JOIN US They say the next best thing to do after losing a semifinal is to go for the third-place. A heart-broken Brazil will look for the same when they take on Mali in the 3/4th place play-off of the FIFA U-17 World Cup here at the Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan on Saturday.
The Samba Boys’ dream of winning a fourth title at this level was dealt a crushing blow by England on Wednesday. While the Young Lions deserved the win and the Brazilian head coach Carlos Amadeu was gracious enough to accept it, he was confident that his side would put that defeat behind them when they take the field against Malians.
“I don’t think we spent much time on thinking what happened in the semifinal,” Amadeu said at the pre-match press conference.
“We are happy that we are among the best four teams at this level. That’s a big achievement for us. We had a chance to be in the final, but we were not good on the day. Now we have an opportunity to be winning the third place, and that’s what we’re telling the players. Our objective is the same, every time someone puts on the Brazil shirt, he has to play to best to his ability and we are here to ensure that happens.”
Mali look ahead
Brazil’s rivals Mali also suffered a crushing 1-3 defeat at the hands of Spain. While the Europeans were the better side on the day, Mali could still feel aggrieved at missing out on a legitimate goal from Cheick Doucoure. However, head coach Jonas Komla chose to turn his attention to helping his team at least claim the honour of third place.
“I don’t want to talk about it. It’s the past. My job is to ensure that the boys do a good job against Brazil tomorrow,” he said.