FORTALEZA, Brazil -- Neymar made the difference for Brazil again on Wednesday, scoring in the ninth minute and setting up Jos injury-time goal to give the hosts a 2-0 win over Mexico and a spot in the semifinals of the Confederations Cup. The Brazilian striker scored his second goal of the tournament with a left-footed volley from just inside the penalty box after Mexican defenders failed to clear a cross, then slipped past two defenders at once to set up Jo for an easy goal in the final move of the game. "Im happy to have played well again," Neymar said. "But what was more important was that the team had a good performance. We are improving game after game and we are getting better. This gives us more confidence for the next matches." Mexico, which had won two of its last three matches against Brazil, fought strongly but had little finishing power up front. It was eliminated from the World Cup warm-up competition with the loss, the team second-consecutive. It had fallen 2-1 to Italy in the opener. Brazil, which opened with a 3-0 win over Japan, will play Italy on Saturday to see which team will finish first in Group A. Italy rallied to beat Japan 4-3 later on Wednesday to pick up its second win. One of Brazils recent losses to Mexico was in the Olympic final last year, when the team led by Neymar and Oscar were considered favourites to win Brazils first gold medal in football but failed to come out victorious. "We had been having problems with Mexico recently and that Olympic final was still in the mind of some of our players who were there," Brazil coach Luiz Felipe Scolari said. "It was important to get this victory against them." Backed by loud home fans packing the Arena Castelao in the northeastern city of Fortaleza, Brazil came out attacking from the beginning and it took a while before Mexico could get into the game. The Brazilian players were constantly getting the crowd involved and had their support throughout the match. Mexico had few chances but came close to scoring an equalizer late in the second half. The best chance was a shot by Andres Guardado that was deflected by a defender in front of goal. "We were not able to capitalize on our scoring chances," Mexico coach Jose Manuel De la Torre said. "I dont think this should be considered a failure, because for me failure is when you stop fighting. But our main goal was to advance and we were not able to do that." Brazil opened the scoring after a run by Barcelona right back Daniel Alves down the right side. His cross to striker Fred inside the area was partially cleared by Mexico captain Francisco Rodriguez and the ball went toward Neymar, who struck a difficult shot on the volley. With the clock running down and Mexico pressing desperately for an equalizer, Neymar wriggled through two defenders near the touchline and crossed for Jo to score from five yards. Neymar was named man of the match for the second time in a row. It was Brazils first match since the players publicly expressed their support to a historic wave of protests that has swept across the South American nation in recent days to demand for better public services to the population. Neymar, recently signed by Barcelona and Brazils biggest star, has been criticized for not being able to replicate his Santos success with the national team, but he has played well in the first two games at the Confederations Cup. He was the Brazilian player who threatened the most on Wednesday, creating chances and imposing difficulties on the Mexican defence throughout the match. "Neymar has the skills and he created problems for the players from Mexico the entire match," Scolari said. "He did what we needed him to do to help us break through the Mexican defence." Neymar almost scored his second goal of the day with a shot that went over the crossbar in the 23rd. In the 56th, he sped past a defender and shot just wide, and in the 66th his low right-footed shot was tipped away by Mexico goalkeeper Jose Corona after a powerful run by midfielder Paulinho. Daniel Alves nearly added to Brazils lead in the 14th with a remarkable lob shot that forced Corona to make a difficult save with the tip of his gloves. Oscar had a goal disallowed just five minutes into the match because Neymar was caught offsides before making a cross the cross to the Chelsea playmaker. Captain Thiago Silva also had a goal called off for offsides in the 47th. Hulk had his chance after a pass by Neymar in the 55th, but his shot from close range struck the side of the net. Mexicos only significant chance in the first half came with a low cross shot by Hiram Mier that just missed the target in the 16th. http://www.steelersrookiestore.com/Steelers-Bud-Dupree-Jersey/ . Philadelphia is 2-0 against the Senators