Everton Under-19s have been eliminated from the Dallas Cup after a 1-0 defeat against Coritiba in the semi-finals of the competition.
A close-range Evandro strike 11 minutes before the half-time interval put the Brazilian outfit ahead at the Toyota Stadium.
And, despite late pressure, the young Blues could not find a way through a stubborn defence and were resigned to defeat with the final of the competition in touching distance.
Manager Paul Tait named an unchanged starting line-up from the side that impressively overcame Ryutsu-Keizai 2-0 on Wednesday.
But it was the Brazilian outfit who came racing out of the blocks in the opening stages, enjoying plenty of possession without troubling the young Blues’ defence.
It was, in fact, Everton who created the first opening after Tom Davies released David Henen down the left flank.
The Belgian skipped past his man before cutting inside to deliver an inviting right-footed cross - but nobody was on hand to convert and the danger was cleared.
In a half of very few clear-cut chances, the Toffees threatened again when Michael Donohue, who had switched to the left wing, cut in to deliver another in-swinging cross.
The ball was only half cleared into the path of Connolly, who miscued his 25-yard drive and the ball was cleared to safety.
The deadlock was broken on 34 minutes and it came against the run of play, during the young Blues’ best spell of the opening half.
Luccas just managed to get his cross away as the ball looked set to ran out of play, and, after Robinson and Thorniley headed clear, the ball was helped back in to Evandro, who finished first time low into the bottom right corner.
The second half progressed in a similar fashion to the first, with clear sights at goal coming few and far between.
The energetic Davies and skipper Ryan Ledson looked threatening in possession throughout and the duo combined well midway through the second half.
Davies protected possession well before finding Ledson, who stroked a pass over Coritiba’s defensive line that was inches too long for substitute Nathan Holland.
At the back, Everton remained comfortable and the Toffees looked the most likely to go on and get the second goal of the tie.
With just six minutes remaining, Holland’s in-swinging corner was met by the Calum Dyson - but the striker’s glancing header drifted just wide of Fachin’s left upright.
There was still time for a final push and the Premier League’s only representative in the tournament forced a flurry of late corners.
Goalkeeper Mateusz Hewelt came up to join the attack and came close to connecting with Dyson’s cross after the initial centre was forced away from the penalty area.
Then, with virtually the last kick of the game, a goalmouth scramble fell to Arlen Birch 12-yards out but his deflected shot was well held by Fachin to ensure Cortiba’s place in Sunday’s final.
