Two nations chasing World Cup glory will do battle today in a match between Croatia and Mexico. The 2014 World Cup group-stage match scheduled for 4 p.m. ET will be held at the Arena Pernambuco in Recife and can be live streamed here free. A free Spanish language stream of the match can be found here. Free radio coverage here. Additional TV coverage can be found on ESPN, Univision and ESPN Deportes.
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It's winner-take-all situation in Recife. Well, almost. A victory for Croatia would see the team through to the Round of 16. A draw for Mexico, however, would suffice. Just don't expect El Tri to come out searching for it. Captain Rafael Marquez is adamant that his side is in Recife to put pressure on the opposition.
"We need the win too," explained Marquez (via FIFA). "We're not going to play for the draw. That's something we need to watch out for at all times. We won't change our playing system. Croatia will be giving everything for the win and we will too."
"We've got a great group of players, staff and coaches," he added. "So, we've got the chance to achieve something really big and that's what spurs me on to make the most of this last chance and get a great result with Mexico. I think it'll be a very tough clash [versus Croatia], but we'll come through in the end."
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Tactical Preview
Player to Watch: Mario Mandzukic had a stellar performance in his return to the starting lineup for Croatia. The 28-year-old continued his scoring form with Bayern Munich, providing his national team a much-needed brace against Cameroon.
Croatia's Projected Lineup (4-2-3-1): Pletikosa; Pranjic, Lovren, Corluka, Srna; Modric, Rakitic; Perisic, Kovacic, Olic; Mandzukic
Mexico's Projected Lineup (5-3-2): Ochoa; Layun, Moreno, Marquez, Rodriguez, Aguilar; Guardado, Vazquez, Herrera; Dos Santos, Peralta
Note: Credit all statistics to officially licensed data from Opta Sports (via WhoScored).
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