Renan received a red card, while Arthur accumulated two yellow cards in the tournament
Author: Soorya G
Brazil have had an excellent campaign at the FIFA U-20 World Cup so far, reaching the quarter-finals of the tournament without any major setbacks. The U-20s recently beat Tunisia in the round of 16 and will now face Israel in the quarter-finals, coming off the back of a thrilling 1-0 win over Uzbekistan. However, the Brazilians will be without two of their players for the next game, as Robert Renan and Arthur will be serving suspensions during the next round.
Renan received a red card minutes before half-time against Tunisia after bringing down Chaim El Djebali, who was free on goal. The Zenit star will serve his suspension along with Arthur, who picked up his second yellow card of the tournament in his country’s Round of 16 match. The América MG youngster will therefore have to sit out the next game. However, Brazilian coach Ramon Menezes wasn’t too concerned about the suspensions, saying that the Brazilians played as a team and will be able to cope with the pair’s absence.
“We’re confident in our whole team, not just a few players. If these players are here, it’s because we have total confidence in their ability to perform against the toughest opponents. We’ll carry on as usual, despite the suspensions. Soccer matches are won by eleven players, not one or two. This is a team sport, we’re ready for the next game” said Menezes.
Brazil’s tournament got off to a bad start with a 3-2 defeat to Italy. However, the team has recovered spectacularly since then, winning the next three games against the Dominican Republic, Nigeria and Tunisia, all convincingly. The team has a seemingly easy path to the final and will be looking to keep up the winning momentum to win a record sixth U-20 World Cup, matching Argentina, who were knocked out by Nigeria.
The previous day, Uruguay beat Gambia 1-0 and South Korea eliminated Ecuador 3-2. Thus, all the quarter-final pairings have been set:
– USA-Uruguay – the winner will play the strongest of the Israel-Brazil pair.
– Colombia v Italy – the winner will play the strongest team in a South Korea v Nigeria double-header.