Andre Santos and Brazil’s World Cup dream ended at the quarter-final stage following an extra-time loss to Israel.
The Selecao were beaten 3-2 by Israel in San Juan province, with Dore David Turkemann scoring the winner to send Brazil out of the competition in the quarter-finals.
Brazil’s star of the tournament, Andre Santos, once again put his nation in charge and the Chelsea man impressed in midfield, leveling the score at 2-2 with a superb backheel assist in extra time.
With both sides wary in attack, the tie was a tight affair and unsurprisingly both teams went into half-time on equal footing, with neither nation able to break the deadlock.
However, this quarter-final tie sprang to life in the second half, with Brazil opening the scoring 11 minutes after the break through Marcos Leonardo’s finish.
The Selecao’s joy was short-lived, but Israel equalized four minutes later, with Anan Khalili firing in the final third.
With nothing to separate the sides in regular time, extra time was required to settle this tie. Extra time burst into life with both teams a goal within the first three minutes of the restart.
Mathias Nascimento gave Brazil the lead just 60 seconds into added time, capitalizing on Santos’ uncanny ability to capitalize on a brilliant finish after the Chelsea player engineered a deft backheel to play the ball into the striker’s path.
It was a goal that deserved to win any game, but Israel showed plenty of character and resilience within their squad as Hamza Shibli equalized after 90 seconds.
They proved they are to be taken seriously in this match as well, scoring a crucial first-half injury-time winner through Tor David Turkmen, the Maccabi Haifa striker becoming the hero for Israel.
Brazil pushed a goal back to take the tie on penalties, but in the end it was in vain and despite an interesting match, Andre Santos and his team were eliminated at the quarter-final stage.