Brazil has scored 11 goals and conceded only two to blaze through to the quarterfinals of the Under-20 World Cup against Germany. Can anyone stop the South Americans?
Brazil, which scored three goals in 10 minutes to beat Uruguay 3-1 on Wednesday, looks like continuing its long-held tradition of using the under-20 tournament to feature emerging talent, such as Ronaldinho, Adriano and Kaka in previous editions.
"Without a doubt, a win like this ... gives you extraordinary confidence, because it was a South American classic. It gives you strength to keep going forward," Brazil coach Rogerio Lourenco said after Wednesday's win.
Brazil has won the competition four times and failed to qualify just once in 17 tournaments. But Germany coach Horst Hrubesch said his team won't be overawed in Saturday's match.
Germany's 10-man side pulled off an impressive comeback to beat Nigeria 3-2 with an injury-time goal in a typically fighting performance to reach the last eight.
"(The Brazilians) are obviously very strong and the favorites in this tournament," Hrubesch said. "If you saw the first half of the Brazilian match (against Uruguay), then you realize what we're up against.
"But we'll try not to play the same game as Uruguay and create more chances for ourselves."
Hrubesch said he struggled to select his squad, claiming Bundesliga teams had refused to release 25 of his short-listed players.
"We don't have so many individual talents but have great discipline," he said. "I tell my players to take this tournament one game at a time, and so far we've had a lot of fun."
Several fancied teams have already been knocked out of the tournament, including Spain, the Czech Republic and host Egypt. Six-time winner Argentina failed to qualify, adding some uncertainty and a more global flavor to these quarterfinals.
On Friday, African standout Ghana takes on South Korea, which has scored six goals in its past two matches after a faulty start.
Italy plays Hungary after both caused upsets to advance, eliminating Spain and the Czechs respectively.
"We know that we've beaten one of the favorites for the title. We have the confidence now to go on to the latter stages," Italy coach Francesco Rocca said. "But we need to stay calm and ... see where we made mistakes."
Also Saturday, outsiders Costa Rica and the United Arab Emirates play each other. The central Americans have the momentum _ and an extra day's rest _ after stunning Egypt 2-0 victory in front of the host's passionate home crowd.
The victory summed up coach Ronald Gonzalez's defiant style. His team pulled through to the knockout round following a 5-0 opening loss to Brazil.
"My players form a great team, they're very cohesive and they have really showed improvement," Gonzalez said. "We have a team that is mentally strong. I think our opening loss to Brazil motivated us, instead of getting us down."
Costa Rica have never made it past the round of 16, a statistic the coach is eager to ignore.
"Record books are made to be rewritten," Gonzalez said.
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