Brazil Wins Under-20 World Cup

By ANDREW DAS

Brazil won the FIFA Under-20 World Cup for the fifth time on Saturday night, beating Portugal, 3-2, in extra time in Bogota, Colombia.

Oscar, 19-year-old midfielder who plays for Internacional in Brazil (for now), scored a hat trick in the final. His winner came in the 111th minute, on a lobbed shot from the right wing that went in over the fingertips of Portugal’s goalkeeper, Mika.

Oscar’s three goals were the only ones Portugal allowed in the tournament, but the winner and Oscar’s first, a 40-yard straight-on free kick that appeared to glance in off the head of a Portuguese defender in the fifth minute, will be especially hard for the losing side to stomach.

Saturday’s game was a rematch of the 1991 final won by Portugal, though only a handful of the players from Brazil and Portugal who appeared in this year’s tournament had been born then. That year’s Portuguese squad included the core of what came to be known as that country’s Golden Generation, though its achievements on the senior level never matched its age-group successes.

Extracted and Adapted from The New York Times / Published: August 21, 2011, 12:55 am. Available in

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