Spain continued their strong start at the Under-20 World Cup by beating Venezuela 3-0, while hosts Egypt advanced to the knockout stage with a 4-2 win over Italy and Nigeria crushed Tahiti 5-0 to keep their qualifying hopes alive.
Samson Siasia’s Nigeria team wasted several chances to boost their goal difference against a poor Tahiti team that had two players sent off for the second straight match and that found themselves 4-0 down by halftime for a third straight game.
Nigeria must now wait to see if they finish as one of the four best third-placed sides.
PHOTO: AFP
Ahmed Shoukri scored twice for Egypt in the first half, either side of Umberto Eusepi’s neat finish for Italy. Michelangelo Albertazzi made it 2-2, before Bogy scored with a diving header seconds after coming off the bench.
Bogy scored a brilliant second goal with ten minutes to play, chesting the ball down and then spinning round to volley and send the 64,000 fans at Cairo International stadium wild with joy.
“There was no difference between the two teams in the first half, the second was very dramatic,” Egypt coach Miroslav Soukup said. “The fans were really enthusiastic and supported the team.”
Soukup brushed aside concerns that Egypt’s defense gives away too many chances after conceding goals in each match.
“A good defense comes from playing together a long time,” he said. “We will be more prepared in the next round.”
In Group A’s other game, Paraguay drew 0-0 with Trinidad and Tobago. Along with Egypt, Italy and Paraguay are also through to the last 16.
Spain are scoring freely in Group B notching 13 goals without reply in three wins so far. Coach Luis Milla even fielded a weaker team against Venezuela, leaving star midfielder Fran Merida of Arsenal on the bench. It made little difference as Daniel Parejo scored a free kick, Aaron Niguez converted a penalty and Ander Herrera got a third.
“I’m happy we got the early goal. After that we played confidently and controlled the game,” Milla said. “I told our players we had to be ambitious.”
Venezuela’s small but noisy army of fans performed far better than the players at the al-Salam stadium, banging drums to urge their team on, but to no avail.
“Their minds were on the [next game] and it wasn’t easy for them to concentrate,” Venezuela coach Cesar Farias said.
About 300 fans from the South American country have turned up to every Venezuela game so far, dancing and blowing whistles for 90 minutes after the team qualified for the country’s first ever World Cup soccer tournament at any level.
But a dispirited Tahiti team goes home with an unenviable record of 21 goals conceded and having achieved the remarkable feat of having twin brothers sent off in the same match.
Lorenzo Tehau was sent off in the first half and his brother Alvin joined him in the second as Tahiti crumbled against Nigeria.
Lionel Charbonnier’s team, however, did manage two shots on target.
“We played better with nine men,” Charbonnier, a former France goalkeeper, lamented. “We were up against it at this tournament, we came up against teams who were faster, fitter and stronger than us. You can talk all you like about tactics ... it’s too big a step.”
Nigeria scored through Obiora Nwankwo, Ibok Edet, Kehinde Fatai, Nuredeen Orelesi, and Daniel Adejo.
Doping fears prevented former US Open champion Emma Raducanu from treating insect bites on the eve of the Australian Open, she said, with players increasingly wary about ingesting contaminated substances. The British player was speaking in the wake of high-profile doping cases involving Iga Swiatak and Jannik Sinner. “I would say all of us are probably quite sensitive to what we take on board, what we use,” the 22-year-old said, recalling an incident on Friday. “I got really badly bitten by, I don’t know what, like ants, mosquitoes, something. I’m allergic, I guess,” she added. The bites “flared up and swelled up really a
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