Football
Associated Press 9y

Germany, Portugal and Brazil progress in Under-20 World Cup

Former champions Germany, Portugal and Brazil earned places in the quarterfinals of the Under-20 World Cup on Thursday.

Mali, Senegal, United States and Serbia all made their way into the last-eight stage on Wednesday, and Uzbekistan became the fifth qualifiers on Thursday before the more traditional powers asserted themselves.

Thursday's round-of-16 matches began with another upset when Uzbekistan beat Austria 2-0, but order was restored when European champions Germany defeated Nigeria 1-0, two-time champions Portugal ousted New Zealand 2-1 and five-time champions Brazil overcame Uruguay 5-4 on penalties.

The tournament had already seen South American champions Argentina and CONCACAF champions Mexico fail to progress beyond the group stage.

In the quarterfinals, Brazil will play Portugal, Mali face Germany, United States take on Serbia and Uzbekistan will play Senegal.

None of the three remaining powers had it easy on Thursday. Germany held on by protecting their lead for 70 minutes, Portugal needed an 87th-minute goal to advance and Brazil were held 0-0 before prevailing in the shootout.

The match between Germany and Nigeria had been billed as one of the best matchups of the tournament so far, but produced little to make it memorable.

Levin Oztunali scored the only goal in the 19th minute as Nigeria, who has won the Under-17 World Cup four times, left still searching for their first title at the U20 level.

The goal came after Marc Stendera dispossessed Kingsley Sokari and found Oztunali at the edge of the box. Oztunali, the grandson of Uwe Seeler, scored with a powerful left-footed shot.

Portugal advanced after three wins in the group stage but were stretched to their limit by 138th-ranked New Zealand.

Raphael Guzzo put Portugal ahead after 24 minutes, but New Zealand thrilled the home fans when Stuart Holthusen equalised in the 61st minute.

Gelson Martins won the game for Portugal when he weaved his way past two defenders before curling shot with outside of his boot just inside the left-hand post from 20 meters.

Rodrigo Amoral, the second penalty-taker for Uruguay, sent his attempt over the crossbar, while Brazil converted all five of their attempts.

Dostonbek Khamdamov scored twice within 10 minutes for Uzbekistan, putting his team ahead in the second minute of the second half and adding the second in the 67th minute.

"After the match I told my players: 'Thank you, but this is not enough,'" Uzbekistan coach Ravsham Khaydarov said. "We've only matched our performance from 2013 [of reaching the quarterfinals]. Of course we came to improve on this result and all the players know about it."

Austria coach Andreas Heraf said Uzbekistan were "too strong for us today."

"They were physically extraordinary and their speed was extraordinary too so we had problems in these two departments," Heraf said. "They studied us very well from our group games."

^ Back to Top ^