German U17s celebrate reaching the World Cup semi-finals
Thanks to Paris Brunner, the German U17 national team celebrated reaching the semi-finals of the World Cup in Indonesia.
In a thrilling 1:0 (0:0) against a dominant Spain, Dortmund's Brunner scored a penalty in front of 8379 spectators in Jakarta to secure victory for the highly efficient DFB team (64th minute).
In hot and humid conditions, the German team successfully fought off the Spanish attacking superiority in the nerve-wracking thirteen-minute stoppage time. After three wins in the group stage and successes in the knockout round against the USA and now Spain, the European champions will next face Brazil or Argentina in the semi-finals on Tuesday.
Herrmann has to come off early
With passionate defensive work and a good dose of luck, the DFB team managed to prevent the clearly dominant Spaniards from scoring. Too often, coach Christian Wück's team lost the ball far too quickly. An example of the effort was a block by Pauli player Eric da Silva Moreira against Marc Guiu (21st). The Barcelona striker, who had already scored in the Primera División, could hardly believe he had missed the goal. Bitter news for the German team: key player Charles Herrmann had to come off injured early on (17').
Spain continued to exert pressure after the break, but it was the German team who scored the goal. After a pass from Hamburg substitute Bilal Yalcinkaya, Brunner was brought down in the penalty area by the clumsily defending Hector Fort. The top scorer at the European Championships scored himself to take an unexpected lead. As in 2011, when Germany finished third, the U17s reached the semi-finals of the World Cup. Spain goalkeeper Raul Jimenez was shown the red card shortly before the end after an emergency stop on Yalcinkaya (90.+11).
The success in the World Cup semi-finals is a testament to the skill and determination of the German U17 juniors, particularly forward Paris Brunner, who scored a crucial penalty against Spain. Despite Spain's dominant play and numerous chances, Herrmann's early departure due to injury didn't deter the DFB team, who managed to secure a 1-0 victory.
Source: www.dpa.com
