Kolkata: Brazil U-17 coach Carlos Amadeu said here Sunday that the 2-1 win over Germany was a difficult one and was a physically and mentally draining affair. The win put Brazil in the semifinals of the U-17 World Cup and they will face England in Kolkata, October 25.
“They (the Germans) had two days’ rest before this game. It was an advantage for them,” Amadeu said during the post-match press conference.
“The hot and humid weather definitely affected both the sides. Playing in front of 66000-plus it was tiring. It was a mental battle. I’m really happy with my boys. They not only put up a great physical challenge but their mental toughness was commendable,” he added.
Amadeu credited a second half change of tactics for the victory. Amadeu said the Brazillians managed to confuse the Germans with their tactical shift. He discussed the change in strategy during the break and brought in Weverson in place of Candido, besides switching the players’ positions.
“Our midfielders went to the wings while full-backs and right-backs played a more central role. As a result, our forwards could infiltrate the German defence on a continuous basis,” Amadeu asserted. “This mixing with the positions and the style of play confused them.
The other reason for our success was we also tackled their style to shoot directly from their defence by marking them well and blocked them. We managed to play better in the second half,” the coach added.
Hitting back
Kolkata: FIFA’s head of refereeing Massimo Busacca took a dig Monday at Germany coach Christian Wueck, who had claimed Sunday that his team were denied a legitimate penalty after their 1-2 quarterfinal loss to Brazil. Wueck had congratulated the Brazilians, but had said the Germans should have been awarded a penalty by US referee Jair Marrufo when the scores were level at 1-1. “Anyone who saw the game can judge himself alone without listening to somebody else,” Busacca told reporters here. “One should not complain much unless there’s a terrible scandal in a match.”
Press Trust of India