The FIFA U-20 World Cup has not been kind to Brazil. They kicked off the tournament with a 1-0 loss to Poland and after barely beating South Korea, lost 2-1 to the United States.
For soccer fans in British Columbia, it couldn't have worked out any better. Their round of 16 game would bring familiar Group B winners Spain and the Samba boys from Brazil who finished third in Group D.
Despite Brazil's less than stellar play, this was a highly anticipated game with media and fans both expecting fireworks for the full 90 minutes.
Brazil drew first blood when Leandro Lima scissor-kicked the ball past Spanish keeper Adan and two minutes later, highly-regarded Alexandre Pato made it 2-0.
But 2-0 deficits are nothing new to this Spanish side and they did what they did against Uruguay in their U-20 opener. They clawed back.
Gerard Pique, who was still nursing a hamstring injury, put Spain on the board off a Juan Manuel Mata free kick and Spain went into the half down by a goal.
In the second half, Spain pushed for the equalizer and had trouble penetrating Brazil's defense. Finally, in the 84th minute a very quick free-kick from Spain's Javi Garcia caught goalkeeper Cassio off-guard sending Spanish supporters into a frenzy with a series of "Ole! Ole!" chants.
After opportunities for both sides, the game went into extra time as a winner had to be decided. Two 15-minute halves would be played with the silver goal rule in affect ie. not sudden death.
Both teams exchanged scoring chances including a number of breakaway opportunities for Diego Capel of Spain who seemed to get more energy as the game progressed.
But it was Spanish substitute Alberto Bueno who netted the go-ahead goal in the 102nd minute.
In the second period of extra time, Adrian Lopez—who turned a hat-trick against Jordan—added the insurance goal to send the Group B winners into the next round and giving them their second come-from-behind win of the tourney. He is now the tournament's leading scorer with four goals.
"We're proud of the effort we put in and it's hard being in a 2-0 deficit, we always bounce back and we're here to do our best," said Spanish coach Gines Melendez after the game.
"That's the way [soccer] games go sometimes and you just have to have a strong mentality."
For Brazil, an early 2-0 lead followed by the collapse really took the wind out of their sails, especially the lightning quick Garcia strike that tied the game at 2-2.
"[When] they scored at that point it caught us all off guard and our emotions were low at that point," said Alexandre Pato of the equalizing goal.
Even though he scored the first goal for Spain, it was apparent that Gerard Pique's hamstring was still bothering him. In fact in extra time Pique was playing with a noticeable limp.
After the game Pique said his leg was well and that he would definitely do everything in his power to make the next game—against the Czech Republic in Edmonton.
"Yeah, yeah I will play the next game, even if I have one leg broken," said Pique.
"You beat one of the best national teams in the world, I think Brazil is one of the best right now, it's special for the team, the players, the coaches and the country."
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