Brazilians look to seal R16 berth
KOCHI: A 2-1 comeback win over European champions Spain was the perfect morale-boosting win Brazil needed to get their FIFA U-17 World Cup campaign underway here on Saturday.
With three points in the bag, a win is all that is needed for Brazil from the next two games to make it to the Round of 16.
Carlos Amadeu’s boys face North Korea in a late evening clash here on Tuesday, and will look to display the same attacking vein they showed against Spain in the first half.
The first game had seen Brazil being backed by a majority of the crowd at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium here, and the support is expected to continue for the game against the Koreans.
Coach Amadeu had earlier indicated that he could change his side’s line-ups during the tournament.
Nonetheless, midfielder Alan Souza, winger Marcos Antonio and forwards Paulinho and Lincoln, all of whom played crucial roles in the win over Spain, are expected to start.
Meanwhile, for the North Koreans, it is already a mountain to climb just one game into their campaign.
After failing to take the few chances they created against Niger, which ended in a 1-0 defeat, they know a loss to Brazil will come as a crushing blow to their Round of 16 hopes.
Coach Kim Yong-su had vowed to do better after the loss to Niger, and do better they must in order to stand a chance of avoiding defeat against the pretournament title favourites.