Chapter 47: Advancing to the Quarterfinals

Chapter 47: Advancing to the Quarterfinals

In the section of the stadium filled with Portuguese fans, cheers erupted when Bruno skillfully maneuvered the ball through Duncan's legs. As Bruno executed a deceptive move against Rahman Baba and passed the ball, the cheers turned into a celebration.

The celebration reached its peak when Escaio scored, sending the ball into the net. "Long live Portugal!"

Ghana's players were powerless against this goal. After engaging in an open attack with Portugal, their midfield lacked any barrier, making it nearly inevitable for them to concede once Bruno received the ball.

Facing Bruno, whose skills and speed were formidable, Ghana's defense was merely running ragged, helplessly watching as Bruno broke through and stirred chaos in front of Ghana's goal before delivering the ball to the most dangerous area.

Escaio's goal was the final blow to the spirits of the Ghanaian team. Despite their coach's frantic sideline antics, akin to a monkey's, it was futile.

In reality, even if the Ghanaians remained spirited, overturning the game again was highly unlikely. Portugal's fourth goal came in the 89th minute of regular time. After the game restarted, it soon moved into stoppage time, with the officials adding only three minutes.

Portugal's defense, though weak, was likely to hold off for these three minutes, even if they had to resort to a desperate defense. Furthermore, Portugal's counterattacks posed a significant threat.

Indeed, during the stoppage time, while Ghana pressed forward, they failed to breach Portugal's goal for the fourth time. Instead, they nearly conceded again due to Portugal's quick counterattacks.

Finally, when Bruno's almost-pass almost-shot veered off the goal, the referee blew the whistle three times to end the match.

"The game is over! The game has ended!" exclaimed the Portuguese commentator jubilantly. "It was a tough match where Portugal mostly faced Ghana's solid defense. But these talented young men showed great fighting spirit and will, eventually turning the game around."

"4-3! Just from the score, you can tell how challenging this match was! Bruno was the prime architect of Portugal's comeback, with one goal and two assists."

"Felipe! We've finally won the match!" the assistant coach exclaimed, embracing Ramos.

"Calm down! Calm down!" Ramos patted his assistant's shoulder, though he couldn't hide his broad smile.

Advancing to the quarterfinals of the U20 World Cup might seem minor, but after such a hard-fought victory, Ramos was in high spirits. He and the game's key player, Bruno, embraced and waved together to the Portuguese fans in the stands. Photographers captured this precious moment: the two heroes of the match celebrating their victory.

"What's the score over there?" On the ride back to the hotel from Kadikoy Sports Stadium, Bruno asked Coach Ramos about the outcome of another match. According to the schedule, if they advanced from the first round of the knockout phase, their next opponent would be the winner between Croatia and Chile.

"2-0!" Ramos replied. "That game was tense too. Chile didn't break the deadlock until the 81st minute. Then Croatia conceded an own goal four minutes later, making it 2-0."

Bruno nodded. The result was unchanged; Chile advanced. If he had a choice, he would have preferred Croatia to advance. Although Croatia was the top team in Group F, Portugal was not intimidated by them. Compared to the unfamiliar and formidable Chile, he would rather face the well-known Croatians.

Despite Chile being only the fourth-place team in the U20 South American Cup, they had swept through their group stage undefeated, defeating Argentina, Colombia, Paraguay, and Bolivia.

Now that Chile was confirmed as their opponent, Portugal had no reason to fear.

After the round of 16, Portugal packed up overnight and headed to Istanbul. Their quarterfinal match against Chile would be held there.

Following the tournament from Toulon to now, along with the previous European Youth Championship, Ramos had almost given up on Portugal's defense. Thus, for the upcoming match against Chile, Portugal's tactic would still be offensive.

With a defense that was not reliable but equipped with attackers like Bruno, Bruma, Aladje, and Escaio, Portugal was ready to outscore any opponent.

Since they couldn't rely on their defense, they planned to crush their opponents with offense!

For the three days leading up to the match, Portugal trained with this strategy, and it was the same approach they took into the game against Chile.

In the quarterfinal match against Chile, which lasted less than half an hour, Portugal's defense proved once again unreliable. Initially, Bruno assisted Escaio to score in the 11th minute, giving Portugal a dream start. However, Chile quickly responded with goals in the 23rd and 27th minutes from midfielders Nicolás Castillo and forward Angelo Henríquez, taking the lead.

In the second half, the game was completely open, and Portugal, driven by Bruno's two assists, helped substitute Cavaleiro score, leveling the score before taking the lead himself.

But Chile's forward, Angelo Henríquez, also in excellent form playing for Manchester United, scored twice to tie the game at 3-3.

Just when the game seemed headed to overtime, Portugal launched an efficient attack...

"Chile's attack passes upfield, Henríquez stops the ball for Robles."

"Robles didn't control it well, and Portugal's André Gomes intercepts, clearing the ball with a long kick."

"The ball reaches Bruma on the left, and Portugal launches a quick counter-attack."

"Bruma drives down the left flank, with Chile rushing to defend."

"They need to be careful with Bruno..."

Seeing Bruma push forward along the left, Bruno did as he had several times before, rushing ahead.

Although his previous attempts hadn't created threats because his teammates hadn't managed to pass the ball, he kept trying.

For an attacking player, failure isn't scary. Succeeding just once can be lethal.

As Bruno sprinted, he also continuously scanned his surroundings. Seeing Bruma cutting in smartly from the left, he quickly darted forward.

Chile's central defenders Lichnovsky and Urtado rapidly fell back, characteristic of Chile's play throughout the game. They were apprehensive about Portugal's counters.

In a flash, Bruma had breached Chile's 30-meter zone, and the surrounding Chilean defenders refused to retreat any further.

A special day, lest we forget the national humiliation.

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(End of Chapter)

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