After drawing 1-1 in the ninety minutes, the Mexico national team defeated the Netherlands in a penalty shootout (4-3) on Thursday to reach the final of the Under-17 World Cup in Brazil.
In the regular ninety minutes, the goals were scored by Youri Regeer for the Dutch and Efraín Álvarez for the Mexicans, who await the winner of the match between Brazil and France to seek their third world title in the category.
The standout figure in the penalty shootout, the first that has occurred so far in this edition of the Under-17 World Cup, was the Mexican goalkeeper Eduardo García, one of the best in the tournament, who confirmed his abilities by saving three penalty shots from the Dutch.
The other semifinal is played later in the same stadium by the Brazil and France national teams, with Brazil eliminating Italy (0-2) and the favorite France defeating Spain with a resounding 1-6.
- Match details:
1 (4). Mexico: Eduardo García; José Ruiz (m.18, Emilio Lara), Alejandro Gómez, Víctor Guzmán, Rafael Martínez; Eugenio Pizzuto, Josué Martínez, Bruce El-Mesmari (m.46, Joel Gómez), Bryan González; Israel Luna (m.73, Efraín Álvarez) and Santiago Muñoz.
Coach: Marco Antonio Ruiz.
1 (3). Netherlands: Calvin Raatsie; Steven Van der Sloot, Devyne Rensch, Melayro Bogarde, Anass Salah Eddine; Youri Regeer, Ian Maatsen, Mohamed Taabouni, Naci Unuvar; Jayden Braaf, and Sontje Hansen.
Coach: Péter Van der Veen.
Goals: 0-1, m.73: Youri Regeer. 1-1, m.79: Efraín Álvarez.
Penalty shootout (4-3): For Mexico, Muñoz, A. Gómez, Pizzuto, and Guzmán scored, while Álvarez and J. Gómez missed. For the Netherlands, Maatsen, Unuvar, and Hansen scored, while Taabouni, Braff, and Regeer were stopped by García.
Referee: Ecuadorian Guillermo Guerrero.
Incidents: Match for one of the semifinals of the Under-17 World Cup held at Bizerrao Stadium in the city of Gama, in the Federal District of Brasilia. EFE