Gilden Regeln » will be like a final," Kovac told Croati

Mexico, Croatia battle for place in knockout round (Live on TSN Radio 1050, TSN Radio 690, TEAM Radio 1410 at 4pm et/1pm pt) Mexico has reached the knockout round in each of the past five World Cups, and El Tri can extend that streak to six with a win or draw against Croatia at the Arena Pernambuco today in the final day of Group A play. Both teams beat Cameroon, but Mexicos 0-0 draw against Brazil is the difference between the sides, as Croatia fell 3-1 to the hosts in the opening match of the tournament. Much of the credit for Mexico getting a point against Brazil goes to goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa, who produced a number of fine stops to keep his team in the match. "Sometimes its our turn to catch the eye and other times its someone elses," Ochoa said following the game with Brazil. "Of course Id like to have less to do, but in my position youve got to be constantly alert, whether youre needed just once or loads of times. And thats what Ill keep training for." Ochoa made a pair of big saves to deny Neymar, while he reacted well in the final minutes to keep out a point-blank header from Thiago Silva. "He saved us today," Mexican winger Andres Guardado said of Ochoa. "Sometimes we had the feeling that, however many times they went for goal, he wasnt going to let anything get past him." Ochoa will hope to be a bit less active on Monday, although Croatia enters the match full of confidence having handed Cameroon a 4-0 defeat last time out. After missing top forward Mario Mandzukic against Brazil because of suspension, the Bayern Munich forward returned to the fold against the African side and netted a pair of goals in the second half. Croatia was unlucky to lose 3-1 to Brazil in the opener as a questionable penalty decision handed the home side a 2-1 lead in the second half before Oscar scored a goal in stoppage time to cap the win. Unlike Mexico, Croatia must win Mondays game in order to advance to the round of 16 for the first time since 1998, and head coach Niko Kovac is expecting a great atmosphere. "The match against Mexico will be like a final," Kovac told Croatian television station HTV. "We have to get some rest, because a serious opponent awaits. Mexico are strong, but so are we. The Mexico players are very patriotic, just like us, and they have a great team spirit. They play some aggressive football with a lot of pressing. They are strong going forward, but also have some weaknesses in defense, like Brazil showed us." Wholesale Vapormax . Span, Danny Espinosa and Adam LaRoche had two hits apiece as Washington won the final two games of the series. The Nationals improved to 3-7 against Atlanta. They increased their division lead over the Braves to 1 1/2 games. Nike Vapormax Uk . - Buffalo Bills running back C. http://www.wholesalevapormaxuk.com/.9 million deal Thursday. The 25-year McGinn had 19 goals and 19 assists in 79 games last season in helping the Avalanche tie a franchise record with 52 wins. Vapormax Cheap Sale .C. -- Benn Ferrieros familiar with scoring important goals, just not in back-to-back games. Vapormax Clearance . Blatter, a 75-year-old Swiss executive who has been in office since 1998, was handed a final four-year term as head of footballs governing body in a vote at FIFAs congress. He won 186 votes out of 203 ballots.LAWRENCE, Kan. -- Perry Ellis scored 21 points, freshman Joel Embiid had 16 points and 13 rebounds in a breakout performance, and No. 2 Kansas used a big late run to bury Iona 86-66 on Tuesday night. Andrew Wiggins added 13 points and Naadir Tharpe had 10 assists for the Jayhawks (3-0), who got off to a sluggish start after their high-profile triumph over Duke last week. "I dont think I played good because (my father) was there," Embiid said. "I just felt more confident, and Coach always gives me his trust, so I just felt more confident." Embiid grew up playing volleyball in Yaounde, Cameroon, and didnt start playing basketball until he attended a camp run by the Sacramento Kings Luc Mbah a Moute, who hails from the same town. Embiid was 16 years old, but his athleticism made him a natural. He wound up at The Rock School in Gainesville, Fla., to pursue his basketball career, and quickly developed into a five-star talent. Kansas coach Bill Self was on him early, recruiting the blossoming Embiid to the school that produced Wilt Chamberlain. "Hell look good some days, he wont look as good some days," Self said, "but hes smart. He gets it. Hes figuring things out all the time. Im real pleased with his development." The Gaels (1-2), using a maddening 2-2-1 zone and pouring in 3-pointers, managed to hang within single digits until midway through the second half. Thats when Kansas went on a 19-4 surge fueled by its freshmen to finally put the game away. "Our kids came out and competed their hearts out and did their best all night," Iona coach Tim Cluess said. "It gives us a lot of measuring sticks for the rest of the season." A.J. English scored 21 points for Iona, and David Laury added 13 points and nine rebounds before fouling out. Sean Armand added 14 points, hitting three 3-pointers to move within three of matching the schools career record of 263. While the Gaels shot the ball well, they had no answer inside for Ellis and Embiid. The 6-foot-8 Ellis scored on a variety of nifty spin moves and soft floaters in the lane, while Embiid used his massivve size advantage to go 7 for 7 from the field.dddddddddddd Much to the delight of his father, Thomas Embiid. "It was the first time weve met him in person," Self said. "Thats the first basketball game hes ever seen. Hell be here til Saturday or Sunday, so itll be good to see Joel play again. But it has to be cool, youve come over here and your first experience is Allen Fieldhouse." After allowing the Blue Devils to shoot better than 50 per cent last week in Chicago, Kansas again struggled on defence. The Gaels pumped in six 3-pointers in the first half and shot 45 per cent from the field in closing to within 41-36 at the break. In fact, the Jayhawks might have found themselves behind to the MAAC school if not for the play of Ellis, who was 6 of 8 from the field and scored 13 points in the opening half. "I feel a lot more confident," Ellis said, "just trusting myself now." The Gaels kept within striking distance with their perimeter shooting early in the second half, much to the chagrin of Self, who kept burning timeouts. But once the outside shots stopped dropping, the Jayhawks were able to start running -- and use their superior athleticism. Tharpe served as the conductor orchestrating the Kansas offence, delivering crisp passes to set up easy baskets. The sophomore guard threw a pretty alley-oop pass to Wiggins to start the second half, and then tossed up another to Embiid on the next possession. Kansas finally buried the Gaels with its big run later in the half. Embiid and Ellis did most of the work, but the highlight came when Tharpe threw up another lob -- this time to 5-foot-11 freshman Frank Mason, who showed enough hops to slam it down. By the time Wayne Selden, another of the Jayhawks sensational freshmen, scored on a nifty reverse layup with just over 4 minutes to play, the lead had grown to 80-59. "Of course, watching Kansas for plenty of years, thats what they do," English said. "Their whole team is great. I know they have a lot of freshmen, but I feel like one through however many players they have, the whole team is great." ' ' '