PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad (CMC) – South American powerhouses Brazil edged into the quarter-finals of the FIFA Under-17 Women’s World Cup for the first time after blanking Canada in their final preliminary round match on Monday night.
Playing in Group D at the Manny Ramjohn Stadium, goals in each half from Paula and captain Thais saw the Brazil progress behind group winners Republic of Ireland, who trounced Ghana 3-0 in their meeting at the Dwight Yorke Stadium.
Brazil opened the scoring on 20 minutes when a Roberta cross found Paula who beat goalkeeper Sabrina D’Angelo with a clinical finish for a 1-0 lead.
The second-half started in the worst possible fashion for the Canadians as Brazil doubled their lead just six minutes after the restart through Thais.
Getting on the end of a perfect pass from the left by Glaucia, she made no mistake with her simple finish.
With the win, the Brazilians finished on six points, the same as Republic of Ireland who topped the group due to a better goal-difference.
In Friday’s quarter-finals, Ireland will meet Japan while Brazil face Spain.
Over in Tobago, the Irish surprisingly made light work of Ghana, taking the lead in the fifth minute through defender Megan Campbell before doubling their advantage in the 36th minute through Stacie Donnelly.
In the second half, the Irish sealed the affair in the 77th minute with another long-distance cracker, this time from Aileen Gilroy.
At the Dwight Yorke Stadium, Japan registered their second big result on the trot in their final Group C game by blasting New Zealand 6-0.
The result sent the Japanese through to the quarter-finals as the second best team in the group behind Spain while the Kiwis head for home with no points from their three group matches.
Spain, meanwhile, eliminated Venezuela 2-1 in the other Group C contest at the Manny Ramjohn Stadium, to finish top of the table with a perfect nine points from their three matches.
Paloma Lazaro opened the scoring for Spain in the 28th minute which it carried into the interval but Anna Alvarado drew Venezuela level in the 74th minute only for Lazaro to net the eventual match winner, nine minutes later.