Unforgiving Africans advance

THE DAY REPLAYED – Holders Nigeria punished Brazil's profligacy and strolled into the last-four with a 3-0 victory, while Mali maintained their impressive defensive record to progress to their first FIFA U-17 World Cup semi-final courtesy of a tightly-contested 1-0 win over Croatia.

Three goals in five first-half minutes undid a positive start for Brazil, sending a stunned A Seleção home. Victor Osimhen, with his eighth goal in five games, Kingsley Michael and Udochukwu Anumudu hit the quickfire treble for the African side, with the rest of the game a mere procession for the four-time champions as they secured their passage to the final four.

Mali's miserly defence continued in their 1-0 victory over Croatia, with Les Aigles stretching their impressive run without conceding to almost five hours. Sekou Koita's first-half effort was enough to see off the Europeans, despite a booking for captain Abdoul Dante meaning their leader and defensive organiser will miss the historic semi-final.

Results
Quarter-finals
Brazil 0-3 Nigeria
Croatia 0-1 Mali

Goal of the day
Croatia 0-1 Mali, Sekou Koita (20)
Koita’s effort was outstanding as much for the clinical nature of the 15-year-old’s finish as for the technique of Sidiki Maiga’s assist. A long crossfield ball from the Malian right found Maiga close to the Croatian touchline. His perfectly-weighted first time touch back was met by the onrushing Koita, who finished with a powerful drive across Adrian Semper into the bottom corner.

Memorable moments
Déjà vu for No3
After Nigeria’s swift treble of goals, the TV camera panned to a clearly emotional Ronaldo in the stands. The captain was booked in his side’s Round of 16 clash against New Zealand, meaning he missed the crucial knockout game against the African heavyweights. The moment had a strange sense of familiarity, with Thiago Silva, Brazil’s captain and No3, also pictured in the stands at the Estadio Mineirao during the 2014 FIFA World Cup™, as the suspended skipper missed his side’s demolition by Germany.

Evander’s knowing smile
By the end of their last eight clash against the holders, Brazil had tried pretty much everything to break down the Nigerian defence, with 21 shots on goal – a total only surpassed in their dominant attacking performance against New Zealand. Evander summed it up for Carlos Amadeu’s men with his rueful grin after Akpan Udoh clawed out his superb late free-kick with an inspired save. Try as they might, it was not Brazil’s day.

Custodians exchange pleasantries
The two goalkeepers shared a moment of Fair Play ahead of the Croatia-Mali showdown, with Semper and Samuel Diarra exchanging smiles, handshakes and a brief word. Semper was most likely looking for Diarra's secret formula to success, with the Malian stopper's clean sheet against the European side meaning he has not conceded for 290 consecutive minutes in Chile.

The stat 
8 semi-finals for holders Nigeria, a new standalone U-17 World Cup record. They have now reached the most outright, after surpassing Brazil by beating them in the Chile 2015 quarter-final.

The words
"I thank God for having another experience in a very important competition. Unfortunately we went out in the quarter-finals but we go out with heads held high because we gave our maximum. Today was not our day but my team-mates are all to be congratulated for their efforts until the last minute," Evander, Brazil forward, on his Instagram account after the three-time champions' exit.

Next matchday
Monday 2 November
Quarter-finals
Ecuador – Mexico (17:00)
Belgium – Costa Rica (20:00)
(All times local)

.

Brazil take heart in defeat

It is true that venues do not win matches. Nevertheless, the fact remains that Brazil had never lost at Vina del Mar's Sausalito stadium in FIFA competitions until their 3-0 defeat by Nigeria in the FIFA U-17 World Cup Chile 2015 quarter-finals.

In total, this unblemished record stretched to six matches: four at the 1962 FIFA World Cup™ and two at the current competition. Furthermore, it is worth noting that even though they were eventually soundly beaten by the Nigerians, for 15 minutes the Auriverdes looked on course to chalk up their seventh consecutive victory in this beautiful city, a popular tourist destination whose shores are lapped by the Pacific Ocean.

