FIFA Under-17 World Cup: Iran stun Germany to progress; favourite Brazil enter next round

Iran stunned Germany 4-0 in the biggest upset of the tournament so far to qualify for the knock-out round of the FIFA U-17 World Cup in Margao on Tuesday. 

Iran, who controlled the proceedings throughout the Group C match, scored through Younes Delfi (6th and 42th), Allahyar Sayyad (49th) and Vahid Namdari (75th) at the Nehru Stadium here.

Nothing went right for the Germans who were disorganised in the midfield and they could not trouble the rival defence.
Their defence also kept a lot of space which the Iranians exploited with repeated forays.

Iran, who beat Guinea in their opening match, now sit on top of the group with six points and thus qualified for the round of 16. Germany, who beat Costa Rica 2-1 in their opening match, now need to win against Guinea in their final group match in order to qualify for the knock-out round. Guinea and Costa who played out a 2-2 draw today have one point each. Iran play their last match here against Costa Rica on October 13 while Germany travel to Kochi to play against Guinea.

Iran, who adopted a defensive approach in their last match, today preferred to play an attacking game and the move paid off as they took the lead in the sixth minute when Younes Delfi took a shot which deflected from rival defender Jan Boller's leg and found the net. The early goal put the Germans in complete shambles. The Iranians attacked the German citadel regularly and could have increased the lead but keeper Luca twice denied Mohammed Ghobeishavi from scoring.

Luca Plogmann once again had to dive to bring a save from llahyar Sayyad in the 25th minute. The pressure on the Germans was so much that they conceded another goal in the 42nd minute as Younes Delfi once again scored with a glancing header from a free kick taken by Mohammed Sharifi. The Iranians were 2-0 up at half time.

The Iranian defence gave a good account of themselves and did not allow the Germans any space to operate inside the danger zone. The Germans had only one chance to score in the dying minutes of the first half when John Yeboah's try went over the bar from close.

After the change of ends, Younes Delfi could have scored a hat-trick but German keeper Luca once again came off to his side's rescue and denied him in the 48th minute when he blocked his shot. But a minute latter, Delfi made a good move on the right and send a cross into the box which Allahyar Sayyed headed the ball into the net to kill the contest in favour of Iran. Substitute Saeid Karimi then played a one-to-one pass with Vahid Namdari who shot home from close to complete the rout

Brazil beat North Korea 

 Brazil took time to break down an ultra-defensive North Korea but eventually ran away 2-0 victors to qualify for the knock-out round of the FIFA U-17 World Cup in Kochi on Tuesday. 

North Korea, who lost their opening match to Niger 0-1, played majority part of the Group D match in their own half often placing all the 10 outfield players behind the ball as their opponents were the overwhelming favourites to win the game.

The relentless attack from the tournament favourites, however, proved too much for the Asian side as their defence wilted under pressure after the hour mark. Brazil, who had beaten Spain 1-0 in their opening marquee match, scored through Lincoln (56th) and Paulinho (61st) to take full three points and qualify for the round of 16 with one match to spare. On the other hand, North Korea have a tall task of beating another tournament favourites Spain in their final group match to have any chance of progressing to the knock-out stage.

As expected, Brazil kept on attacking from the word go but the North Koreans found a way out to thwart the attempts of the Brazil offensive trio of Lincoln, Paulinho and Brenner. After conceding the first goal, North Korea opened up their game and they had a couple of chances towards the end but could not convert them into goals. The first half was completely dominated by Brazil who had 73 per cent possession and 14 shots. But the Brazillian forwards were a bit erratic as only three shots were on target.

Brazil overall had 70 per cent possession in the match with 27 shots out of which eight were ion target. Brazil had a chance to surge ahead as early as the second minute but Lincoln's right footed shot from the centre of the box off a Brenner assist was saved by goalkeeper S Tae Song who was a busy man throughout the match.

In the 18th minute, Paulinho had an attempt from a difficult angle but again the goalkeeper was upto the task. Brazil kept on attacking but either their shots could not either clear the crowded legs or missed target.

The goal finally came in the 56th minute with Lincoln heading in from the right side of the six yard box to the bottom right corner of the net following a set piece situation.Five minutes later, Brazil made it 2-0 after a nice build-up weaving through the North Korean defence. Brenner sent a perfect through ball for Paulinho to send a beautiful left-footed shot from the centre of the box to the bottom right corner of the net. North Korea, who were forced to open up in the later part of the match, made one late attempt at the Brazil goal without any success.

In the 83rd minute, Kim Pom Hyok's right-footed shot was saved by keeper G Brazao.