Magical Mexico claim world crown

Mexico produced a dazzling display to capture the FIFA U-17 World Championship in style with a 3-0 win against defending champions Brazil in the final in Lima, while the Netherlands defeated fellow European contenders Turkey 2-1 to claim third place.

Vela verve
In front of 40,000 spectators at the National Stadium, three-time winnners Brazil were many observers' favourites, although Mexico possessed the competition's top scorer, Carlos Vela. The Mexican striker scored his fifth goal of the finals in Peru a minute past the half-hour, placing a low header across Brazilian goalkeeper Felipe to give his side the lead. By that time, Brazil had already lost Anderson, voted Player of the Tournament, to injury.

Mexican momentum
Less than two minutes after Vela's goal, Mexico doubled their advantage through Omar Esparza, who made it 2-0 with an exceptional right-footed volley. The central American side continued to exert pressure throughout the second period, and substitute Pedro Valverde might had added a third ten minutes from time with a header. With four minutes remaining it was 3-0, however, as another replacement, Ever Guzman, waltzed through the Brazilian defence before rounding Felipe and rolling the ball into an unguarded net. The victory was Mexico's first at world level in any competition.

Dutch delight
Earlier, the Netherlands gained a measure of revenge for their defeat against Turkey in last year's UEFA European Under-17 Championship final with a 2-1 win against the same opponents to secure third place in the tournament. The Dutch began the brighter, and took the lead in the 13th minute as Jeffrey Sarpong's perfect pass gave John Goossens the chance to drill Ruud Kaiser's team in front.

Late drama
Turkey, who had lost 4-3 to Brazil in a gripping semi-final, were missing a number of key players and looked weary in the first 45 minutes, although they might have equalised on the stroke of half-time through Tevfik Köse, but the Bayer 04 Leverkusen striker shot wide. Neither side was able to create much in the way of goalscoring opportunities in the second period, although the Dutch looked to have wrapped up the win thanks to Goosens' second goal of the match with only two minutes left for play. Although Nuri Sahin's deflected strike gave Turkey brief hope, the Netherlands held on to finish third.

'Good as gold'
"We are very proud of our win today," said Dutch coach Kaiser. "It was another very difficult game, especially until we went 2-0 up. That is as good as a gold medal for us. I had to explain to our players before the game how important this match was. I showed them a video of the highlights from the previous games, which really stirred them. This U17 side is really something special, although I have to say that the Turkish team is outstanding - they can also be proud of their tournament."

Technology tested
The finals in Peru marked the debut in official competition of goalline technology, with balls embedded with a microchip to help referees determine whether they have crossed the goalline or not. FIFA president Sepp Blatter has said the technology could be used at next year's FIFA World Cup finals in Germany if tests in Peru and at the FIFA World Club Championship in Japan in December went well, and said on Sunday that the experiment in Peru had brought "interesting results". The International Football Association Board will make a decision on whether to use the technology at the World Cup on 4 March.