U20 World Cup Chewing Gum #13: Semis Tough And Easy
Folks, we have our finalists. On Saturday night at North Harbour Stadium in Auckland, Brazil will face Serbia for the 2015 FIFA U20 World Cup title.
The prospects of an all-African final faded almost immediately in the first semi, before a tense clash in the second removed the other half of the idea. Still, Senegal and Mali meet for third place – possibly the two least lauded African sides coming into the Cup but undoubtedly the two most deserving. It’s been refreshing to see three of the four semi-finalists all favour a fast, attacking style of play. It’s only the Serbians who like to slow things down, but they’ve won plenty of fans themselves with some of the skill and pace they have to offer up front – not to mention their prowess from direct free kicks.
The final day of play is sold out, so if you haven’t gotten to a game yet, then you’ve missed your chance. But you can catch it live on telly, so don’t miss out twice!
Brazil 5-0 Senegal
If you were wondering where all Brazil’s goals had disappeared to during the knockouts, well it turns out they were saving them for the semi. No goals in their last 240 minutes of play, 2-0 up after 7 minutes. 4-0 up at half time. The first goal was as unlucky as they come, a low cross catching defender Andelinou Correa on his inside heel and rolling just inside the near post. However the barrage to come more than covered that misfortune. Brazil were able to catch Senegal outnumbered on their flooding ventures forward, and were often able to skip beyond tackles or at least draw fouls. Marcos Guilherme scored the second, Boschilia the third and Jorge the fourth. In between, Gabriel Jesus hit the post. Then Elimane Cisse’s second yellow right before half time ended any possible chance of a miraculous comeback. Guilherme added another goal in the second half but Brazil were on cruise control. Senegal had one or two great chances, one stunning turn-and-volley and a couple silly misses, but they were comfortably outclassed by a rampant Brazilian side.
Serbia 2-1 Mali (AET)
Four minutes in, Serbia took the lead against Mali. Both semi-finals had early goals, but this one certainly didn’t go the way of the Brazil game. After Andrija Zivkovic’s swift running got himself on the end of a through ball that Souleymane Coulibaly wasn’t able to intercept, the Serbians were in control. They looked to double the lead soon after, but Coulibaly made amends with a clearance off the line. Mali were clinging on for a while there but they slowly emerged into the contest. Then, a bolt from the blue (yellow?), and they were level. Youssouf Kone slamming the ball past the keeper from distance and from an angle. Brilliant strike. Predrag Rajkovic could have done better in goal, but, like Coulibaly, he made his amends soon after with a desperate, wonderful save to keep things level at the half. Mali pressed now as the more likely winners, however the Serbian defence held tight, and it was Milan Gajic who came closest to a regular time winner with his incredible volley cannoning back off the frame of the goal. Inches from glory. Glory that was supplied in the 101st minute via the head of Ivan Saponjic. The game got scrappy after that, Youssouf Kone sent off for a second yellow which caused a crowd of Malian complaints. Serbia didn’t have any trouble after that, in fact they ought to have added at least another goal to the lead but it didn’t matter in the end.
The Main Men
Marcos Guilherme (Brazil) – Full of pace and precision, Guilherme bagged a couple goals and looked a constant threat. One of many, in this game.
Boschilia (Brazil) – This dude can pick a pass, that’s for sure. And his interplay on the edge of the box saw him set up Brazil’s fifth goal, not to mention the one he scored himself. The 19 year old’s already played 19 times for Sao Paolo – Brazil’s most successful club team.
Ivan Saponjic (Serbia) – The same lad who came off the bench to score the extra time winner against Hungary repeated the dose against Mali. Not bad for a 17 year old.
