U-20 SOCCER WORLD CUP 2011: Portugal end Guatemalan dreams 1-0

Portugal edged their way into the last eight with a hard-fought 1-0 victory that ended the ground-breaking run of Guatemala.

A slice of history was set to be made regardless of the victor with Portugal aiming to move beyond the Round of 16 for the first time since 1995, while Guatemala were seeking to continue their run having already gone further than any of their compatriots.

As it was, a lone penalty just seven minutes into the contest was enough to separate the teams. Nelson Oliveira cracked home his second goal of the tournament, after Cedric was needlessly brought down in the corner of the penalty area.

Portugal spurned a great chance to double their lead on 18 minutes but Caetano fired wide despite finding himself alone in the penalty area after an assist from Alex.

The Central Americans, having been under pressure, had their real shot soon after with right defender Jose Andrade attempting to curl the ball home only to see his effort clear the crossbar.

Portugal enjoyed far greater possession, but, as in previous matches, struggled to create gilt-edged openings.

On the stroke of half-time Portugal captain Nuno Reis leapt high and delivered a dangerous header that forced Roberto Padilla into a smart save.

Guatemala, knowing their tournament aspirations were on the line, started the second half in positive fashion and Jose Melgar forced Mika into an important save.

Portugal though soon had good openings of their own with firstly, Tiago Ferreira’s header going narrowly wide, and then Caetano pushing his effort wide after getting the better of his marker.

The dangerous Melgar was at it again for the Central Americans, twice hitting efforts close to Mika’s goal to rouse the locals into support of the underdog.

Seven minutes from full time came the moment for the Guatemalans. Only a stunning save from Mika denied Gabriel Navas who got on the end of a corner.

Incredibly, the Guatemalans were then denied by the width of the post when Kevin Norales’ free-kick was kept out by the woodwork, in what proved the final chance in a heroic campaign by the Central Americans.

1:0 (1:0)


NELSON OLIVEIRA (7' PEN)

Match 38 - Group Cali

Pascual GuerreroReferee: Djamel HAIMOUDI

 

Round of 16

Portugal - Guatemala1:0 (1:0)Match Date Time Venue / Stadium Attendance

38 09 August 2011 17:00 Cali / Pascual Guerrero 33294



Match Officials

Referee

Djamel HAIMOUDI (ALG) Assistant Referee 1

Foaad EL MAGHRABI (LBY)

Fourth Official

Noumandiez DOUE (CIV) Assistant Referee 2

Ayman DEGAISH (EGY)

Match Commissioner

Dominique MAESTRACCI (CAN)



Goals scored

NELSON OLIVEIRA (POR) 7' Penalty goal

Portugal

Line-up

[1] MIKA (GK)

[3] TIAGO FERREIRA

[4] NUNO REIS (C)

[7] NELSON OLIVEIRA

[8] CEDRIC

[11] CAETANO [Y] (-90')

[14] ALEX [Y] (-86')

[15] DANILO

[17] SERGIO OLIVEIRA

[18] RICARDO DIAS (-46' HT)

[20] MARIO RUI [Y]

Substitute(s)

[12] TIAGO MAIA (GK)

[19] LUIS RIBEIRO (GK)

[2] PELE (+46' HT)

[5] RODERICK (+90')

[6] JULIO ALVES

[9] AMIDO BALDE

[10] SANA [Y]

[13] LUIS MARTINS [Y]

[16] SERGINHO

[21] RAFAEL LOPES (+86')

Coach

Ilidio VALE (POR)Guatemala

Line-up

[1] Roberto PADILLA (GK)

[2] Jose ANDRADE

[3] Manuel MORENO

[4] Willian RAMIREZ [Y]

[5] Elias VASQUEZ (C) [Y]

[6] Jose DEL AGUILA [Y]

[7] Marvin CEBALLOS [Y]

[8] Jose CASTILLO

[14] Jose LEMUS [Y] (-24')

[16] Cristian LIMA (-56')

[20] Gerson LIMA (-37')

Substitute(s)

[12] Jose MORALES (GK)

[21] Jose GARCIA (GK) [I]

[9] Henry LOPEZ [I]

[10] Kevin NORALES (+56')

[11] Gabriel NAVAS [Y] (+37')

[13] Jose MELGAR (+24')

[15] Sixto BETANCOURT [I]

[17] Marco RIVAS [Y]

[18] Abner BONILLA [I]

[19] Walter ARRIOLA

Coach

Ever ALMEIDA (PAR)Cautions

MARIO RUI (POR) 30', ALEX (POR) 45'+3, CEDRIC (POR) 88'

Expulsions

Additional time

First Half: 3' Second Half: 5'

