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Aguero goals sink Polish hopes

Sergio Aguero scored two goals in the second half as defending champions Argentina defeated Poland 3-1 to reach the Under-20 World Cup quarter-finals on Thursday.

In other second-round games, Mexico defeated Congo 3-0, Chile beat Portugal 1-0, and Nigeria downed Zambia 2-1.

Tomorrow, Argentina will play Mexico in Ottawa, and Chile meet Nigeria in Montreal. In today's quarter-finals, Austria face the US in Toronto, and Spain face the Czech Republic in Edmonton.

With the game at 1-1, Aguero scored a wonder goal to open the second half. Poland kicked off and lost possession. Seven passes later, Aguero was in the box where he delicately lifted the ball over defender Adrian Marek and lashed a left-footed shot past goalkeeper Bartosz Bialkowski.

nonchalant

Aguero did it again in the 86th. Defender Krysztof Strugarek went down in the box, leaving the Argentine star with the ball and only the goalie to beat, which he did, nonchalantly flicking the ball into the net.

Star striker Dawid Janczyk put the Poles ahead 1-0 in the 33rd, and Angel Di Maria equalized in the 40th.

Argentina improved their unbeaten streak at the U20s to 10 games -- nine wins and a draw -- since the 2005 tournament.

Giovanni Dos Santos scored with a penalty in the 23rd minute and Pablo Berrera and Omar Esparza added late goals as Mexico defeated Congo before a pro-Mexico crowd of 40,204 at Montreal's Olympic Stadium.

Congo played the final 42 minutes one man short after forward Franchel Ibara was sent off for after earning a yellow card for a nasty tackle and then getting his marching orders for disputing the decision.

At Ottawa, Chukwuma Akabueze scored the go-ahead goal in the 57th minute and Nigeria's Flying Eagles soared into the quarter-finals with a 2-1 victory over Zambia.

After Nigeria's Uwa Echiejile scored in the third minute and Rodgers Kola equalized for the Copper Bullets in the 33rd, Akabueze cut in from the right wing and fired a left-footed shot from about 25m past Zambia goalkeeper Jacob Banda.

Arturo Vidal's goal in the 45th minute was enough for Chile as they easily handled Portugal in a 1-0 victory.

defensive prowess

Chile's defensive prowess was on full display, keeping their opponents to just one shot in front of a boisterous Edmonton crowd of 24,687.

The Chileans blanked their opponents for a fourth time in the tournament after cruising through the first round with wins over Canada, Congo and a hard-fought draw against Austria. They have scored seven goals and conceded none.
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