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." Case Keenum Broncos Jersey . "Its way better than running gassers, thats for sure," the inside linebacker said Monday, when the Chargers started their third and final week of organized team activities, which are practices in shorts, jerseys and helmets. Bradley Chubb Broncos Jersey . 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The deal was reported last week but couldnt be made official until Thursday, when the moratorium on signings was lifted. "They were real factors. I did my homework.HOUSTON - J.J. Watt had one of the best games of his stellar career in Houstons win over Washington in the season opener. With No. 1 overall pick Jadeveon Clowney out for 4-6 weeks after knee surgery, the Texans will need the defensive end to build on his great 2014 debut this week against the Raiders. Watt had two tackles for losses including a sack, blocked an extra point, recovered a fumble and swatted down a pass. He also was credited with five hurries of Robert Griffin III in a 17-6 win that snapped a 14-game skid by Houston. Of course, the overachieving Watt wasnt ready to pat himself on the back for his performance in his first game since signing a six-year, $100 million contract. "Theres still a lot of things I can do better," Watt said. "It was the first game of the season so Im still working through some things ... I had a lot of fun out there but theres still things to correct." That doesnt mean he wasnt delighted to fill in so many different categories on the stat sheet. "In that way I think it was one of the better games," he said. "Whether it was the extra point or the knockdown or the TFL and those types of things, thats pretty neat when you can contribute in more ways than one. Thats the type of game thats fun to play in." The expectations were high for this defence featuring Watt and with the addition of Clowney, who moved from defensive end to outside linebacker in defensive co-ordinator Romeo Crennels scheme. The loss of Clowey is a blow for the unit, but the team is confident that Whitney Mercilus will fill in nicely while he recovers. Mercilus was a late first-round pick in 2012 who started each game for the Texans last season and said that Watts work encourages the rest of the defence to play better. "Its great to have somebody on the defence like that who can make plays and it actually motivates the whole defence to go out there and try to keep doing that over and over," Mercilus said. Houstons defence got a boost in Week 1 with the return of middle linebacker Brian Cushing, who had 114 tackles in 2011, but has played justt 12 games combined in the past two seasons because of injuries.dddddddddddd Cushing had five tackles in his return and the Texans were also impressed by the work of Brooks Reed. Reed is Houstons other starting outside linebacker, who had five tackles and a sack on Sunday. Watt likes that the defence has so many guys who can make an impact. "You never know where the next hit is going to come from, you never know where the next big play is going to come from and thats when your defence is really successful," he said. "When you cant really prepare for one thing or another and every guy is doing their part and playing their role the defence as a whole really fits together." This week the Texans will face rookie quarterback Derek Carr, whose brother David was the first overall pick of the Texans in the franchises first season in 2002. Watt was very complimentary of Carr and knows that he and the Oakland offence will be a challenge. "Anytime a rookie quarterback is named a starter in the NFL it shows that his coaches and his teammates have confidence in him," Watt said. "And for you to be able to earn their confidence and trust in such a short amount of time says a lot about you." Sunday will also be a reunion of sorts for Watt now that former teammate Antonio Smith plays for the Raiders. Smith spent the last five seasons in Houston, starting on the line with Watt since his rookie season in 2011. "I learned a good deal. Hes a very good guy," Watt said of Smith. "He taught me some things and also taught me the ropes about the NFL." Watt was a first-round draft pick, but appreciated hearing about the ups and downs at the start of Smiths NFL career. Smith was released by the Cardinals twice and had a stint in NFL Europe before re-signing and becoming a starter in Arizona. "Even though my path was different I still learned from it and it was a great story," Watt said. "He found a way to persevere through it all ... so I learned from him that way, too." ___ Online: AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and www.twitter.com/AP_NFLWholesale HoodiesNFL Shirts OutletJerseys NFL WholesaleCheap NFL Jerseys Free ShippingWholesale Jerseys CheapCheap NFL Jerseys ChinaWholesale JerseysWholesale NFL JerseysCheap NFL Jerseys ChinaCheap NFL Jerseys ' ' '