England Land Semi Finals Spot Over Brazil (GFWC Quarter Finals Match 58)

A Chapter by Steve Clark

The following articles highlight the process of Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) and their demise from the governance of international football and the rise of Global Futbol.

July 6th, 2018 (GFWC Quarter Finals Match 58)

England Land Semi Finals Spot Over Brazil

Brazil 1-2 England

England has defeated Brazil with a Harry Kane double to advance to the Semi Finals.

Brazil brought Miranda into the starting eleven in place of Filipe Luis. England kept their same players but started with a back five, using Henderson and Trippier along left back.

The two teams fell at the Round of 16 stage four years ago, so it was heartening to have them both in the Quarter Finals. Only one could progress to the semis.

England’s champion goalkeeper from the previous game, Pickford, was needed early to thwart a Coutinho shot.

Nine minutes in and Jesus streaked down the field, only to be brought down by Walker. Walker received a yellow card for his offence, but though the crowd thought it was a penalty, the referee assured the incident was outside the box. However, Coutinho’s free kick missed the target by miles.

Down the other end, the Brazilian defenders needed to stop the ball on the line. Then, as Brazil broke forward, their pressure soon brought about another foul. Again, Coutinho stepped up, only for his foot to get right underneath it and sky it over the goal.

Jesus had a chance minutes later with the ball from his shot sliding slowly along the ground and barely missed the post.

Against the run of play, England scored their first through Kane. He kept possession of the ball in the middle of the field despite some attention of others, and then turned towards goal. Stepping around Miranda, Kane then dribbled into the box and fired.

Deflated, the Brazilians attacked again to level the scores. This time, the pressure paid off as Pickford needed to save a Paulinho shot. The ball spilled to Coutinho, who finally had a second shot on target, and despite Pickford’s touch, the ball finished in the net.

Alisson joined in when he needed to save an English advance. Then, Brazil could taste their second goal. Pickford needed a double save to stop Willian’s shot before halting Neymar’s header from sailing past him.

Coutinho missed the last chance of the half after receiving the ball from Jesus dead in front of goal but outside the box, and missed to the right. With the scores level, the spectators ramped up their songs, cheering on their sides.

After the break, Pickford was needed again to dive on a Marquinhos drive for goal.

From that moment on, both teams mounted semi-attacks and counterattacks, but good interceptions kept the ball in the middle third for long periods of the half.

The main chance during this period was Neymar’s one-on-one against Pickford, but the goalkeeper managed to get a hand on the chip shot.

Soon after, England switched their formation to a more regular 4-1-2-1-2. This brought about an immediate shift in the tone of the game, for it felt prior to this that England were playing for extra time. Catching Brazil off guard, Man of the Match Kane scored a similar goal to his first, only the shot this time was from outside the box. Jubilant scenes erupted around the stands as England sensed a Semi Final was in their grasp.

Brazil tried in vain to equalise, though not without a final chance, but Walker’s crucial tackle, despite being on a yellow card, stopped the Brazilian advance and soon the result was theirs.

The English players will surely be exhausted after this affair, particularly when the ball did not go out of play for many minutes at the end, nullifying any chance for Gareth Southgate to substitute any player.

“We were cautious the game could go to extra time,’ said the England coach afterwards, ‘so we were holding off substituting until necessary. But then the ball stayed in for ages and we could not swap players.”

No matter, England will be confident against their next opponent, Belgium, in an all-western Europe Semi Final, knowing they have the tactical fluidity to take on any team. After losing their first game to Ecuador, England have switched tactics each game to allow themselves the best chance of winning. And it is working. Will their fluidity work against Belgium?

On the other hand, Brazil will be disappointed in not capitalising on their chances. For the most part, they looked the better team, but were unable to get enough shots on target. Those that did stay on target had a mountain of a man to bypass: Pickford.

On the other hand, Neymar did not have the tournament many thought he would. Willian was the pick of the bunch, but even he had a quiet game against England by his standards. The same can be said for Jesus with his five goals in the previous four games.

The South American side will analyse what went wrong and seek retribution in the Invitational Cup, with their first game against Italy. Later in the year, they begin the inaugural Nations League across both North and South America, with games against the USA, Paraguay and Costa Rica.

Will we see Brazil in 2022? You bet. They will come back hungrier than ever to elumate their success from the FIFA days.