U-17 Football World Cup: Brazil vs England is like flair vs resolve

Brazil will rely on their much-admired natural flair when they take on a resolute England in what promises to be a stirring semifinal contest of the FIFA Under-17 World Cup in Kolkata today.

Brazil survived a scare of sorts against Germany in the quarterfinals. In front of a crowd of over 60,000, the Brazillians took more than 70 minutes to get on the score-sheet before managing to seal it in their favour. The crowd is once again expected to be behind the South Americans at the Salt Lake Stadium today despite the fact that the match was shifted here at the last minute from Guwahati due to the rain-soaked poor pitch conditions there.

The last-minute shift caused players of both the teams some inconvenience as they had already reached Guwahati and had to take another flight within hours of alighting there. England were based here for three group matches and the round of 16 game before proceeding to Margao for the quarterfinal. Brazil, on the other hand, were earlier based in Kochi and Margao but felt at home here after getting overwhelming support at the Salt Lake Stadium in their 2-1 win over Germany.


Except for a brief period against Spain in their campaign opener, Brazil were largely untested before the Germany clash. England are brimming with confidence after their 4-1 decimation of United States of America in the quarterfinals. This England side, whose players are from the youth teams of the top English Premier League clubs, has had an impressive run in the tournament.