BRASILIA, Brazil -- Neymar lived up to the expectations of the World Cup host nation Monday, scoring two goals as Brazil routed Cameroon 4-1 to reach the knockout stage as the top team in Group A. Lamar McHan Jersey . Fred and Fernandinho added second-half goals for Brazil, which will face South American rival Chile in the second round. Neymar netted twice in the first half, on either side of midfielder Joel Matips goal for Cameroon in the 26th minute. He opened the scoring off a low cross by midfielder Luiz Gustavo in the 17th, deftly side-footing the ball home from close range, then restored the lead with a low right-foot strike from the top of the penalty area in the 35th after a pass by left back Marcelo. "If Im not mistaken this is our best game yet," Neymar said. "Everyone deserves congratulations for their efforts until the end." Fred found the net in the 49th and the substitute Fernandinho struck in the 84th. Brazil finished Group A with seven points after two wins and a draw. It ended with the same points as Mexico, but had a better goal difference. The Mexicans eliminated Croatia with a 3-1 win in Recife. Playing in its 100th World Cup match, Brazil needed at least a draw to advance. Elimination in the group stage would have been unthinkable for the five-time world champions playing at home. The only team to play in all 20 World Cups, Brazil has advanced to the second round in every tournament since 1970. Boosted by a crowd of nearly 69,112 at the Estadio Nacional in the nations capital, Brazil began the match pressuring Cameroon and created many scoring chances early. But the African team eventually picked up the pace and was able to keep the hosts from threatening too much. Despite playing without Samuel Etoo because of a lingering right knee injury, Cameroon had a few good chances, even when the match was level in the first half. "The first half was not so bad, but we need to focus for 90 minutes, and this is not the first time that this happened," Cameroon coach Volker Finke said. "Some goals were not needed, three times we had the control of the ball and we lost it." It was Neymar who got on the board first, neatly finding the net after Gustavo stole the ball on the left flank and sent a low cross into the area. Cameroon equalized after a nice run by Allan Nyom ended with Matips goal, but Neymar again showed he is carrying the hopes of the entire nation, running toward the area and then moving to his right in front of a couple of defenders before firing a low shot into the net. The 22-year-old Barcelona striker had already been decisive in the 3-1 opening win over Croatia, when he also scored twice while Brazil was struggling. Brazil improved in the second half and Fred, who had been loudly criticized for his lacklustre performances, got his first goal of the tournament with a header from close range after a cross by defender David Luiz from the left. Cameroon players complained of offsides. Fernandinho, who replaced Paulinho in the second half, closed the scoring after Oscar stole possession from a Cameroon defender near the area. Quick passes by Fred and Oscar set up the midfielders toe poke from short range. Cameroon, which hasnt advanced to the second round since becoming the first African nation to reach the World Cup quarterfinals in 1990, likely saw Etoo playing in his final World Cup. The 33-year-old striker, in his fourth World Cup, is the teams all-time leading scorer. Emmanuel Sanders Jersey . - Kobe Bryant and LeBron James traded hugs, big shots and verbal jabs all night with warmth and humour. Elijah Lee Jersey . Venus Williams advanced to the ASB Classic final in Auckland on a walkover when fellow American Jamie Hampton withdrew from their semifinal Friday with a right hip injury.BAIE-COMEAU, Que. -- Philippe Cadorette stopped 22 shots as the Baie-Comeau Drakkar extended their win streak to six games by defeating the Saint John Sea Dogs 2-1 on Friday in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League action. Gabryel Paquin-Boudreau scored the eventual winner 3:52 into the second period while on the power play for the Drakkar (11-4-2) and Alec Jon Banville opened the games scoring in the first period. Joey Richard scored the lone goal for the Sea Dogs (5-10-1), who are winless in their last seven outings. Saint Johns Sebastien Auger turned away 30-of-32 shots in defeat. Baie-Comeau went 1 for 4 on the power play while the Sea Dogs failed to score on four chances with the man advantage. --- MOOSEHEADS 5 TITAN 2 BATHURST, N.B. -- Timo Meier scored twice as Halifax downed Acadie-Bathurst. Austyn Hardy, Brent Andrews and MacKenzie Weegar also scored for the Mooseheads (11-7-0) while Jonathan Drouin had three assists. Alexandros Soumakis and Raphael Lafontaine scored for the Titan (6-8-2). Halifaxs Zachary Fucale made 15 stops for the win while Acadie-Bathursts Jacob Brennan turned away 39 shots in defeat. --- SAGUENEENS 5 SCREAMING EAGLES 4 CHICOUTIMI, QUE. -- The Sagueneens scored four times in the first period en route to defeating Cape Breton. Thomas Gobeil scored twice in the opening 20 minutes for Chicoutimi (9-8-0) while Laurent Dauphin and Sebastien Sylvestre also had first-period goals. Samuel Roussy scored the eventual winner in the second period. Charles-Eric Legare had a goal and an assist for the Screaming Eagles (7-7-2) and Jason Bell, Cameron Darcy and William Carriere scored the others. Domenic Graham made 33 saves for the Sagueneens. Alex Bureau allowed four goals on nine shots for Cape Breton before giving way to Chase Marchand, who picked up the loss despite stopping 14-of-15 shots in 41 minutes of relief. DeForest Buckner Jersey. --- ARMADA 7 PHOENIX 2 BOISBRIAND, QUE. -- Nikita Jevpalovs had two goals and an assist and Aaron Hoyles scored once and set up three more as Blainville-Boisbriand hammered Shebrooke. Danick Martel also scored twice for the Armada (12-1-1) while Christopher Clapperton had a goal and an assist. Daniel Audette and Jean-Francois Plante supplied the scoring for the Phoenix (4-11-2). Blainville-Boisbriands Guillaume Decelles made 20 saves for the victory. Sherbrookes Gabriel Parent stopped 17-of-24 shots in a losing cause. --- VOLTIGUEURS 5 TIGRES 3 DRUMMONDVILLE, QUE. -- Voltigeurs scoring leader Christophe Lalancette had a goal and an assist as his club handed Victoriaville its third straight defeat. Sergei Boikov and Georgs Golovkovs also had a goal and an assist apiece for Drummondville (8-6-1) while Jeremy Auger and Joey Ratelle added single goals. Angelo Miceli had two goals for the Tigres (8-5-1) and Felix-Antoine Savage scored once. Louis-Philip Guindon made 25 saves for the Voltigeurs as Victoriavilles Brandon Whitney stopped 31 shots in defeat. --- HUSKIES 4 FOREURS 2 ROUYN-NORANDA, QUE. -- Dillon Fournier had a pair of goals as the Huskies doubled up Val-dOr. Francis Perron scored once and set up two more for Rouyn-Noranda (9-5-2) while Liam OBrien had the other. The Foreurs (9-7-0) got goals from Guillaume Gelinas and Nikolas Aube-Kubel. Alexandre Belanger made 34 saves for the Huskies while Val-dOrs Francois Tremblay stopped 26 shots in a losing cause. ' ' '
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