FIFA U-17 World Cup: Colombia beat USA, pip Americans to second spot in Group A

Mumbai: Colombia produced their best game of the tournament as they beat USA 3-1 to qualify for the pre-quarterfinals of the FIFA U-17 World Cup on Thursday. Desperately needing a win to push their case, Colombia scored through Juan Vidal (3rd minute), Juan Penaloza (67th) and Dieber Caicedo (87th) to seal the win and finish second in Group A behind Ghana. [caption id=“attachment_4137777” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Juan Penaloza of Colombia celebrates his goal. Image courtesy: FIFA[/caption] USA’s lone goal was scored by George Acosta in the 24th minute. The USA, who had earlier defeated hosts India 3-0 and Ghana 1-0, tasted their first defeat of the tournament. This was Colombia’s second win after they defeated India 2-1 in New Delhi. With this, both USA and Colombia have six points in their kitty, but Colombia finished second on goal difference and the USA was pushed to the third position. Colombia took the lead in the third minute. A long throw by Andres Cifuentes inside the box found Vidal who slammed the ball into the right corner of the goal. The USA soon missed a golden opportunity when Acosta hit wide after a fine one-two with skipper Josh Sargent. In the first 22 minutes, the USA had the better share of ball possession, but they failed to find the equaliser. The USA’s equaliser came in the 24th minute, courtesy a stunning right-footer by Acosta. Both the teams were aggressive in their approach. The USA were denied a chance to take the lead in the 37th minute after a free kick by Sargent took a deflection of the Colombian wall before going wide. At the half-way stage, the two teams were levelled at 1-1. After the break, Colombia had at least three chances to score. Colombia’s defence stood tall and barring the 24th-minute goal did not give any open space to the American strikers. Colombia had another chance in the 60th minute but Andres Perea’s shot from outside the box was saved well by USA goalkeeper. But in the 67th minute, Colombia took the lead after Penaloza’s stunning right-footer from a free-kick curled into the right bottom of the American goal. The South American side increased their lead in the 87th minute with Penaloza providing the winning assist to Caicedo.