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MONTREAL —
Brazil was not about to be upset a second time within a week at the Fédération Internationale de Football Association under-20 World Cup.
No chance. Or was there?
South Korea was not intimidated last night by Brazil's reputation, its skill, its history of success, all of which come oozing to the surface in games that count, and for Brazil, this game was a big deal.
South Korea gave the Brazilians a fright early, before any goals had been scored. South Korea gave Brazil a fright late with goals in the 83rd and 89th minutes after falling behind 3-0 and Brazil's two-goal scorer, Alexandre Pato, had been removed for a substitute in the 71st minute.
Brazil's Alexandre Pato reacts after scoring the third goal against Korea. (Ryan Remiorz/CP)
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No, there was no upset, but it was closer than Brazil would want to dwell upon after escaping with the 3-2 victory.
"We lost the match 3-2," South Korean coach Dong Hyun Cho said. "But I don't think we really lost."
Yet somehow Brazil's class prevailed before a crowd of 35,801 at Olympic Stadium as it has so often before no matter what the tournament.
When the game was over, several players from both teams dropped to the turf spent both physically and emotionally after South Korea came so close to tying the game.
The stands were more crowded and noisier than for the first match, a 6-1 United States victory over Poland, the team that upset Brazil 1-0 in the opening game of the tournament.
All four teams are in Group D, which is considered the most difficult group in the 24-team tournament. Now South Korea is at the bottom of the group with one point from its opening-game draw with the United States, which has four points. Brazil and Poland each has three points. Each team has one game left, with Brazil to play the United States on Friday in Ottawa, and South Korea to play Poland.
"This is a game we must win, we will win," the South Korean coach said.
"It's a difficult group," said Brazil's coach, Nelson Rodrigues. "Look what happened between the United States and Poland when Poland had won before."
Brazil again showed its brilliance on the counterattack after South Korea had had some close chances in the early going. Amaral worked around a couple of defenders to score in the 35th minute.
Before the goal, there had been some frightening moments for Brazil as South Korea's speed caught the Brazilians off balance time and again. In the sixth minute, Chung Yong Lee just missed a chance. Jim Hyung Song came close in the 14th minute, and twice in the 15th minute South Korea nearly broke through. The South Korean fans were in an uproar, but Brazil gradually began to control the game later in the half.
In the second half, the South Koreans were again pressing, but Brazil's ability on the counterattack came through when a long pass found Pato, who scored.
Brazil hit a post in the 55th minute, and Pato came back with another goal in the 58th minute.
South Korea finally scored a deserved goal on a header by Young Sum Shim after a corner kick.
"It was a marking error from the corner," Rodrigues said. "That's when things didn't go as well. We were under pressure then."
And dramatically, South Korea got a goal from Young Rok Shin, who came in as a substitute and played the final 24 minutes.
South Korea continued to press and forced Brazilian goalkeeper Cassio to make a save as the three minutes of injury time began.
In injury time, Cassio came out of his goal and nearly had a Brazilian defender knock the ball in for an own goal, but it bounced harmlessly away.
In the end, Brazil had a 9-6 advantage in shots on goal and a 12-10 advantage in shots directed toward the goal. Brazil had the ball 53 per cent of the time. The thing the statistics could not measure was the entertainment factor. However you measure such things, it was way up there.
