Uruguay footballers dominate the U20 World Cup for the first time in history

The Under-20 World Cup came to an end on Sunday. Uruguay won the final in La Plata against Italy by the smallest possible margin, with Luciano Rodríguez the golden goal scorer. The bronze went to Israel.

At the championship in Argentina, which was originally to be hosted by Indonesia, Uruguay defeated Iraq and Tunisia in the group stage. Coach Marcelo Broli’s charges narrowly lost to England. In the play-offs, they went through the representatives of Gambia, USA and Israel.

The Italian team had the same balance in the group stage, as Brazil and the Dominican Republic, unlike Nigeria, were not enough to beat them. In the knockout stage, the team led by coach Carmine Nunziata beat the English, Colombians and South Koreans.

In the fight for the valuable trophy, the South American team was more offensively active from the beginning on the not very good turf. The Italians, on the other hand, did not get many finishes.

However, a significant shooting advantage of 9:1 did not bring the Uruguayan players any goals in the first half. Both teams spent the break in the locker rooms with a goalless draw.

The Italian coaching staff reacted to the poor performance by making substitutions after the break. Midfielder Giacomo Faticanti was replaced on the pitch by defender Mattia Zanotti.

However, other line-up changes did not help the Apennine side. Although Uruguay did not apply a continuous overwhelming pressure near the penalty area, they developed much more offensive actions and made it difficult for their opponents to pass the ball with high pressure.

In the 81st minute, Italy’s Matteo Prati was shown a red card for his foul. However, Swedish referee Glenn Nyberg did not rule him out in the end, as he only adjusted his verdict to a yellow caution after checking the video.

Five minutes later, however, the European side suffered a major setback. In its own penalty area, a corner kick in an unclear situation deflected the ball to striker Luciano Rodríguez, who fired a close-range header into the net beyond the reach of the goalkeeper.

VAR subsequently failed to spot the potential offside and the youngsters from the country of three million found themselves one step away from winning the world title.

Squadra azzurra could not find an equaliser even during the 12th minute. Uruguay therefore celebrated their first triumph at the Under-20 World Cup with a 1-0 victory, joining the eleven countries in the historical table whose footballers have so far achieved this feat. Argentina remains the most successful with six triumphs out of 23 tournaments.

Before the final match, the duel for bronze was played. Israel defeated South Korea 3-1 to win their first medal at the Junior World Championship.

Source: FIFA