CAIRO: If day seven of the ongoing U-20 World Cup could be given a title, it would be losers bounce back.
Teams who were hammered with big losses last round and were tipped to have a very short spell in Egypt came back to achieve huge victories to save their chances in the tournament.
In Group E, Costa Rica quickly recovered from a humiliating 5-0 defeat against Brazil and scored three goals against Australia through Diego Madrigal, Luke Devere (own goal) and David Guzman.
The Czechs, on the other hand, held Brazil to a goalless draw, the second in the tournament, denying the likes of Diogo, Texira and Alan Kardec the space and time to play their traditional Samba football despite Port Said fans support.
With these results, both Brazil and Czech Republic secured their place in the knockout stage while Costa Rica will be battling for a direct qualification ticket when they meet Czech Republic as Brazil battles hopeless Australia.
In Group F, Hungary crushed South Africa with 4-0 only two days after being entertained by Mario Martinez of Honduras and his mates at 3-0.
All four goals came in the second half through Zsolt Korcsmar, Vladimir Koman, Andras Derbreceni and Adam Presinger.
In the group s second match, Ahmed Khalil put the United Arab Emirates in the knockout stage through his perfect free kick against Honduras who was tipped to be the surprise of the tournament, leaving hundreds of Emirati fans to celebrate in Alexandria.
These results left the group s mathematics complicated; both Hungary and Honduras have three points and will be looking for another victory when they meet UAE and South Africa respectively to ensure qualification.
Until now, 76 goals have been scored in the tournament; Yonathan Del Valle tops the scorers’ list with four goals followed by Fran Merida of Spain and Dominic Adiyiah from Ghana with three goals each.
This round proved harsh on Africa, whose teams, with the exception of Ghana, despite playing in their home continent lost their matches in either a dramatic ending or a heavy score. On the other hand, South American teams excelled as they all marched into the knockout stage.
