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Brazil v. Junior All Whites, 18/8/07
Kiwi Triers No Match For Brilliant Brazilians
by Jeremy Ruane
Brazil opened their quest to win the FIFA U-17 World Cup for a fourth time by dishing out a 7-0 hiding to New Zealand in their opening group match at the 2007 tournament in the Korea Republic.
Jeju was the venue for this August 18 encounter, and those who weren't in place for the opening whistle missed a little bit of U-17 World Cup history, as within eight seconds, the Brazilians had opened the scoring.
Straight from the kick-off, the Junior All Whites found themselves struck by a wave of yellow fever, as the South Americans stormed downfield. Tales played a delicious ball forward from just inside his own half towards Alex, whose flicked header allowed Fabinho to steal in between stunned defenders and steer the ball beyond a hopelessly exposed Jacob Gleeson.
With the Kiwis reeling from this most explosive of starts, Brazil looked to capitalise twice inside the next five minutes. Gleeson was equal to both efforts - a shot from Tales after Alex had got in behind New Zealand's defence on their right, and a rasping eighteen-yarder from Brazil's captain, Fabio, which the goalkeeper parried well, low to his right.
The resulting corner exposed New Zealand's defensive frailties, however. Tales' delivery was flicked on by Fabinho towards Alex. Ben Hunt thwarted him, but his clearance only found Lazaro, and the big defender bashed the ball home from eight yards in the sixth minute.
2-0 down in such a short time, the focus for Colin Tuaa's Kiwis quickly turned to damage limitation, but the underdogs weren't prepared to let the more favoured side have it all their own way.
Witness, for instance, Christopher Wood's persistence in the thirteenth minute, which saw him catch Daniel in possession and get in behind the defender before cutting inside and looking to chip Marcelo, occupying that most traditional of Brazilian soft spots between the sticks. The goalkeeper needed two attempts to save this effort, one which gave the Junior All Whites hope.
What didn't was the sight of Brazil on attack - the New Zealand defence gave the impression they were quaking in their boots every time their yellow-shirted opponents crossed the half-way line, which was often.
Upon gathering Wood's chip, Marcelo looked up, spotted Alex on the right flank and volleyed the ball out to him. He outmuscled Mars Keomahavong on his way into the penalty area, then avoided Fraser Colson's lunging challenge before letting fly as both Tim Myers and Gleeson closed on him as he entered the goal area. The ball crashed into the side-netting.
In the nineteenth minute, Tales clipped a lovely ball forward to Lulinha, who checked inside the lunging figure of Keomahavong before curling a shot inches over the crossbar from the edge of the penalty area. Seconds afterwards, Gleeson had to be at his best to deny the same player, Lulinha having been slipped through by Fabinho.
How the Brazilians failed to score in the 25th minute defies logic. Tales' cleverly disguised free-kick saw Lulinha peel off the defensive wall and dart in behind it to latch onto the set-piece pass, and his low cross fizzed through a forest of legs right across the face of goal - it only needed a touch to turn it home.
But it stayed out, and the Junior All Whites, who certainly had their fair share of possession in this match, gained a bit more confidence, enough to force a couple of corners, in fact.
The deliveries from Costa Barbarouses, the captain, and Jason Hicks gave the Brazilians a few causes for concern, while Hunt gave Marcelo plenty on the half-hour with a thumping twenty-five yarder which the `keeper tipped round the post.
Hicks' resulting corner wasn't cleared, and when the ball was lobbed back in, Wood found himself looking skywards from ground level, having been
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flattened from behind by Marcelo in the `keeper's eagerness to win the ball.
Polish referee Grzegorz Gilewski had no hesitation - penalty, the chance for New Zealand to get on the scoreboard in the 32nd minute and make a game of it. Up stepped Barbarouses, but his penalty was poor - Marcelo saved it easily.
The ball rebounded to the Junior All Whites' captain, and if you thought his penalty was poor, what happened next was decidedly worse. With the `keeper prone, and the goal at his mercy, the penalty-taker snatched at the chance and volleyed the ball over the bar from eight yards. Quite simply, inexcusable.
To add insult to injury, Brazil stormed downfield from the resulting goal-kick and promptly made it 3-0. Alex was the mastermind of this goal, rampaging down the left once more before playing the ball inside for Guiliano, From just inside the penalty area, he never broke stride as he steered his shot across Gleeson into the far corner of the net.
Brazil eased off a touch at this point, and both teams had a chance apiece before the interval to alter the scoreline. Gleeson anticipated well to thwart Lulinha in a one-on-one situation just outside the penalty area in the 43rd minute, seconds prior to Wood directing a difficult headed chance past the post upon being picked out by Anthony Hobbs' cross.
As they had in the first half, the South Americans came out sparking from the very first whistle of the second spell, and inside fourteen minutes, had doubled their advantage.
Alex and Fabio combined to release Tales, who burst into the New Zealand penalty area in the 47th minute before letting fly. Gleeson parried the effort, but Guiliano was unable to turn home the rebound thanks to the presence of Myers, who was covering the goal in the absence of the committed custodian.
