Uruguay nets beats Italy to win first EVER Under 20s World Cup title
Luciano Rodriguez nets late winner against Italy to seal Uruguay their first EVER Under 20s World Cup triumph
- The game winning goal came off a close-range attempt in the 86th minute
- It is the first time in the last four tournaments a European team has not won
- DailyMail.com provides all the latest international sports news
Uruguay beat Italy 1-0 on Sunday to win its first ever Under-20 World Cup title. The Celeste’s victory ends a streak of four consecutive wins for European teams in the tournament.
Luciano Rodríguez scored the winning goal in the 86th minute with a header from close range, giving Uruguay a much-deserved victory after an entire match of dominance against Italy.
More than 40,000 people, mostly cheering for Uruguay, attended the match at the Diego Maradona Stadium. FIFA President Gianni Infantino was also present.
Uruguay barely needed to count on its steady defense, which conceded only three goals in the tournament, all against England in the group stage.
The South American team had clear chances to open the scoring much earlier in a free kick taken by Rodríguez, two long distance shots by captain Fabricio Díaz and a header by Anderson Duarte that forced goalkeeper Sebastiano Desplanches to make one of the best saves of the tournament.
Luciano Rodriguez scored the winning goal to secure Urugay their first ever U20 World Cup
Rodriguez celebrates after scoring during the Argentina 2023 U-20 World Cup final vs Italy
Referee Glenn Nyberg shows the yellow card to Matteo Prati after overturning a straight red
Italy’s Cesare Casadei, the top tournament’s top scorer with seven goals, had a disappointing performance in the final.
Neither Uruguay nor Italy was among the favorites when the U20 World Cup kicked off on May 20, but unlike Brazil, Argentina and England they faced less resistance from clubs about releasing players for the tournament.
It is not mandatory for clubs to allow their players to take part in international youth competitions.
Uruguay lost the final of the tournament in 1997 and 2013. Brazil was the last winner from South America in 2011.
The title for the Celeste comes in the wake of Argentina’s World Cup title in December, which also ended a sequence of wins of European teams.
Earlier, debutant Israel beat South Korea 3-1 to secure third place in the same stadium in La Plata.
Indonesia was initially scheduled to host the tournament, but the Muslim-majority country did not accept Israel´s participation. FIFA decided to hand the organization over to Argentina one month before kickoff.
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