San Juan: A solo goal scored by Dor Turgeman saw debutants Israel come from behind to seal a historic 3-2 victory over Brazil and enter the FIFA U-20 World Cup semifinal, here at San Juan Stadium.
With the win on Saturday, Israel became the first debutant to reach the semifinals of a FIFA U-20 World Cup in eight years, since Senegal achieved the feat in 2015.
Israel will now play the winner of the match between USA and Uruguay in the semifinals.
Israel had the better of the first half, but Brazil had its best chance. Marcos Leonardo’s excellent strike put Brazil ahead at the start of the second half. But Anan Khalaili equalised with the header. Kaique Rocha then pulled off a superb save to deny Turgeman and send the game to extra time.
Andrey Santos’s exquisite flick set up Matheus Nascimento to restore Brazil’s lead, but Hamza Shibli turned a cross in at the back post immediately to level things up again.
The decisive moment came at the end of the first half of extra time when Turgeman dribbled through Brazil’s defense before unleashing an unstoppable curler past Kaique.
An incredible second period of extra time saw Israel fail to score from the penalty spot twice, but Ofir Haim’s side were able to hold on and complete an historic victory.
IANS
