Marquinhos starred by scoring and providing an assist to help Brazil beat Nigeria at the U20 World Cup and qualify for the knockout stages as group winners.
Our winger put in a magnificent display in Argentina to help his nation to victory, and complete their recovery from an opening-game defeat to Italy to advance via a top-spot finish in Group D.
Marquinhos’ magical night in La Plata began on 43 minutes when his near-post corner was headed into the net by Jean, and then two minutes into first-half stoppage time, he completed a swift counter-attack by firing through the Nigerian goalkeeper’s legs to double his side’s lead.
He would play 77 minutes of the encounter before being withdrawn, but will have the chance to strut his stuff again in the last-16 when the Selecao face Tunisia on Wednesday.
We will have three players involved in the knockout stages after Alexei Rojas’ Colombia also qualified as group winners courtesy of an equaliser deep into stoppage time against Senegal to grab a 1-1 draw. Our young goalkeeper was once again an unused substitute, and his country will now take on Slovakia.
Meanwhile, fresh off starring in the Championship play-offs, Brooke Norton-Cuffy will link up with an England side who face a tough tie against Italy, after they finished their group stage campaign with a 0-0 draw against Iraq.
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