Poland Defeats Brazil; Kubica 4th in Return

Big Match, Big Upset

In the first match of the U20 tournament, Poland upset heavy favourites Brazil with a narrow but convincing 1-0 victory. Krychowiak was the hero of the match with a brilliant free kick from well outside the box. A bit of a role reversal as the Brazilians had a similar free kick attempt minutes earlier that sailed nowhere near the net. Minutes after the goal, conveniently Poland went down to 10 men which seemingly would have meant that lead would soon be gone. Luckily it was not the case.

Although the possession and the shots may lead you to believe otherwise, the match became more one-sided only after Poland was put down to 10 men after a questionable call on Krol. Putting a team down to 10 against Brazil would normally seal a team's fate. But in fact Poland continued to dominate the first half, and only in the second half it was where we saw them lay back and put on a defensive clinic. Even when the Brazilians seemed to come in with a dangerous opportunity it would be the defense that would block any shots and ensure Bialkowski would have to do little aside from one tough save against Pato in the match. The defense put on a superior performance that the senior squad would be envious of. Who would have guessed Bialkowski would have had such a light workout against Brazil of all teams.

In the other group D match the Americans tied the Koreans 1-1 which is a good result as assuming no other Brazilian upsets it ensures both of those teams will leave with no more than 4 points from the group stage, giving Poland a strong opportunity to advance. Heck, at this rate, Poland should be considered favourites to win the group after seeing all the performances in their group. Quite a 180 from a team many expected to finish last in the group.

Match Highlights

Kubica Returns

Kubica's first race since his dangerous crash in Montreal saw him finish in 4th. Kubica had a strong finish in qualifying (4th) which is not a surprise given his strong of strong finishes in qualifying, however what was surprising is that he didn't seem to miss a beat in his first race back by finishing 4th - matching the best he has finished all season.