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U-20 WC Rewind: Mexico ties Germany, Venezuela thumps Vanuatu and more

Groups A and B played their second matches of the U-20 World Cup in South Korea in the wee hours of the morning as the Under-20 World Cup is in full swing.

A comical own goal headline England’s 1-1 draw with Guinea while South Korea topped Argentina, 2-1, in their second group stage match. The big winners, though, were Venezuela, who poured a whopping seven goals on Vanuatu.

Two heavyweights, Mexico and Germany, played to a draw, rounding out the day’s action.

Here’s a closer look at Tuesday’s results:

England 1-1 Guinea

England will look back on this match as a missed opportunity of epic proportions.

AFC Bournemouth midfielder Lewis Cook gave the Three Lions youngsters the lead with a well placed shot from distance in the 53rd minute, but that would unravel six minutes later. An attempted back pass by Fikayo Tomori missed its intended target and bumbled its way into the England goal to level the score.

Missed chances characterized much of the match as both sides struggled to get shots on target. England had several free looks on goal, but often failed to find the frame of goal. Guinea’s best chance came early in the second half when Oumar Toure clanged a shot off the far post after beating the England back line and the keeper.

England sits in second place in the group with four points after the draw. Guinea is three back of them in third after getting their first point of the tournament.

South Korea 2-1 Argentina

Hosts South Korea are perfect through two matches in the tournament after two first half goals led them over the young Argentinians.

Seung-Woo Lee opened the scoring in the 18th minute with a brilliant run and well placed shot. Seung-Ho Paik doubled the lead in the 42nd from the penalty spot. The penalty itself was a scary looking play. Korea’s Young-Wook Cho was chasing down a 50-50 ball against Argentina keeper Franco Petroli when the two violently collided, sending Petroli spinning through the air. He was shown a yellow card for the foul and both remained in the game.

Marcelo Torres would pull one back for Argentina in the 50th minute after a perfect through ball from Santiago Colombatto, but it wasn’t enough to get Argentina on the board for the tournament. They are bringing up the rear in Group A without a point to their name. South Korea has taken six points from their two matches and lead the way.

Venezuela 7-0 Vanuatu

Tuesday’s match was all Venezuela, all the time, as the scoreline indicates.

Venezuela opened the scoring after a half hour of play and just never stopped. There were some very pretty goals to go along with the blowout. The second one takes the cake. Sergio Cordova provided the finish, but it came from a corner that featured three headed passes and the ball never touching the ground. The fourth goal was a goalkeeper penalty after a handball in the box. Truth is, Venezuela could have had a lot more if not for the woodwork and some stupendous goalkeeping from Andreas Duch in the Vanuatu goal.

Venezuela leads Group B with six points while the tiny Pacific archipelago of Vanuatu is in last with no points and a -8 goal difference.

Mexico 0-0 Germany

Two major nations were forced to settle for a 0-0 draw.

Germany had the better of the chances in thanks to 12 total shots to Mexico’s six. The man of the match in this goalless draw goes to Mexican keeper Abraham Romero, who recovered nicely after giving up two goals to Vanuatu in the opener. He made seven saves in the match and several of them were a real challenge. Mexico’s defense deserves some recognition overall, too, as they held the Germans to only those 12 shots despite them bossing the ball for most of the match.

Germany misses a shot at their first win of the tournament after falling to Venezuela in the first round. They sit in third in the group with a match remaining. Mexico has a stranglehold on second place with four points.

Comments

  1. “Germany misses a shot at their first points in the tournament …” One point is still a point right? And wouldn’t Mexico be in second place?

    Reply

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