Two of four nations were eliminated on this day on Wednesday
The Under 20 World Cup continues its course and this Wednesday a day with four matches corresponding to the round of 16 will be held. The United States and Israel were the first to claim a place in the top eight countries of the contest. In the opening round, Brazil beat Tunisia 4-1 in La Plata and Colombia crushed Slovakia 5-1 in San Juan. For the second round, England and Italy meet in parallel to the duel between Argentina and Nigeria.
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BRAZIL 4-1 TUNISIA
The summary of Brazil-Tunisia for the round of 16 of the Sub 20 World Cup
Brazil, one of the candidates for the title, confirmed its position and thrashed Tunisia 4-1 in the round of 16 of the Under 20 World Cup. With goals from Marcos Leonardo, a brace from Andrey Santos and Matheus Martins, Scratch secured the ticket to the next phase to clash against Israel, which defeated Uzbekistan on the hour.
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The playing field was the protagonist of the match due to its poor condition. La Verdeamarelha took center stage from the first moment and after 9 minutes forced a penalty due to an error by one of Tunisia’s central defenders that ended with goalkeeper Dries Arfaoui knocking down Marcos Leonardo. The same center forward kicked hard in the middle to make it 1-0.
At 15 minutes Brazil threatened again at the feet of their scorer but a block by Rayed Bouchniba on the goal line kept the result intact and the ball fell into the hands of the goalkeeper. However, the South Americans managed to expand the difference at 31 minutes with a combination that has been working since the Hexagonal Final: a filtered pass from Leonardo and a finish from Andrey Santos to make it 2-0.
The celebration of Brazilians in La Plata (Photo: AP)
Before halftime, a red card could have turned the game around: Robert Renan was left badly off a loose pass from Arthur and brought down striker Chaim El Djebali who was going toe-to-toe with the goalkeeper. Referee Halil Umut Meler did not hesitate and sent off the defender. In the second half, Tunisia cornered Brazil in their goal but failed to define each of the chances they created more out of desperation than football merit.
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The solution for the Africans was on the substitute bench under the name of Raki Aouani. The forward entered at 60 ′ and in a handful of plays he took the opportunity to discount with a crossed volley that left Kaique without a chance. The VAR checked the play, called Halil Meler to look at a potential hand and the Turk decided to annul the score due to a touch on the hand before the shot.
The game entered a hot field and the chaos favored Brazil who got a third goal at the feet of the recently entered Matheus Martins. Before the referee called the end of the game, Andrey Santos made a memorable individual move to score his double and Mahmoud Ghorbel scored to close the 4-1.
It should be noted that the South American team will not be able to count on Arthur, right-back, or Robert Renan, center-back, against Israel for the quarterfinals due to accumulation of yellow cards and expulsion, respectively.
Those led by Ramón Menezes started their way in the competition receiving three goals from Italy in 45 minutes. From then on, the Verdeamarelha reacted in time to win the next two matches against the Dominican Republic and Nigeria to claim first place in Group D. It is worth remembering that they were South American champions who distributed four places in the highest international competition.
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Brazil: Kaique; Arthur, Jean Pedroso, Robert, Kaiki Bruno; Andrey Santos, Marlon Gomes, Marquinhos; Guilherme Biro, Savio, Marcos Leonardo. DT: Ramón Menezes.
Tunez: Dries Arfaoui; Mahmoud Ghorbel, Ali Saoudi, Rayed Bouchniba, Karim El Abed; Samy Chaouchane; Mohamed Dhaoui, Mohamed Derbali, Chaim El Djebali, Bechir Yacoub; Yassine Dridi. DT: Montasser Louhichi.
Stadium: Diego Armando Maradona de La Plata
Referee: Halil Umut Meler (Türkiye)
COLOMBIA 5-1 SLOVAKIA
The summary of Colombia-Slovakia for the round of 16 of the Sub 20 World Cup
Colombia, undefeated in the tournament, crushed Slovakia 5-1 in a match corresponding to the round of 16 of the U-20 World Cup. The duel opened only in the second half due to doubles by Oscar Cortés and Tomás Ángel, as well as Yaser Aspirilla’s great goal. The coffee growers wait for the winner between England and Italy.
Parity dominated during the opening minutes and the teams tried long balls to analyze their opponent. The goalkeepers were protagonists only to leave the area to reject passes or to pick up rained crosses. Possession was mainly for the European nation while the Conmebol representative bet on steals due to pressure and quick counterattacks.
Thus he had one of the clearest shots of the first half at the feet of Tomás Ángel but his shot went wide. Colombia kept trying but the good defense of the UEFA team and Adam Danko’s reflexes to cover up any threat sent the duel 0-0 at halftime.