"We knew that if we wanted to win, we had to make the most of any chances that we created, especially if we were in control of proceedings at any point," Brazil coach Carlos Amadeu said after the game. "We'd have liked to see how Nigeria would've reacted to going behind. But we wasted our opportunities and then they scored three goals in five minutes, so we'll never know."

For 34 days these kids gave their all, so they should go away with a clear conscience.

Brazil coach Carlos Amadeu

Rather than being sad or disillusioned, the tactician appeared at peace with the result and sought to accentuate the positives. "I haven't stopped to think whether or not having dominated them so heavily for 15 minutes is a consolation," he told FIFA.com. "If you look back at the goals, none of them came from us losing our balance. That only happened after the third goal."

Elaborating on this point of view, Amadeu added: "For the opener, the No9 [Victor Osimhen] deserves the credit. We knew that he likes to sneak behind his markers at the far post and had prepared for that, but he got on the end of a good cross and produced a fine header.

"For the second goal, it was a long ball from the keeper that the No9 helped on into the middle the only way he could and his team-mate scuffed his shot, which hit the ground and bounced in. The third almost trickled in after our goalkeeper let it slip through his hands. It was an individual error, but one that is acceptable in this age group."

Amadeu explained what instructions he gave his players at half-time: "I asked them not to lose their heads. If you come out gung-ho against Nigeria and leave gaps, you can end up getting thrashed. That's why I preferred for us to keep our shape and try to nick a goal without getting desperate. If we'd scored, that would've been the time to go for broke in search of more goals."

The coach admitted that spirits in the dressing room were not at their highest, but sounded an upbeat note. "For 34 days these kids gave their all, so they should go away with a clear conscience. They were dedicated in their efforts and they dreamed of being champions. They didn't achieve that, but they should still go away with a clear conscience. Everything they've been through here is part of their learning curve."

.

Belgium go top, Chile and Austria soar

Belgium top the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking for the first time in history. Les Diables Rouges (The Red Devils) have jumped two places on the November edition to replace previous leaders Argentina (3rd, down 2) and world champions Germany (2nd, unchanged).

The biggest climbers in the top ten are Chile (5th, up 4), while England (9th, up 1) and Austria (10th, up 1) have each made slight progress. This is the first time that Belgium, Chile and Austria have ever reached such heights on the global ladder.

Six teams have leapt by ten places or more in the top 50 this month, namely Turkey (18th, up 19), Bosnia and Herzegovina (20th, up 10), Ecuador (21st, up 10), Republic of Ireland (42nd, up 12), Paraguay (47th, up 14), and Serbia (49th, up 14). Four teams have improved their ranking by over 30 places: Chad (136th, up 39), Cyprus (76th, up 38), Sao Tome e Principe (157th, up 36) and Turkmenistan (121st, up 34).

The composition of the top 50 for November 2015 shows little change, with the AFC gaining two teams through Korea Republic (48th, up 5) and Japan (50th, up 5) and Africa losing two, Cameroon and Congo each having dropped three places to 51st and 52nd respectively. The other confederations have the same number of teams as last month, with the regional composition of the top 50 now looking as follows: UEFA: 31; CONMEBOL: 7; CAF: 6; CONCACAF: 3; AFC: 3; OFC: 0.

The last FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking of 2015 will be published on 3 December and could see Belgium take the ‘Team of the Year’ title, should they retain its top spot. The ‘Mover of the Year’ will be awarded to the team which has gained the most points in 2015. Current contenders for this are Turkey (up 430 points), Chile (up 331 points), Wales (up 330 points) and Austria (up 319 points). However, with various matches and qualifiers due to take place over the coming weeks, the positions are still all to play for.

A total of 172 international ‘A’ matches have been taken into account in the November edition of the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking, bringing the total number of matches evaluated so far this year to 840. Qualifiers for UEFA EURO 2016 (50 matches) and the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia™ (66 matches) played a significant role in some of the major changes to this month’s instalment.

The next FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking will be published on 3 December 2015.

Summary

.