European trio progress at U20 finals

Europe will have at least three representatives in the quarter-finals of the FIFA U-20 World Cup in Canada after all the sides in action on Wednesday won their last-16 ties, with Spain eliminating Brazil in a thrilling contest while the Czech Republic ensured Japan paid the penalty in Victoria.

Rousing fightback
Spain lost the 2003 final to Brazil and another defeat looked to be on the cards when Leandro Lima opened the scoring in the 39th minute before Alexandre Pato doubled the advantage from Real Madrid CF left-back Marcelo's cross two minutes later. Crucially, Gérard Piqué halved the deficit two minutes before half-time before Javi García levelled with a fine 84th-minute free-kick. That sent the contest into extra time and Spain proved the stronger, Alberto Bueno nodding them in front for the first time in the 101st minute before Adrián López sealed a 4-2 win in the final seconds.

'Grow in stature'
"I'd like to dedicate the win to the team and all the people in Spain who got up at 5am to watch this historic match," said coach Ginés Meléndez. "This experience will stand the boys in great stead and it has made them grow in stature. They dominated the game and Brazil's goals only came in a five-minute spell. Nevertheless, we managed to turn it around and created six chances in the closing stages."

Close shave
Spain's opponents in the last eight on Saturday will be the Czech Republic, who recovered from two goals down to eliminate Japan in Victoria. With the entire squad having shaved their heads for the match, the Czech challenge looked to have been ended as a Tomoaki Makino goal and Yasuhito Morishima's penalty gave Japan a 2-0 lead by the 47th minute, but the Czechs drew level with two penalties of their own, Ondrej Kudela converting in the 74th minute and Jakub Mareš doing likewise three minutes later. Although Mareš then collected his second yellow card, the Czechs held firm to take the tie into a penalty shoot-out, where Radek Petr made two saves to allow Tomáš Okleštěk to convert the winning kick in a 4-3 victory.

Soukup salute
"Japan showed why they finished first in their group but we found some strength and were able to turn things around," said Czech coach Miroslav Soukup. "We were a little bit more lucky, took advantage of some breaks when we were behind, and after a few changes we were more offensive. I promised the players I would shave my head as they did if we won, and it still applies. I will do it gladly."

'Stories to tell'
Also through to the quarter-finals are Austria, who defeated ten-man Gambia 2-1 in Edmonton thanks to second-half strikes from Sebastian Prödl and Erwin Hoffer, with the winner coming in the 81st minute. "I left Hoffer on the bench because I thought this match might go to extra-time, so I wanted to have a 'joker' to play," explained Austria coach Paul Gludovatz, whose side play the United States - 2-1 winners against Uruguay - in the quarter-finals. "We hear emotions are running high in Austria and we appreciate that. This is a very special and good experience for the players because it's an international stage. They will have stories to tell when they return home."