Brazil debuts with a narrow victory over Zambia in the Women’s Under-17 World Cup

In a match requiring teams to review VAR, Juju Harris secures a 1-0 win for the Brazilians in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic

The Brazilian team debuted with victory in the Under-17 Women’s World Cup. The poor result of 1-0 against Zambia on Thursday evening (17) demonstrated the difficulty of the match against the Africans in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, in the first round of Group D of the competition. Striker Juju Harris scored the only goal in the first half at the Stadio Olimpico Félix Sánchez.

The game

The Brazilians started with momentum and succeeded. After a throw-in, Kalena runs quickly down the left, invades the area and plays to Juju Harris who finishes first, in the 18th minute, opening the score. Shortly afterwards, the Zambian technical committee used the VAR Challenge function, which was tested again by FIFA, as happened at the U20 Women’s World Cup.

The Africans, therefore, asked for a review of the gesture with which Gi Mazzotti touched the ball with his hand inside the Brazil area. After the VAR review, the referee deemed it to be an inadvertent touch by the Brazilian player and did not award a penalty to Zambia. .

Giovanna Waksman almost scored a great goal before halftime. But the Zambia goalkeeper saved well from a dangerous shot from the edge of the area after the Brazilian received the ball in midfield, advanced in an individual move and overcame the mark.

Coming back from half-time, Juju Harris almost doubled the lead in the first minute. She receives it in the area, turns in front of the marker and shoots hard, near the right post. In the second phase, in fact, it was Brazil’s turn to request the challenge from VAR. Thus, coach Simone Jatobá called for a review of the game in which Giovanna dominated the chest and fell after receiving Mwape’s mark in the area. The referee kept the decision on the field and did not award a penalty. The big dispute in the midfield prevents the teams from reaching the opponent’s area. In Brazil’s best chance, in the 41st minute, Juju Harris beat three defenders and shot dangerously from the edge of the area, but goalkeeper Mufunte made an excellent save.

Brazil’s next commitments

In the next round Brazil, which leads the group with three points, will face the Japanese. The Asians, in fact, drew goalless against Poland on their debut. The clash, therefore, will take place next Sunday (20th), at 5pm (Brasilia time). The match against the European Championships will be on Wednesday (23rd), for the third round.

Regulation

The 16 participating teams are divided into four groups of four. The two best teams from each group advance to the quarterfinals. But in case of equal scores, the first tie-breaker criterion is goal difference. So, that is: goals in favor; direct comparison; goal difference in direct duels; goals in favor in direct duels; highest fair play score based on yellow and red cards.

Finally, if necessary, there will be a draw. In the quarter-finals, semi-finals and final, the teams face each other in the knockout stage in a single match. But in the event of a tie in regular time, an extension of 30 minutes is foreseen and, if the tie persists, the definition of the place or title will be decided on penalties.

Follow our content on social media: Bluesky, Threads, Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

Source: Terra

Rose

Rose James is a Gossipify movie and series reviewer known for her in-depth analysis and unique perspective on the latest releases. With a background in film studies, she provides engaging and informative reviews, and keeps readers up to date with industry trends and emerging talents.