Three minutes later, placecountry-regionBrazil made it 4-0. Fabio, their captain, stormed out of defence with ball at toe and, upon reaching the half-way line, sent Alex scampering down the left.
The defender kept on running, however, and upon entering the penalty area, Alex rolled the ball across the face of the retreating Kiwi defence into the path of … you guessed it, Fabio, who, from fifteen yards, sent the ball crashing into the roof of the net - a cracking strike.
Two minutes more had elapsed when Tales let fly. His shot was deflected for a corner, which the playmaker played short to Luninha. His cross picked out Lazaro, whose header was splendidly tipped over the crossbar by Gleeson.
It only staved off the inevitable by a matter of seconds, as while the resulting corner was cleared, Brazil kept the Junior All Whites under the cosh with an inch-perfect cross-field pass from Rafael.
Alex was the beneficiary of his brilliance, then produced some himself by jinking inside both Hobbs and Myers then sending Gleeson completely the wrong way with a placed effort into the bottom right-hand corner of the `keeper's net, as the custodian dived to his left. Different class!
After Tiago had stormed forward to send the ball blazing over the crossbar following some Tales magic on the right, placecountry-regionBrazil made it 6-0 in the 59th minute from the penalty spot. Myers felled Fabio as he burst into the box, and Luninha sent Gleeson the wrong way from the spot.
Bookings - to Myers and Cory Chettleburgh - and substitutions aplenty broke up the pattern of play over the course of the next ten minutes, but once the disruptions had alleviated, it was the Kiwis who were first to threaten, twenty minutes from time.
Jacob Mathews, who, with Wood, really caught the eye with his industry and never-say-die approach, set off on a mazy run down the right before threading a pass inside for substitute front-runner, Geoff McIntyre.
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Lazaro thwarted him, but no-one was going to get in Chettleburgh's way as he loomed into view. From twenty-five yards out, he fair hammered the ball goalwards, and was deserving of far better fate than to see his shot cannon to safety off the post.
Back came Brazil, thirteen minutes from time, Giuliano leading the charge before releasing Alex down the right. He got into the penalty area and pulled the ball back for Luninha, who dummied it. Tales, roaming forward in behind his team-mate, wasn't expecting it, but quickly adjusted himself to let fly. Colin Murphy blocked the effort.
Two minutes later, Giuliano caught Hicks in possession and stripped him of the ball with a cracking tackle. What followed was an absolute ripper of a through ball after which Alex hared. But Gleeson, anticipating the danger, was able to thwart it well.
At the other end of the park two minutes later, Marcelo did a similar job in foiling McIntyre. He was the intended target of Mathews' cross, after the midfielder had evaded a couple of challenges down the right before whipping the ball in.
The goalkeeper stood firm, and promptly sparked a counter-attack which culminated in Junior lashing a twenty-five yarder narrowly over the crossbar.
Five minutes from time, New Zealand should have scored, Hicks having slipped Wood through Brazil's defence. The burly fifteen-year-old frontrunner snatched at the chance, however, and looked on in horror as his shot ballooned over the crossbar.
The Brazilians responded by conjuring a seventh goal from seemingly nothing. As he had been in so many of the six which had preceded it, Alex - with Tales, the pick of a very exciting crop of talent - was involved, this time as the instigator.
He linked with Lulinha to send Bruno Collaco dashing in behind the defence four minutes from time, and his low cross across the goalmouth was turned home at the far post by his fellow substitute, Junior.
To their credit, the Junior All Whites never gave up, and in this regard, Mathews was relentless. In the 88th minute, he went on a jinking run past three opponents before sending a twenty-yarder sizzling past Marcelo's right-hand post.
Seconds later, Keomahavong picked out Wood with his cross. The target man controlled the ball well before laying it into the path of Murphy, whose rising twenty-yarder fizzed over the bar.
After Rafael had rattled the hoardings upon receipt of a gorgeous crossfield ball from Alex - the overlapping fullback should have done far better, given he had team-mates in support inside him.
The final act of the match saw New Zealand on attack. Chettleburgh - another who performed well in the all-blue kit - found himself in space in the penalty area on the left.
Marcelo parried his shot, but such was the Kiwis' fortune in this match that Mathews could only volley the ricochet over the bar, thus ensuring the Junior All Whites would commence their FIFA U-17 World Cup Finals campaign without a goal to their name.
Their efforts were deserving of at least one, but they were up against a Brazilian team who were not flattered by the final 7-0 scoreline - the gulf in quality and class between the two countries really is that big.
Brazil: Marcelo; Daniel, Tiago (Choco, 83), Fabio (Bruno Collaco, 71), Lazaro; Rafael, Lulinha, Tales, Giuliano; Alex, Fabinho (Junior, 78)
New Zealand: Gleeson; Hobbs (Corliss, 67), Myers (booked, 60), Colson, Keomahavong; Mathews, Chettleburgh (booked, 68), Hunt (Murphy, 71), Hicks; Wood, Barbarouses (McIntyre, 62)
Referee: Grzegorz Gilewski (Poland)
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