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Brazil's U-17 football team arrives in Rio for Pan Am Games |
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11:21, June 27, 2007 |
Brazil's U-17 national men's football team on Tuesday arrived in Rio de Janeiro to kick off practices for the XV Pan American Games, to be held in the city in July.
The squad was coming from South Korea, where they won the EightNations International U-17 Tournament by defeating Nigeria in the shoot-outs. Ghana, Haiti, Japan, New Zealand, the USA and South Korea national team also participated in the competition.
Goalkeeper Marcelo, who blocked the match's decisive shoot-out on Monday, said on his arrival that it was "a great experience" toface "very strong squads such as Ghana and Nigeria." He added that,although most of the public at the stadiums will be on their side in the Pan Am Games, it will be "huge responsibility" to play at home.
According to the Pan Am legislation, national teams can only rely on a maximum of three players aged above 20, which is why Brazil's main football stars were left out. As the country's U-20 team will be playing the FIFA U-20 World Cup in the June-July period, the U-17 team was assigned for the task.
Head coach Luiz Antonio Nizzo, recently dismissed one of the group's defenders, Michel Schmoller, charged with falsifying documents stating his age in order to play U-17 tournaments.
Mostly comprised of players from clubs headquartered in Rio (Fluminense, Flamengo, Vasco and Botafogo), the team will prepare for the Games in the municipality of Rio das Ostras, on Rio de Janeiro state's northern seashore. The first game will be against Honduras, on July 15.
Source: Xinhua
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