Everything that cost the coffee growers in the first half, everything was made easier after 3 minutes of the second half. A bad pass from the center-back Marek Ujlaky left Oscar Cortés one-on-one and with a strong definition he opened the scoring. The game opened for those led by Héctor Cárdenas and a play later Yaser Asprilla finished off from mid-distance to score a great goal that gave the Conmebol team peace of mind.
In a handful of minutes Colombia thrashed Slovakia (Photo: AP)
The yellow storm did not stop and it was Ángel’s turn to redeem himself from the opportunity that he previously failed: he received in the crescent of the area and broke Danko’s goal to ratify the dominance with 3-0. Although the match entered a performance plateau, the son of the historic striker took advantage of the next chance that his teammates gave him and with a left-footed definition he sent the ball back into the back of the net for the fourth Colombian goal.
Slovakia got the goal of honor five minutes from time thanks to a great header from striker Timotej Jambor that left Luis Marquines still. Before the end of the duel, Oscar Cortés closed the win with another good definition that closed the final 5-1 and allowed him to reach the top of the scoring table with four cries so far in the tournament.
It is worth remembering that Colombia reached the contest by coming out third in the South American Hexagonal behind Brazil and Uruguay. In their zone, they defeated both Israel and Japan before drawing with Senegal to claim top position with seven points. The great promissory note of the team led by Héctor Cárdenas is that he could not take care of the clean sheet in any of his presentations.
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Colombia: Luis Marquines; Edier Ocampo, Kevin Mantilla, Fernando Alvarez, Andrés Salazar; Johan Torres, Gustavo Puerta; Alexis Castillo Manyoma, Yaser Asprilla, Oscar Cortes; Thomas Angel. DT: Hector Cardenas.
Slovakia: Adam Danko; Dávid Ovsonka, Sebastián Kósa, Marek Ujlaky; Samuel Kopásek, Ján Murgas, Dominik Snajder, Nicolas Sikula; Artur Gajdos, Timotej Jambor, Leo Sauer. DT: Albert Rusnak.
Stadium: San Juan del Bicentenario
Referee: Mohammed Khled Al Hoish (Saudi Arabia)
ENGLAND 1-1 ITALY
The goals of the match between England and Italy for the round of 16 of the Sub 20 World Cup Argentina 2023
England, European champion, meets Italy in the round of 16 of the Under 20 World Cup. The match at the Diego Armando Maradona stadium in La Plata is refereed by Brazilian Ramon Abatti and broadcast by DirecTV. The winner of the duel will clash with Colombia, which thrashed Slovakia 5-1, in the quarterfinals.
In the beginning, the two came close due to errors from both and recoveries on each side. Medium-distance shots and some dangerous center shaped the start.
It was the Italians who broke the zero after 8 minutes with a good backhand pass from Giuseppe Ambrosino to Tommaso Baldanzi who defined first inside the area.
The English did not lower their arms and went for the tie. The back and forth process was accentuated and Alfie Devine lost an incredible chance next to the goal. However, on the next Devine took her revenge and at 24 minutes, after Dane Scarlett’s cross from the left for the striker who touched her and sent her inside the arc.
The Three Lions reached the World Cup as the best positioned in UEFA and on the way to qualifying they just defeated the Azzurri in the semifinals: 2-1 with goals from Alex Scott and Jarell Quansah. The English, resisted by the Argentine public, came first in Group E by victories against Tunisia and Uruguay as well as the goalless draw with Iraq.
On the Italian side, they showed an impressive level in the first half against Brazil, scoring three goals, but from then on everything went from better to less. They beat Verdeamarelha 3-2, lost 2-0 to Nigeria and thrashed the Dominican Republic 3-0.
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Inglaterra: Matthew Cox; Jarell Quansah, Bashir Humpheys, Ronnie Edwards; Brooke Norton-Cuffy, Alex Scott, Alfie Devine, Harvey Vale; Carney Chukwuemeka, Dane Scarlett, Mateo Joseph. DT: Ian Foster.
Italy: Sebastiano Desplanches; Alessandro Fontanarosa, Gabriele Guarino, Mattia Zanotti, Riccardo Turicchia; Matteo Pratti, Cesare Casadei, Giacomo Faticanti; Tommaso Baldanzi; Francesco Esposito, Giuseppe Ambrosino. DT: Carmine Nunziata.
Stadium: Diego Armando Maradona de La Plata
Referee: Ramon Abatti (Brazil)
TV: DirecTV
THIS IS THE SUB 20 WORLD CUP TABLE
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