FIFA U-17 World Cup 2017: Germany punish Colombia for defensive lapses, storm into quarter-final

New Delhi: Germany produced a combination of sublime skills and brute power as they laid bare Colombia’s defensive frailties with a clinical 4-0 victory in their pre-quarter-final match in the FIFA U-17 World Cup in New Delhi on Monday. [caption id=“attachment_4149277” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Germany produced a masterclass to move into the last eight of the FIFA U-17 World Cup. Twitter/ @FIFAcom[/caption] Captain and star striker Jann-Fiete Arp (7th and 65th) struck twice while Yann Bisseck (39th) and John Yeboah (49th) scored a goal each to help Germany reach the quarter-finals. Germany, whose best show in the tournament has been a runners-up finish way back in the first edition in 1985, now face the winners of the pre-quarterfinal match between Brazil and Honduras on 18 October in Kochi, in the quarter-final to be played in Kolkata on 22 October. If Brazil happen to win their pre quarter-final, it will be a mouth-watering quarter-final clash between the colts teams of the two footballing giants. Germany had struggled to get the goals against their opponents in a relatively easier Group C but their strikers had a field day on Monday, taking cracks at will, as the Colombian defence put up an apology of a performance. All the goals scored by Germany were defensive bloopers committed either by Colombian goalkeeper Kevin Mier or the back four. On certain occasions, the defensive mistakes reached comical proportions. The Colombians, who had broke Indian hearts beating the hosts 2-1, had finished second in Group A but on Monday, they had a forgettable night. Their defence was woeful on Monday for a South American side in a global showpiece event. Their right-winger Juan Panaloza, who scored both the goals against India, had an off day as he was checked by the German defenders for most part of the match. Another of their key players, Leandro Campaz, did not start the match and by the time he was introduced in the second half, Colombia were already 0-2 down. In the second session, he initiated some dangerous moves from the left flank but did not trouble the German defence much. The well-built Germans did not allow the Colombians to play their passing game by using long balls and winning most of the aerial duels. They also matched the speed of the Colombians and exploited the defensive woes of the South Americans to the hilt. German right-winger John Yeboah and his counterpart on the left, Dennis Jastrzembski, were outstanding with their dangerous runs down the flanks, while Arp was as deadly as ever. The Colombians simply wilted under pressure. Arp, who recently made his Bundesliga debut for Hamburg, took his tally of goals in this tournament to four with a twin strike. He had scored two goals out of his side’s five in the group stage. Germany took an early lead to seize the initiative in the match. From a Yeboah through pass, Arp found himself in a one-on-one with goalkeeper Mier. The German striker’s first touch was not cleanly collected by the goalkeeper and the ball landed back to Arp who curled a left-footer to the top left corner of the net. Colombia soon had a very good move in the 14th minute and Robert Meja’s left-footed grounder from a difficult angle just missed the right post. Colombia were having more possession at that time but the Germans were dangerous in counter-attacks. The Colombian defence were found shaky on many occasions. In the 10th minute, in a mix up, the Colombian goalkeeper Mier lost the ball well outside his zone but luckily he recovered and collected the ball. Two minutes later, Mier was beaten again but luckily there was no German legs to tap the ball home. Yeboah himself had a fierce left-footed shot in the 34th minute which beat the goalkeeper but was denied by the crossbar. The second German goal came in the 39th minute as the Colombians allowed an umarked Yann Bisseck to make a powerful header from the centre of the box to the bottom left corner of the net from a corner taken by Shaverdi Cetin. The Germans continued their domination in the second session also and they took no time in making it 3-0. Off a clearance from the German half, the Colombian defence, playing a high line, was caught napping and skipper Arp was alone with an onrushing goalkkeper but he unselfishly set up Yeboah to slot the ball into an empty net. The fourth German goal was a defensive howler as Guillermo Tegue kocked the ball onto the body of Arp while trying a back pass to his goalkeeper. The German striker stole the ball from Tegue and muscled into the box beating the hapless goalkeeper to complete the rout.