Brazilian fans again screamed and cheered for Tahiti every step of
the way, even as Uruguay pumped in goal after goal to beat the South
Pacific islanders 8-0 Sunday and reach the Confederations Cup
semifinals.
The Uruguayans, who started without strikers Diego Forlan, Edinson Cavani and Luis Suarez, will play Brazil in the semifinals Wednesday in Belo Horizonte.
Tahiti,
a team of mostly amateurs that drew boisterous support from the
Brazilian fans for the third straight game, was outscored 24-1 at the
tournament. But when the match ended, the Tahitian substitutes walked
onto the field carrying Brazilian flags, drawing another massive round
of cheers.
When they unfurled a large green-and-white banner that said "Obrigado Brasil," or "Thank You Brazil," the cheers resumed.
Abel Hernandez scored a first-half hat trick and added a penalty kick in the second half. Suarez scored two goals and Diego Perez and Nicolas Lodeiro had the others.
Tahiti
goalkeeper Gilbert Meriel stopped it from getting worse by saving a
penalty from Andres Scotti in the 50th minute. One minute later, Scotti
was sent off with a second yellow card.
Hernandez's first goal
came on a header 79 seconds into the match at the Arena Pernambuco. It
is the fastest in the history of the World Cup warmup tournament,
according to FIFA.
Hernandez added a second goal in the 24th, and
Perez tapped in the third after his header had hit the post in the 27th.
Hernandez made it 4-0 in first-half injury time. In the second half,
Lodeiro scored in the 61st, Hernanzdez's penalty kick came in the 67th
and Suarez added the seventh in the 82nd and the final goal in the 90th.
Tahiti managed to create a few chances. Perhaps the best came when Marama Vahirua, the team's only professional player, shot at Uruguay goalkeeper Martin Silva in the 34th for an easy save.
Earlier in the half, Tahiti defender Teheivarii Ludivion was given a yellow card in the eighth minute for bringing down Matias Aguirregaray, the first caution the team received at the tournament. He was sent off for a second yellow in the 59th.
The Tahitians, who qualified for the tournament by winning the Oceania Nations Cup, have been adopted by the Brazilian public.
Completely
outplayed in previous loses to Nigeria and Spain, the islanders still
play an attractive, attack-minded soccer despite the huge gap in ability
with the other teams in the group.
Meriel, who dived to his left
to stop Scotti's penalty and then scrambled to control the loose ball,
was the third different goalkeeper to start for Tahiti in its three
matches.
Xavier Samin played in the 6-1 loss to Nigeria in the
opening match last Monday, and Mikael Roche was in goal for the 10-0
drubbing against Spain on Thursday.
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