Germany are through to the quarter-finals at the FIFA U-17 World
Cup Korea 2007 after beating the USA 2-1 at the Cheonan Sports
Complex on Thursday 30 August.
The Germans made their customary bright start and created a
number of chances in the opening stages of the match. US keeper
Josh Lambo initially did well to keep out a Toni Kroos effort,
before Sebastian Rudy thundered a long-range drive inches wide of
the upright and Lambo again excelled against Kroos. The Germany
skipper came within an ace of opening the scoring from a free-kick
on the half-hour, before Sascha Bigalke missed the last chance of
the first 45 minutes, spooning over the bar from close range in the
melee following a corner.
The Germans continued to dominate after the break and created
a string of presentable openings, only for Dennis Dowidat, Richard
Sukuta-Pasu, Kevin Wolze and Kroos either to miscue or fail to beat
the outstanding Lambo. The long-overdue opener finally arrived on
65 minutes when Sukuta-Pasu accepted Kroos' intelligent pass
and beat the US keeper with a lob.
The Americans now poured forward in search of an equaliser but were left exposed at the back, and Sukuta-Pasu doubled the advantage on the break shortly before the final whistle. US captain Mykell Bates briefly revived his team's flickering hopes when he pulled a goal back in stoppage time, but the Germans held on to win 2-1 and book a quarter-final meeting with England.
