competition early. In particular, Mexico will be looking for a confidence boost to help their World Cup qualification campaign which is still in the balance. Japan won many fans after their performance against Italy and lead some into thinking they could be contenders at next summer's World Cup. They will be looking for another strong performance to reinforce this idea. Zaccheroni will be without his captain Makoto Hasebe who is suspended for this one. Hosogai is likely to replace him. Mexico may hand opportunities to some of the younger members of their squad who performed so well last summer at the Olympic Games when they won gold.