Brazil once again proved its class as it made a spectacular turnaround in the second half to overcome a resolute Germany 2-1 in the quarterfinal of the FIFA Under-17 World Cup here at the Salt Lake Stadium on Sunday. The fantastic win helped the Brazilian colts to its seventh semifinal entry in the 32-year-old tournament. It will now take on England in the last-four stage, at the Indira Gandhi Stadium in Guwahati on Wednesday.
For a moment Brazil might have thought that it was playing at home in Maracana as a capacity crowd of around 67,000 cheered the players all the way to the win. Germany ruled the first half of the encounter and established the lead through a penalty converted by Jann-Fiete Arp. Brazil turned the match around on its head with a spectacular comeback after the break with substitute Weverson finding the equaliser before Paulinho ensured the victory with a pile-driver.
Quarterfinal 1: Mali outwits Ghana to enter semifinals
Quarterfinal 2: Brewster hat-trick sends England into semis
While hosting the senior team of the Latin American giant remained a distant possibility, the city sought to lend its support to the junior side of the famed Selecao. Brazil, which is an overwhelming favourite in this part of the world, gave enough reasons to cheer in the first 15 minutes as it controlled the pace of the match with its trio of Lincoln, Marcos Antonio and Alan keeping the German defence on their toes.
Alan almost got the first break in the sixth minute as Lincoln set him up clear of the German defence with a soft diagonal push up the park. The diminutive midfielder cut inside the German box for a clear sight at the goal but his attempt came off the far upright denying Brazil the genuine chance to claim the lead. This happened after Lincoln gave the first indication of his ability breaking clear of the German deep defence in the third minute.
REPORT: Impressive Spain sinks Iran to enter semifinal
Typical of their style, the Germans made a fine tactical switchover and took control over the action after the first 15 minutes. With Nicolas Kuehn and John Yeboah making speedy runs on the two wings, the Brazilians had to fall back to defend. A combination of Kuehn and Yeboah in the 16th almost got the lead but the Brazilian defence did a good job cutting off the attack. As the Germans went for the next onslaught, Brazil defender Lucas Halter committed the error of a wrongful tackle on Yeboah, who seemed to be breaking free into the former’s box. The resultant penalty was scored by Arp, the man who had released Yeboah with the initial pass.
Brazil coach Carlos Amadeu sought to repair the apparent inconstancy in his team’s attack by introducing Weverson and Yuri Alberto after the break. Operating from deep, Weverson brought alive the left flank and helped Brazil in spreading the game over the field. It was the versatility of its newly introduced left-back that gave Brazil the equaliser in the 71st minute, when Alan smartly set Weverson with the opportunity and the latter finished the move with a sharp left-footer. Keeping up the tempo in attack, Brazil found the winner six minutes later thanks to Paulinho’s thunderous shot from around 25 yards that beat the German goalkeeper Luca Plogmann all ends up.
Comments
SHARE