Jakarta, Nov 18: Defending champion Brazil recovered from an opening-game loss at the Under-17 World Cup to set up a second-round match against Ecuador in the Indonesian city of Surakarta on Monday.
The four-time title-winner was stunned by Iran in the opening Group C game, but recovered against New Caledonia and then beat 2017 champion England 2-1 on Friday to advance.
“The most important thing is not the final result, it’s how we react to the circumstances,” Brazil coach Phelipe Leal said.
“The team showed their mental strength and their quality of play. I think we deserve to advance and we reached the very strong final phase.” Group winner England will face Uzbekistan while Iran also advanced to meet Morocco on Monday.
The top two from each of the six groups of four as well as the four best third-placed teams advanced to the pre-quarters.
Despite being on home soil and backed by passionate crowds, Indonesia, in its first appearance at any World Cup for over 80 years, was eliminated after a loss against Morocco following draws with Ecuador and Panama.
“It’s the first time that we’ve played a tournament of this magnitude,” coach Bima Sakti said. “It’s very important for Indonesian football. I hope we can use the experience to improve. The idea is for football in Indonesia to grow, all together.” The United States of America lost 3-0 to France on Saturday but still finished second in Group E behind the 2001 champion thanks to earlier wins over South Korea and Burkina Faso. The US will next play Germany on Monday while France will meet Senegal.
Japan faces Spain while two-time winner Mexico recovered from a poor start to defeat New Zealand on Saturday to book a meeting with Mali. The remaining second-round game is an all-South American affair as Argentina meets Venezuela.
The final takes place on Dec. 2 in Surakarta. (AP)
