Canada drops opener at FIFA World Youth Championship
Last Updated: Friday, November 28, 2003 | 6:30 PM ET
CBC Sports
Canada gave a valiant effort but still lost 2-0 to Brazil in its opener at the 2003 FIFA World Youth Championship in the United Arab Emirates.
"We always knew it was going to be a tough start," said Canadian coach Dale Mitchell. "We're not too down about it."
Brazil's Dudu, centre, heads the ball away from Canada's Gordon Chin, right, and Jason Di Tullio, during the FIFA World Youth Championship on Friday. (AP Photo/Kamran Jebreili)
"We defended quite well," said Mitchell. "Tactically we were pretty solid. We didn't have a ton of chances but we did have one very good chance when the score was 1-0."
Brazilian forward Daniel Carvalho scored in the 56th minute and Nilmar added a second goal in the 84th to give the three-time champions the victory over the upstart Canadians in Group C action.
Canadian striker Wyn Belotte failed to capitalize on any of his scoring opportunities, and was replaced after the first half by Elliott Godfrey.
Brazil coach Marcos Paqueta wasn't impressed with his team's first-half performance.
"The problem with Brazilian soccer is that often we play very nice, for the gallery, but with no results," he said.
"The most important thing is that the team won. Now we have to concentrate on our training. This is a World Cup and we cannot underestimate our rivals."
Canada's loss means it has to earn positive results in its final two round-robin games in order to proceed to the next round.
The top two finishers in each of the six four-team groups, along with the four best third-place finishers, will advance to the round-of-16 beginning on Dec. 12.
Canada next faces Oceania champions Australia on Dec. 1 and the Czech Republic on Dec. 4.
Australia and the Czech Republic played to a 1-1 draw Friday.
"We've seen the other two teams play now, they're good teams but they're not Brazil," Mitchell said. "If we can perform as we did today and our confidence improves, then we'll have a chance in the next two matches."
Canada is now 0-3 against Brazil at this tournament. Canada lost 1-0 in 1987 in Chile, and 2-0 in 2001 in Argentina. They remain winless (0-5) against South American teams in the tournament's history.
Canada is making its sixth appearance at the World Youth Championship.
with files from Associated Press
