2007 FIFA U17 World Cup: Germany eliminates Americans; sets up England quarter final

August 30, 2007

Germany beat the Americans 2-1 to advance to the quarter-finals against England at the FIFA U-17 World Cup.

The Germans had a many chances in the 1st half of the match. The Americans managed to keep the Germans off the scoresheet at half time with save from the American goalkeeper along with German shots going wide, until a 65th minute goal from Richard Sukuta-Pasu.

The United States sent everyone forward to seek an equaliser. Richard Sukuta-Pasu took advantage of this in the 89th minute scoring for the 2nd time in the 2nd half. Mykell Bates scored in Stoppage time to give the Americans a lifeline.

Post match quotes
Heiko Herrlich (GER), Germany coach "We kept it tight at the back and never gave them a sight of goal. We were outstanding going forward and with a bit more luck we'd have been 4-0 up. Our second goal and the 2-0 lead was totally deserved. The USA only made headway from set plays and long balls. I want to congratulate my team. The important thing now is to keep our feet on the ground and regenerate as fast as possible, as we'll need to be perfectly prepared for the quarter-final against England. We'll be working intensively on preparing to meet our next opponents."

John Hackworth (USA), USA coach "I'm having trouble putting my thoughts into words. The lads have worked so hard and made so many sacrifices to get this far. We wanted to progress, but unfortunately the tournament's over for us. That's tough on my team, obviously. Congratulations to Germany, they put us under all sorts of pressure before we threw everything at them right at the end. It's a shame we couldn't turn in the kind of performance we're capable of, but my team showed heart and character. The Germans have a very powerful team and ultimately deserved to win, and all the best to them for the rest of the tournament."

Richard Sukuta-Pasu (GER), Germany forward "Obviously, I'm delighted with my two goals, but we can still do better. We'll celebrate a little tonight, and then as of tomorrow we'll focus on England. The tournament's not over for us by any stretch of the imagination, we could still go all the way at this World Cup."

Josh Lambo (USA), USA goalkeeper "It was a tough match for us. We battled right to the end, but we've come away empty-handed. You've got to be disappointed about that. We've learned a lot for the future at the tournament, especially about desire and the need to fight for every loose ball. Germany are a fantastic team and played tremendously well. If they can keep playing the way they did against us today, they could go a long way."