MARGAO
Agile. Dynamic. Ruthless.
Before Saturday's quarter-final in Goa, the third quality on that list was not one that could immediately be attributed to Rhian Brewster's displays at the FIFA U-17 World Cup India 2017. Against USA, however, England's no 9 seemed all of a sudden to have found his shooting boots again. "Yeah, I've missed a few chances in the tournament so far. But hey, I scored a hat-trick today!" beamed the 17-year-old to FIFA.com after England's 4-1 victory.
The Liverpool forward scored three and assisted another, as the Three Lions saw off the Stars and Stripes to reach the semi-finals of the U-17 World Cup for the first time. Holding the match ball and wearing a wide smile, he continued: "I'll be taking this home. First, I'll let the lads sign it and then I'll get it framed."
Brewster's goal tally for the tournament has now risen to four after a performance that showcased his array of striking talents. For his first goal, he was positioned exactly where a goalscorer needs to be to stab in a rebound. For his second, he showed the defender a clean pair of heels and chipped in a clever finish. He then set up England's third by starting the move in his own half and ending it with a perfect cross for his team-mate. For the fourth goal, he could only be stopped illegally. After winning the penalty, he converted it himself.
Leading the line as the lone striker, Brewster caused the USA defence problems all game. England's wide players Philip Foden and Callum Hudson-Odoi, who both impressed, looked for Brewster constantly, and found him more often than not, usually when he made one of his many dangerous runs between the two central defenders. "That was maybe the key today," said the 17-year-old forward. "We knew that their No6 wasn't a centre-back by trade, so I kept trying to bring my pace into the game in that part of the pitch."
How fitting that he plays for a club coached by Jurgen Klopp and has already trained once or twice with the Reds' first team, since Brewster already appears to be displaying the tempo for which Liverpool's German coach is famed. The youngster's pace over the first few metres, as well as at the end of a sprint, stood out against USA and made him extremely difficult to defend against. "I'm not that type of big, strong centre-forward," said Brewster with a smile and an almost apologetic shrug of the shoulders.