Portugal (POR) Statistics Guatemala (GUA)

14 Shots 17

2 Shots on goal 2

23 Fouls Committed 18

8 Corner kicks 2

0 Direct Free Kicks to Goal 1

0 Indirect Free Kicks to Goal 0

1 / 1 Penalty Kicks 0 / 0

3 Offsides 0

0 Own Goals 0

3 Cautions 0

0 Expulsions due to Second Caution 0

0 Direct Expulsions 0

60% Possession (%) 40%

33 Actual playing time 22



a.e.t.: After extra time (C): Captain PSO: Penalty Shoot-out

GK: Goalkeeper N: Not eligible to play I: Injured

Y: Yellow cards Pos: Positions A: Absent

POR-GUA: Quotes

Ever Almeida, Guatemala coach

It’s a pity to lose with a penalty in the beginning, it wasn’t what we expected. And we leave with a strange feeling, because we conceded a lot of goals in two very difficult matches. But, today, we were applauded when we lost and it was fair. We showed good football, that we deserved to be here and that we have good potential. I really don't think we deserved to lose. In the end, it was not even a matter of levelling the match, but not losing, because we played well. We are very happy with the way the supporters motivated us, but we want to come back one day and receive the same applause for even more, for a great victory for example.

Ilidio Vale, Portugal coach

We have mixed feelings. We are happy to go through, but unhappy with the way we played. We made more mistakes than we were expecting. We had the responsibility to go into attack, but, mainly in the second half, my players weren’t following my instructions. And I also think that my players weren’t humble enough. On the other hand, I don’t think Guatemala played a good match or did enough to win against us. They were only crossing the ball and that’s it. But I respect the way they play, as I respect Argentina. We fear no one and we are ready to keep playing and going through. But we definitely have to improve, correct some errors and be more competitive.

U-20 SOCCER WORLD CUP 2011: Guatemala seal unlikely progression

Marvin Ceballos scored the only goal against Croatia.

Despite having been handed two thrashings at these finals, Guatemala have advanced to the Round of 16 as a best third-place team with a narrow 1-0 victory over Croatia.

The Croatians had the first chance of the night when Mario Ticinovic sent a cross into Filip Ozobic. The No10 received the pass with his back to the goal, but with a quick turn fired his shot just wide of the upright corner.

Kevin Norales tried his luck at the other end, but unable to muster much power, gave Croatia goalkeeper Matej Delac little trouble. The chance was the spark Guatemala needed, though, and on 23 minutes Gerson Lima was free in the area only to see the onrushing Delac make a quickfire save with his leg.

Ivan Lendric forced Guatemala keeper Roberto Padilla into a save with a half-hour gone, but both sides would go into the break empty handed.

Padilla was tested again soon after the restart, but Guatemala’s No1 was able to tip Roberto Puncec’s header chance over the crossbar. The Central Americans then had an unbelievable chance go begging when Delac spilled a Marvin Ceballis header only to see it drop to Gerson Lima poised in a position to shoot. The Croatian defence came to the keeper’s rescue, however, and denied Lima of the chance.

Croatia were looking to break the deadlock, but Padilla was in fine form and was again able to push a chance over the crossbar, this time from Ticinovic. Puncec then attempted a shot from a tight angle only to see it go wide.


And finally, perhaps the most unlikely result at these finals came to fruition, when Guatemala took advantage of poor Croatian defending. On 81 minutes Marvin Ceballos evaded Croatian defender Puncec to slot home and secure a knockout round meeting with Portugal, much to the crowd's delight in Armenia.

Croatia - Guatemala0:1 (0:0)Match Date Time Venue / Stadium Attendance

35 06 August 2011 20:00 Armenia / Centenario 3202



Match Officials

Referee

Abdulrahman ABDOU (QAT) Assistant Referee 1

Mohammad DHARMAN (QAT)

Fourth Official

Peter O LEARY (NZL) Assistant Referee 2

Fares ALSHAMMARI (KUW)

Match Commissioner

Mohammed IYA (CMR)



Goals scored

Marvin CEBALLOS (GUA) 81'

Croatia

Line-up

[1] Matej DELAC (GK)

[5] Renato KELIC (C) [Y] (-46' HT)

[6] Tomislav GLUMAC [Y]

[8] Arijan ADEMI

[10] Filip OZOBIC (-73')

[11] Mario TICINOVIC [Y]

[13] Marko LESKOVIC

[14] Roberto PUNCEC

[15] Antonio JAKOLIS

[16] Frano MLINAR (-85')

[18] Ivan LENDRIC

Substitute(s)

[12] Dominik PICAK (GK)

[21] Michael PARADZIKOVIC (GK)

