HAMILTON: Brazil held its nerve in its second-straight penalty shootout, beating Portugal 3-1 Sunday to advance to the semifinals of the FIFA Under-20 World Cup.
After beating Uruguay 5-4 in a shootout in the Round of 16, five-time champion Brazil again showed its aptitude from the spot and will now face either Senegal or Uzbekistan on Wednesday.
Portugal had been by far the better team in normal time, repeatedly stretching the Brazil defense through Gelson Martins, Rafa and Nuno Santos. But Brazil held on to force the match into extra time, then into a shootout.
Manchester United signing Andreas Pereira scored for Brazil and Manchester City's Rony Lopes replied for Portugal to start the shootout. Then Raphael Guzzo, Andre Slva and Santos all missed for Portugal while captain Danilo and Gabriel Jesus scored to send Brazil through.