B16 – The Parisians beat Cruzeiro by penalties

B 16 Paris FC (FRA) – Cruzeiro EC (BRA) 4-2 p (0-0) (0-0)

These two teams have really been the masters of the playoff. They both played their semi finals late yesterday evening, and Cruzeiro’s semi final against Soyapango was a real thriller, settled by penalties. That could give them strength, or make them nervous. We’ll soon find out. Cruzeiro for some reason built a team on only 15-year olds, born 1997, instead of 1996 which is the right year for the B16 class.

The two teams battling today play incredibly good. The players are tactical, technically skilled and they’re fast. They know exactly where to place the passes and the receiver knows exactly what to do with the ball. It’s flawless. Both of the teams have good defenders keeping their positions, forwards who want to shoot, and players in the midfield trying to stop the game. This is youth football at its best. Both of the teams do have a few good situations, but none of the strikers get enough space to shoot their best, and the shots go over the goals or in the hands of the keeper. The first half ends without any goals, and right now it seems like individual mistakes will be the only chance for any of the teams to score any goals.

Second half is even sharper. No 17 in Cruzeiro, Rick Noleto, makes a couple of counter attacks, but the French always stop him. The chance of what could had been the nicest goal of the game comes from Guilhereme Santos, shooting from the right side of the pitch. But the ball goes a couple of metres over the goal. The Parisians have loads of possibilities, but they always seem to wait a little too long before they shoot, or they try to make a difficult pass instead. And the Brazilians, on the other hand, are getting really tense and stressed. Everybody wants the ball, everybody wants to shoot. The Parisians seem closer to scoring, but this half ends 0-0.

Penalties again. What a show. Paris scores all of their shots except one. Cruzeiro misses two. When Paris FC:s striker Nissa Keita scores the last one, all of the players rip their jerseys off and the whole audience at Gamla Ullevi are cheering.

Most valuable player: #5 Alois Goussard, Paris FC