JABAR EKSPRES – Uruguay and Italy eliminated their opponents in semifinal matches played on Friday morning WIB, to ensure themselves advancing to the U20 World Cup final.
Uruguay, who played first, won 1-0 over surprise team Israel in a match played at the Diego Maradona Stadium, La Plata, as quoted from AFP. After that Italy won 2-1 over South Korea (South Korea) in a match held at the same location.
Israel were able to surprise and eliminate favorites Brazil in the quarter-finals, but their good run stopped until the last four phase.
In the first half, Israeli goalkeeper Tomer Zarfati managed to thwart the efforts of Uruguayan striker Anderson Duarte. Duarte’s next chance ended up hitting the post.
But Israel’s resistance was only able to be maintained until the 61st minute. Franco Gonzalez’s shot hit the post, but then Duarte managed to grab the bouncing ball to convert into the only goal of the match.
This is the third time Uruguay have advanced to the final match of the U20 World Cup. They lost on penalties to France in 2013, and were beaten by Argentina in the final in 1997.
In the match played afterward, Cesare Casadei and Simone became Italy’s heroes thanks to the two goals they contributed to the match against South Korea.
Italy failed to capitalize on South Korea’s goalkeeper’s error in anticipating Tommaso Baldanzi’s corner, then the Empoli midfielder’s strike again failed to produce a goal.
Casadei then broke the deadlock in the 14th minute, after Italy applied a high press to win the ball. His shot from the edge of the penalty box failed to be held by the South Korean goalkeeper. It was also Casadei’s seventh goal at this year’s U20 World Cup.
Italy’s lead only lasted until the 23rd minute, after South Korea was awarded a penalty. Mattia Zanotti carelessly tackled Bae Jun-ho to make the referee point to the spot, and Lee Seung Won successfully converted the penalty. The 1-1 draw lasted until halftime.
