This Monday, November 24th, the under-17 national team secured qualification for the final of the category’s World Championship, which takes place in Doha, Qatar.
The team coached by Bruno Maçães made history by guaranteeing their presence in the final for the first time, eliminating Brazil in a penalty shoot-out, 6-5.
In the regular 90 minutes, there was a goalless draw, in a very balanced game with few opportunities on both sides.
The game was decided by a penalty shoot-out with Tomás Soares, Martim Chelmik, Santiago Verdi and Yoan Pereira scoring in the first four shots, just like the Brazilian team.
At the fifth attempt, goalkeeper Romário Cunha took the charge, but shot over the bar. If Brazil scored they would guarantee qualification, but Ruan Pablo shot at the post. Everything remained the same.
It was necessary to break the tie between João Aragão and José Neto, they scored and, on the seventh penalty, Ângelo missed and the Portuguese celebrated.
In the other semi-final, Austria surprised Italy by winning 2-0, with two goals from Johannes Moser, a striker who leads the list of top scorers in the tournament with eight accurate shots, two more than the Portuguese Anísio Cabral.
The final will take place next Thursday, November 24th at 4pm, at the Khalifa International Stadium, in Doha, Qatar.