Top guns enter quarters
wellington — Former champions Germany, Portugal and Brazil earned places in the quarterfinals of the Under-20 World Cup on Thursday, bringing more familiar names to a last-eight lineup that includes a number of upstarts. Mali, Senegal, the United States and Serbia all made their way into the quarters on Wednesday, and Uzbekistan became the fifth qualifier 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 fivetime 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. And none of the three remaining powers had it easy on Thursday. Germany held on by protecting their lead for 70 minutes, Portugal needed an 87thminute goal to advance and Brazil were held 0-0 before prevailing in the shootout. Rodrigo Amoral, the second penalty-taker for Uruguay, sent his attempt over the crossbar, while Brazil made all five of their attempts.
In the quarterfinals, Brazil will play Portugal, Mali face Germany, the US take on Serbia and Uzbekistan will play Senegal.
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.