this season and scored five goals in each victory. The Flyers recorded a 5-0 win in Ottawa on Nov. 12 and then earned a 5-2 home decision on Nov. 19. The Flyers have claimed three straight and four of the last five encounters with the Sens overall and Philly has won two in a row and three of its past four tests in Canadas capital city. http://www.steelersrookiestore.com/Steelers-Stephon-Tuitt-Jersey/ . After a lengthy wait, persistent rain finally forced the postponement of the Nationals game against the Miami Marlins on Saturday night. The teams, and a few thousand fans, waited nearly four hours from the 7:05 scheduled start time before an announcement was made shortly before 11 p. http://www.steelersrookiestore.com/Customized/ . The 29-year-old Baines has established himself as one of the top attacking full backs in the country and was the subject of two bids from United during the last off-season. Everton manager Roberto Martinez says that keeping Baines at the club is a "massive boost and exciting for the future" because he brings "maturity and football knowledge in a very specialized position on the pitch" and an "infectious and positive influence to the rest of the squad. http://www.steelersrookiestore.com/Steelers-Mike-Mitchell-Jersey/ . LUCIE, Fla. http://www.steelersrookiestore.com/Steelers-Ramon-Foster-Jersey/ . Team physician Dr. Steve Traina performed the surgery Friday. Robinson was injured in a spill underneath the Nuggets basket during the first quarter of Wednesday nights loss to the Charlotte Bobcats. The Los Angeles Dodgers say demoted outfielder Yasiel Puigs activity on social media following a Monday night loss in Triple-A will be handled internally.Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman made the announcement Tuesday, hours after Puig posted videos to his Snapchat account showing him partying with his new Oklahoma City teammates after a 3-2 loss at the Iowa Cubs.While we are disappointed in his and some of our other players judgment, this is a matter we will address internally, Friedman said.Puig, a major league All-Star in 2014, was optioned to Oklahoma City last week after the Dodgers could not find a taker for him before the non-waiver trade deadline. Tuesday, in his third game with Oklahoma City, Puig connected for his first home run with the Triple-A team.Following Mondays defeat, Puig posted a video of himself shirtless in the teams locker room, smiling and saying: Its so funny. We lose today, and everybodys happy.Videos posted later showed Puig and his teammates dancing, singing and chanting, often using profanity.A banner on one of the videos reads, I Love this Team.I was surprised. I didnt see it until a little bit ago, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said Tuesday about the video. But were going to take care of things. His goal is, and should be, to continue to be a better baseball player, so well handle it.Roberts, who indicated last week that the demotion was made in order to improve Puig as a player and a person, said he will not allow this situation to distract him and the team.I think that every organizatiion will make decisions on how to handle things, and there are obviously liberties that every player deserves, certainly, Roberts said.ddddddddddddSo well kind of handle it accordingly. For me, I just want to focus on the guys here.In the video, Puig and his teammates made a reference to Rob Segedin, who replaced Puig on the Dodgers roster after being called up from Oklahoma City. Segedin said the videos have been taken out of context and were just inside jokes meant to rally the club.The team hasnt been playing that well of late, Segedin said. It was a lot of inside jokes and stuff that, when you put it on the internet, people can judge it a certain way. Those guys down there are trying to have fun. Ive been there all year, and I know how the team works. There is nothing offensive toward me or anything like that. Those guys are great friends of mine.The incident comes two days after Puig indicated to reporters through a translator that he was using his demotion to get his act together in order to get back to the majors.Hes not there because of his conduct, the way hes acting, said Luis Matos, the Oklahoma City coach who interpreted for Puig on Sunday. Thats why hes here, to get better in that part of his life and his game.Puig was pressed on what Matos meant by the way hes acting.Everybody knows, Matos said, without asking Puig the question.ESPNs Doug Padilla and The Associated Press contributed to this report. Cheap Jerseys From China Cheap NFL Black Jerseys Wholesale NFL Gear Cheap Stitched Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys 2018 Wholesale Nike NFL Jerseys White NFL Jerseys Cheap ' ' '