Mexico gets into El Quinto Partido of the U-17 World Cup
The U-17 Mexican National Team defeated Japan 2-0 in the round-of-16 and will play South Korea in the quarterfinals of the U-17 World Cup in Brazil.
The young Tricolor squad squeezed into the knockout stage after defeating Solomon Islands 8-0 and knew they had a tough test coming against Japan who Group D of the tournament.
The start of the match was somewhat dull and lacked emotions. It almost appeared as though the two squads were being extra cautious of each other. Late in the first half, things changed dramatically as Efrain Alvarez ripped a shot that went just wide and followed that with another attempt that Zion Suzuki saved.
In a matter of minutes, the game had found another rhythm, and the Japanese wanted to join the dance. The Asian squad created two opportunities of their own but would be unable to get the ball into Mexico’s net. The half would end in dramatic fashion, but scoreless nonetheless.
Mexico came out of the lockers with aggressiveness as they were determined to get on the scoreboard. After Eugenio Pizzuto failed to score on a header attempt in the 56th minute, the captain wouldn’t forgive the Japanese side a second time. Only one minute later, after the ball bounced off several players, Pizzuto found it in close range and tapped it past Suzuki to give El Tri the 1-0 lead.
At that moment, Mexico had been playing better and was deserving of being ahead in the scoreboard. The young Aztecs continued to push their offensive lines and kept pressuring Japan’s defense.
In the 74th minute, Mexico broke through once again as Santiago Muñoz scored his first goal of the tournament on a beautifully placed shot from outside the box. Muñoz had been one of the leading scorers for El Tri during the qualifiers but had failed to convert until he did it spectacularly.
Japan continued fighting until the very end, but a combination of misfortunes and lack of clarity didn’t allow them to get back into the game. In the end, the better team today won. Mexico, as I mentioned, barely managed to get into the knockout stage after struggling versus Paraguay and Italy in the group stage. The victory should allow them to cement some confidence, but at the same time, just as they did today, respect their next opponent, South Korea, and exploit their weaknesses.
The Koreans and the Mexicans will square off in Cariacica on Sunday. South Korea will be coming off defeating Angola in the round-of-16 and finished in second place of Group C with victories over Haiti and Chile.
Los Niños Heroes are back it again, but how long will this ride last. We shall see.
