CAIRO: It will be Ghana, Brazil, Hungary or Costa Rica that will claim the U-20 World Cup title following their qualification in thrilling quarterfinals.
All four teams didn t have the road paved to the semi final as each had to fight for its place to the joy of the tournament s fans who witnessed crazy football moments where results stayed unknown till the dying minutes.
A fatal mistake from UAE captain, Hamdan Al Kamali, at the last minute of extra time sent Costa Rica to the semi-finals after Marcos Urena used Kamali s wrong header to score Los Ticos second.
UAE, enjoying local fans support in Cairo Stadium, began scoring at the 33rd minute when Ahmed Ali buried Ahmed Khalil s land cross into Esteban Alvarado s net. However, Costa Rica quickly responded in the 37th minute through Josue Martinez header ending the first half in a stalemate.
In the second half, both teams failed to take advantage of the few chances they got to find themselves playing extra time; as the referee was getting ready to whistle for penalty kicks to start, Marcos Urena scored Costa Rica s second and goal of the tournament for the North Americans.
Witnessing four red cards for the players and two coaches suspended, the Italy-Hungary matchup didn t lack Drama from the first to the last minute of extra time, a match which Krisztian Nemeth of Hungary will remember for a long time.
The controversy started from the second minute of the game when the referee whistled for a penalty kick for Hungary which Vladimir Koman easily put through Vincenzo Fiorello to give his side the lead.
For the rest of the first half, Italy couldn t convince followers that it has what it takes to win the match as they showed high vulnerability to every Hungarian attempt on goal and lacked creativity in attack.
In the second half, Italy showed improvement while Hungary was set back in defense; in the 71st minute Matteo Gentili received his second yellow card and left his side with low morale.
However, Antonio Mazotta dribbled through Hungarian defense and chipped the ball over the keeper to score the equalizer for Italy in the 82nd minute only to find his team mate Francesco Bini receiving a direct red card after an aggressive foul on the Hungarian striker.
At the 90th minute, it was Hungary s turn to receive a red card through Adrian Szekeres; a raw between the two managers, Francesco Rocca and Sandor Egervari saw them both watching the rest of the game from the stands.
Although the first half of extra time didn t produce much action, it was the second half that earned the game the title of Spectacle of Suez from FIFA.
In the 112th minute Nemeth scored a heartbreaker through mere individual skill, dribbling through defense and shooting a slow ball; one minute later and as everyone was getting ready to leave Suez stadium Giacomo Bonaventura scored Italy s second.
As tired Italian defenses opened, Michelangelo Albertazzi had to tackle Nemeth to receive a direct red card; moments later, Nemeth scored again to end the match for Hungary.
Earlier in Suez, Ghana eased through South Korea with a 3-2 victory through Dominic Adiyah s brace and Ransford Osei while Park Hee Song and Kim Dong Sub scored for the Koreans.
With this victory, Ghana became the defender of African football s reputation in the semi-finals and are favorites for the final game.
On Saturday, Cairo fans were treated with a clash between Germany s tactical discipline and Brazil s outstanding talent as they got entertained for the 120 minutes of the game.
As Germany started with defense, depending on counter attacks, Brazil s trio of Alan Kardec, Alex Teixeira and Diogo constituted a constant threat to Germany s plans.
While both teams competed in wasting easy scoring chances, the deadlock wasn’t broken until Lewis Holtby used a cross to score Germany s first in the 73rd minute through with his head, following the goal, Germany returned to defense while Brazil continued to waste chances.
As the second half was closing its curtains, Substitute Maicon equalized for Brazil in the 88th minute; Maicon again was the savior when he scored Brazil s second in the 91st minute.
Germany s attempts on goal for the remaining 20 minutes all failed.
As Hungary meets Ghana, Brazil will be looking to bring the Costa Rican adventure to an end.
Ghana vs. Hungary – Cairo Stadium, 16:30 (CLT)Brazil vs. Costa Rica – Cairo Stadium, 20:00 (CLT)
