CAIRO: Brazil’s long awaited first appearance in the U-20 World Cup lived up to the hype as they beat Costa Rica with five goals to nothing Sunday in their first group match.
Brazil’s goals rally started on the 24th minute when Alan Kardec headed a corner kick into Esteban Alvarado s goal. Team captain, Giuliano, scored the second after lobbing a long ball over Alvarado s head in the absence of defense, Kardec returned again to score Brazil s third from a follow up to a corner kick.
The three goals in the first half came against the direction of game flow as Costa Rica created many risky chances through Guevara and Estrada and had a penalty kick call ignored by the referee.
In the second half; however, Brazil took complete control of the game and lowered the tempo of play by keeping the ball in midfield before scoring their fourth goal in the 75th minute thanks to Alex Teixeira after a choreographed attack. Boquita then impressed local fans with a long rage shot scoring the fifth goal for Brazil.
With this win, Brazil tops Group E sending a clear warning to other title contenders that they have to pass through Brazil first if they are to win this tournament.
The second match in the group ended with a close Czech 2-1 victory over Australia in a closed tactical game; Michael Rabusic and Thomas Pekhart scored Czech’s goals while James Holland scored for the Socceroos.
On the other hand, UAE players failed to feed off fans’ support in their match against South Africa in Alexandria and came out with a late draw 2-2 in the dying minutes of the game.
The Bafana Bafana forced their style on the game and kept UAE players who lacked concentration and determination, away from their penalty zone and finished the first half with a clean slate.
In the second half, Kermit Erasmus scored twice but two late goals in the additional time from Hamdan Al-Kamali and Theyab Awana resulted in UAE coming out with a point from the group opener.
In the second Group F match, Mario Martinez led Honduras to a wide victory over Hungary 3-0 with two astonishing goals while Arnold Peralta scored the third goal from a wide range shot to put his team as a serious contender on the group s tickets to the second round.
Game schedule, Sept. 29
Group C
Korea Republic – Germany, Mubarak Stadium, Suez (16:00 CLT)
USA – Cameroon, Mubarak Stadium, Suez (18:45 CLT)
Group D
Uruguay – Uzbekistan, Ismailia Stadium, Ismailia (18:45 CLT)
Ghana – England, Ismailia Stadium, Ismailia (21:30 CLT)
