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The Diego Armando Maradona Unique Stadium (Argentina) received the match between Uruguay vs. Israel and became a feast of emotions, in the framework of the U-20 World Cup semifinals. Total jubilation for the celestial team that prevailed with Anderson Duarte's goal, at 61', and will play the final of the tournament against South Korea or Italy. Historic result.
With a complex situation for Uruguay due to injuries (only 14 players were called up), the celestial squad shone with the 'garra' that characterizes them. The team dominated the first half of the match, with 25,000 people packing the stadium.
In the second half, Marcelo Broli made some adjustments to the starting lineup, sending Ferrari, who was close to not playing due to injury. However, his contribution was positive. After many attempts, the goal came: After an impressive play by Alan Maturro and a great save by goalkeeper Zarfati, Duarte captured the rebound and pushed the ball to make it 1-0 at 61 minutes.
The advantage persisted, although it was not easy to maintain it. Boselli came close to scoring the second goal with a header. Zarfati (Israel's goalkeeper) was also tested with a powerful shot from Maturro. The actions ended 1-0 in favor of Broli's team, qualifying for the final of the tournament.
The opponent will be known in the next few hours, after knowing the result of the second semifinal match, which pits South Korea against Italy, who are also candidates to win the top trophy.
Incidences of Uruguay vs. Israel
The preview of Uruguay vs. Israel
Israel will take the field after playing extra time against Brazil and under the pressure of being newcomers to these events. According to this, both teams know that they will have to add a portion of epic to the good teamwork they showed and the outstanding individual performances they had in the tournament in order to go for the cup.
Without Ponte, Rodrigo Chagas will be a starter again for the South American team, although it is likely that he will now play as a right back. This would lead to Damián García returning to the starting eleven, in which Anderson Duarte will lead the attack and in which the coach could abandon the 4-2-3-1 formation to use a 4-3-3 or a 4-3-1-2. In that case, the attacking midfielder Franco González would move.
On the other side, Ofir Haim could also make changes in a team that had to run until the last minute of the extra time they played against Brazil after missing two penalties that could have given them peace of mind.
Dor Turgeman will once again lead the attack of a team that could repeat the starting lineup or give way to players like Omer Senior or Hamza Shibli. The latter stood out in the quarterfinal match and even scored one of the goals that sealed Israel's historic victory in their first participation in the U-20 World Cup.
Colombia, Japan, and Senegal are behind, as well as Uzbekistan and Brazil. The runner-up of the U-19 European Championship does not want to give up the great dream of bringing the cup home again. Uruguay will face the seventh semifinal of a tournament they have never been able to conquer and they are clear that they once again have the opportunity to do so. Thousands of fans who will cross the Río de la Plata to cheer on the Celeste will witness the duel. 90 minutes separate one of the two teams from the world final.
Uruguay vs. Israel: probable lineups
- Uruguay: Randall Rodriguez; Mateo Ponte, Sebastián Boselli, Facundo González, Alan Matturro, Fabricio Díaz, Damián García, Franco González, Anderson Duarte, Rodrigo Chagas, and Juan Cruz de los Santos.
- Israel: Tomer Zarfati; Ilay Feingold, Stav Lemkin, Or Israelov, Roy Revivo; Roy Navi; Ilay Madmon; Omer Senior, Tai Abed, Ariel Lugassy; Dor Turgeman.
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