Brazil v. England 30/10/08

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England Hand Brazil A Footballing Lesson

by Jeremy Ruane

England handed Brazil a footballing lesson at Wellington Stadium on October 30, stunning the Samba Queens 3-0 in front of a 10,795-strong crowd in the opening Group B encounter at the inaugural FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup Finals.

In world footballing terms, it's a massive result - when do England ever beat Brazil by a 3-0 scoreline?

And they were good value for it, too, against a Brazilian team which, it must be said, froze on the big occasion. Only two of the Canarinhas played to the flair-filled standards one has come to expect of Brazilian football down the years, with right winger Thais a constant menace whenever in possession.

The other, overlapping fullback Ketlen, was involved in the game's first attack in the sixth minute. She surged out of defence and rampaged down England's left, past a couple of challenges, before cutting into the penalty area, where she unleashed a low angled drive.

England goalkeeper, Lauren Davey, dived to her right to smother what would be the only effort on goal which truly tested her - that in itself speaks volumes about Brazil's attacking impotence in this match.

Their defensive effort wasn't much better, either, a situation highlighted whenever ponderous sweeper, Fernanda, was involved in the action. In the tenth minute, she badly misjudged the bounce near half-way, and the gaping hole she vacated was instantly exploited by pacy England striker Danielle Carter.

On this occasion, she shot tamely at Brazilian `keeper Aline, who was greatly relieved to see Isobel Christiansen pull her shot across the face of goal in the fourteenth minute, after Jodie Jacobs and Lucy Staniforth had teamed up down the right.

Brazil's fourteen-year-old midfield sensation, Beatriz, left the ground in the eighteenth minute with a suspected broken collarbone, after which the Canarinhas' play was somewhat lacking in imagination.

Long-range free-kicks from Rafaelle and Ketlen cleared the crossbar comfortably, while ten minutes before half-time, a speculative 35-yard chip from

Juliana Cardozo which struck the bar was the closest they came to a first half goal.

England, either side of this effort, also went close to breaking the deadlock. Katlen blocked a Carter drive, after Jessica Holbrook and Christiansen had opened up Brazil's defence, while Aline parried a Carter effort after another stumble by Fernanda had been exploited by the speedy Staniforth.

The final act of note in the first spell saw Gemma Bonner send a far post header flashing past the upright after England captain Jordan Nobbs had picked her out with a corner.

Both teams somewhat cancelled each other out during the first twenty minutes of the second spell. After Thais had set up a chance for Raquel which the striker fired over the bar on the turn from ten yards, the Brazilians were reduced to shooting from distance, with attempts by Ketlen, Franciele and Raquel giving Davey scant cause for concern.

England threatened even less, too often their final pass the source of their dearth of goalscoring attempts, rather than Brazil's defensive efforts. Indeed, seven minutes into the second spell, two of the Canarinhas' rearguard collided, presenting Carter with a glorious chance to open the scoring. Her first touch was terrible, however, making life a lot easier for Aline than perhaps should have been the case.

The game needed something special to revive it, and nineteen minutes from time, providence duly provided. Jacobs launched a raking ball out of defence down the right flank, down which Holbrook was racing once more. She deftly cushioned a volleyed pass inside to Carter, lurking in between defenders who failed to close the striker down, and duly paid the price for their negligence.

Carter coolly slipped the ball home past the advancing Aline, who collided with the scorer and failed to recover from the experience. Adding to her frustration at conceding the game's opening goal was the fact that she had to be stretchered off, Eduarda replacing her twixt the sticks.

The first touch of the ball the new custodian experienced involved fishing it out of her net, thanks to England doubling their advantage fifteen

minutes from time. Straight from the resumption of play following the first goal, Brazil gifted their opponents the ball half-way inside Canarinhas' territory.

How they were made to pay! Christiansen's slide-rule pass found Lauren Bruton in acres of space in the inside left channel, and Tuani came across too late to prevent the winger from clamly steering home England's second goal from the edge of the penalty area.

That was the death knell for Brazil, their self-belief now in tatters. Raquel's defiant twenty-five hard effort thirteen minutes from time merely confirmed that a boilover of breathtaking proportions was now a certainty - the question now was how big a boilover it would end up being!

Six minutes from time, only a fine parried save by Eduarda denied Bruton a second goal, after substitute Rebecca Jane had combined with Christiansen to prise open Brazil's brittle backline.

But with two minutes to go, England scored what, by now, was an inevitable third goal, and fittingly it was Carter who capitalised. Substitute Paige Eli probed down the left flank, and when Brazil guided her inside, towards the target, she duly followed the path they paved for her.

Not a single challenge had been forthcoming from any of five players by the time Eli cruised into the penalty area, and with Carter arriving on cue square of her, she duly rolled the ball into her team-mate's path.

The striker took a touch before swivelling to smash an unstoppable third goal beyond Eduarda, an appropriate exclamation mark to complete a quite remarkable scoreline, one which is certain to capture headlines around the world.

Brazil: Aline (Eduarda, 74); Ketlen (booked 68), Fernanda, Tuani, Rafaelle; Thais, Beatriz (Juliana, 19), Bruna, Juliana Cardozo; Franciele (Ana Caroline, 56), Raquel

England: Davey; Daly (Bronze, 69), Jacobs, Bonner, Chadwick; Holbrook (Eli, 86), Nobbs, Christiansen; Staniforth (Jane, 61), Carter, Bruton (booked, 86)

Referee: Michelle Pye (Canada)

2008