[2] Ivor HORVAT [I]

[3] Dejan GLAVICA (+85')

[4] Franko ANDRIJASEVIC (+73')

[7] Zvonko PAMIC [N]

[9] Andrej KRAMARIC [I]

[17] Anton MAGLICA (+46' HT)

[19] Marin ZULIM

[20] Ivan BLAZEVIC

Coach

Ivan GRNJA (CRO)Guatemala

Line-up

[1] Roberto PADILLA (GK)

[2] Jose ANDRADE

[3] Manuel MORENO

[5] Elias VASQUEZ (C) [Y]

[6] Jose DEL AGUILA [Y]

[7] Marvin CEBALLOS (-86')

[8] Jose CASTILLO

[10] Kevin NORALES (-46' HT)

[14] Jose LEMUS [Y]

[17] Marco RIVAS

[20] Gerson LIMA (-73')

Substitute(s)

[12] Jose MORALES (GK)

[21] Jose GARCIA (GK)

[4] Willian RAMIREZ [I]

[9] Henry LOPEZ [I]

[11] Gabriel NAVAS (+73')

[13] Jose MELGAR

[15] Sixto BETANCOURT [I]

[16] Cristian LIMA (+86')

[18] Abner BONILLA (+46' HT)

[19] Walter ARRIOLA

Coach

Ever ALMEIDA (PAR)Cautions

Marko LESKOVIC (CRO) 34', Marco RIVAS (GUA) 66', Marvin CEBALLOS (GUA) 82', Mario TICINOVIC (CRO) 90', Gabriel NAVAS (GUA) 90'+2

Expulsions

Additional time

First Half: 1' Second Half: 5'

Croatia (CRO) Statistics Guatemala (GUA)

11 Shots 9

3 Shots on goal 6

12 Fouls Committed 12

7 Corner kicks 5

0 Direct Free Kicks to Goal 1

0 Indirect Free Kicks to Goal 0

0 / 0 Penalty Kicks 0 / 0

1 Offsides 4

0 Own Goals 0

2 Cautions 3

0 Expulsions due to Second Caution 0

0 Direct Expulsions 0

60% Possession (%) 40%

33 Actual playing time 22



a.e.t.: After extra time (C): Captain PSO: Penalty Shoot-out

GK: Goalkeeper N: Not eligible to play I: Injured

Y: Yellow cards Pos: Positions A: Absent

FIFA U-20 World Cup 2011: Saudi Arabia cruised past Guatemala, scoring six unanswered goals in Armenia

Saudis pummel six past Guatemala

Saudi Arabia cruised past Guatemala, scoring six unanswered goals in their Group D encounter in Armenia. Yahya Dagriri, Yasir Alfahmi, Mohammed Alfatil, Yasir Alshahrani, Ibrahim Alibrahim and Salem Aldawsari all got on the scoresheet for the Saudis, while Guatemala were left to endure yet another thrashing at these finals.

Saudi Arabia immediately had Guatemala on the back foot, despite the Central Americans insertion of five new players into their starting line-up. The Saudis had their first chance on goal when Alibrahim threaded a through ball to Dagriri, but Guatemala keeper Roberto Padilla was up to the task.

After Yasir came close with a free-kick, Saudi Arabia found their breakthrough on 16 minutes. Maan Khodary’s long-range pass reached Dagriri, who proceeded into the area to fire a low shot into the far left corner of the Guatemalan net.

Guatemala had their first real chance with a shot from Elias Vasquez, but goalkeeper Abdullah Alsdairy parried it away for the corner. The Central Americans' attack was short lived, however, and after a missed one-on-one chance for Dagriri, the Saudis doubled their lead.

Yasir, who was more likely intending to cross, edged the ball past Padilla to score from a tight angle. Before the break, the Saudis came close to scoring another two, Alfahmi hitting the woodwork and Salem Aldawsari with a glaring miss.

Things went from bad to worse for the Guatemalans in the second half as Saudi Arabia were relentless on the attack. Padilla was able to deny chances from Aldawsari and Fhad Almuwallad to open the half, but after a nice bit of work from Dagriri on the left flank, Mohammed Alfatil fired a shot that found its way into the net for the Saudis' third goal of the night.

Alshahrani made it four just under ten minutes later when he beat Kevin Norales in the area to hit a powerful shot into the roof of the net. Guatemala struggled to create anything on the attack, and Alibrahim and Alnassar added insult to injury, completing a comprehensive victory for Saudi Arabia with strikes in the 83rd and 89th minutes respectively.

Saudi Arabia will look to cement their Round of 16 progression in their next outing against Nigeria on 6 August, while Guatemala will be searching for an answer against Croatia.