FIFA U-17 World Cup: Argentina beat rivals Brazil to book a semi-final clash with Germany
Claudio Echeverri’s superb hat-trick helped Argentina sink reigning FIFA U-17 World Cup™ champions Brazil in the Superclásico to book their spot in the last four.
After a quiet opening period, the game burst into life in the 15th minute when Rayan fizzed a shot just wide of Argentina’s left-hand upright. Then, down the other end, Santiago Lopez rounded Phillipe Gabriel and cut the ball back to Agustin Ruberto, but he was quickly swarmed by a host of Brazilian defenders to prevent him from tapping home.
Argentina wouldn’t have to wait long to find the back of the net, though, as Echeverri set off on the kind of mazy run which seemingly comes naturally to those who wear Argentina’s No10 shirt. He carried the ball to the edge of the area and let fly, with his effort taking a huge deflection off Vitor Reis which sent it looping over Gabriel.
If Echeverri’s first required a slice of luck, there was nothing fortuitous about his second. The midfield dynamo received the ball just outside the area and skipped past two Brazil challenges in one fluid motion, before rifling the ball home from the most narrow of angles.
The captain would complete his hat-trick 13 minutes later. He scampered onto an inch-perfect Ruberto through ball and rounded Gabriel, before nonchalantly tapping home into an empty net to put the result beyond all doubt and send him soaring to the top of the adidas Golden Boot race.
Argentina will now face Germany who edged Spain by 1-0 in the semi-final in Surakarta’s Manahan Stadium on Tuesday.
Paris Brunner won and then clinically dispatched the spot-kick to settle a tightly-contested battle between the European heavyweights.
Spain were the more progressive team throughout an absorbing first half, with only stunning saves from Max Schmitt preventing Marc Guiu and then Juan Hernandez from opening the scoring.
Germany steadily began to gain a foothold in the game after the interval, though, and they boast a forward line capable of fashioning opportunities in an instant. Brunner is one of those dazzling talents and after producing a sublime piece of skill to skip away from Hector Fort, the Spain defender brought him down for a penalty.
Brunner stepped up himself to take the kick and hammered a precision effort into the corner, sending goalkeeper Raul Jimenez the wrong way.
Spain bossed possession thereafter but struggled to create a steady flow of clear-cut opportunities. There was to be late drama as Jimenez was sent off after dragging down Bilal Yalcinkaya for the clear denying of a goalscoring opportunity in stoppage time, as Germany sealed their place in the last four.
