Arabian tales of woe as South American giants hammer home class-gap
( 2001-06-21 09:32 ) (7 )

South American giants Argentina and Brazil put Egypt and Iraq firmly in their place Wednesday with crushing 7-1 and 6-1 wins respectively in their second match of the World Youth Championships.

A first-half hat-trick from Argentine golden boy Javier Saviola guaranteed the hosts a place in the last eight after the Egyptians, who were reduced to 10-men in the 71st minute when substitute Mohammed Gerisha was sent-off, had the temerity to take a sixth minute lead through Mohammed El-Yamany.

Brazil relied on a brace apiece from Robert and Adriano for the bulk of their goals against an Iraq side who had won their first match against Canada but were completely outclassed in this encounter and will now have to beat Germany, who were 4-0 winners over the Canadians, to progress.

However, there was less happy news for Chile, whose poor performances here have mirrored their senior side's dreadful World Cup qualifier campaign, as they were all but eliminated from the tournament when the United States thrashed them 4-1 with Damarcus Beasley scoring two including a first minute effort.

The Americans badly needed that win as their two rivals for the last eight China and Ukraine had fought out a dour 0-0 draw earlier.

The result appeared to suit both China, who were 1-0 winners over the United States in their first match, and Ukraine, who thrashed Chile 4-2 in their first match and face the States on Saturday in a do or die encounter.

China began the match the more attacking team, but Ukraine at times played with eight defenders and soaked up the Chinese pressure.

Ukraine had a rare opportunity to score in the 14th minute when Volodymyr Bondarenko dispossessed Chinese goalkeeper Qi An but the Ukrainian shot wide.

Chinese playmaker Ming Gao tried to break down the Ukrainian defence but the match, watched by 5,500 spectators, inevitably ended goalless.

Ukraine face the United States on Saturday in their final group match, while China take on Chile.

The Germans also had a hat-trick hero in Benjamin Auer which left their coach and former German hardman defender Uli Stielike wreathed in smiles in stark contrast to the 2-0 defeat suffered in the first match against Brazil.

"It will be a lot harder to play better than that," the former Swiss national coach admitted.

"After the first match we had no option but to go the offensive and the team did it very effectively," added Stielike, who was a member of the then West German side which lost to Italy in the 1982 World Cup final.