GERMAN striker Enrico Kern was the star of the first full day of the World Youth Championship played in Nigeria on Sunday, scoring a hat-trick as his side hammered Paraguay 4-0 in their Group A match. Ireland, playing in Group C in Ibadan, saw their luck desert them as they lost to Mexico, the match extended by an unscheduled ten-minute break just after half-time when a power failure cut the lights at the stadium. Mexico scored the lone goal of the match after ten minutes from a free-kick Rafael Marquez from just outside the area after a foul on Jose de Jesus Mendoza of Pachuca. Defending champions Argentina won, unsurprisingly, but they were held to a mere 1-0 victory by lowly debutantes Kazakhstan and must be disappointed by their performance. Meanwhile Australia put up an impressive display against Saudi Arabia, the young Socceroos winning 3-1. One of their goals came on an own goal scored by unlucky Saudi number 13, Omar Al Garni.In the other match of the day, Croatia felt the heat against Ghana and was lucky to come out level, 1-1, against the African champions.