Spain hammered Tahiti 8-0 and Venezuela won on their tournament debut by beating Nigeria 1-0 at the under-20 World Cup on Friday.
Rampant Spain achieved their biggest ever under-20 win against Tahiti and were 4-0 up at halftime after Aaron Niguez and Emilio Nsue grabbed two each.
Substitute Kike added another two in the second half, while Ander Herrera and midfielder Fran Merida sealed the Group B rout.
Brazil holds the tournament record, beating Belgium 10-0 in 1997.
Before the tournament in Egypt, Venezuela had never qualified for any of FIFA’s world championships.
Yonathan Del Valle struck in the 45th minute of the South Americans’ Group B opener, shortly after Nigeria were reduced to 10 men. Lukman Haruna was sent off for stamping on a Venezuelan player’s leg.
“We’ve given Venezuela their first victory,” Del Valle said. “[Everyone] thought we were going to lose. That was a big mistake.”
Nigeria coach Samson Siaisa made no secret of his disappointment.
“Who can be pleased with defenders who can’t even defend?” Siaisa said. “I told them in the dressing room: ‘What is going on? ... How come you keep leaving strikers wide open?’”
In Group A, Italy goalkeeper Vincenzo Fiorillo spared his team an opening defeat, holding off Paraguay 0-0.
Italy’s Andrea Mazzarani struck the post with a free-kick in the ninth minute, but the Paraguayans controlled the rest of the game, forcing Fiorillo to make impressive saves.
“I’m happy with the performance, but not the result ... we had four or five chances to score, so I’m a little upset,” Paraguay coach Adrian Coria said.
“The main goal was to stand up to Italy and we did that really well. We had an outstanding day in midfield.”
Paraguay beat Brazil and helped eliminate six-time winners Argentina in qualifying for Egypt.
Hosts Egypt trounced Trinidad and Tobago 4-1 on Thursday to lead Group A with three points, while Italy and Paraguay have a point each.
Venezuela share the lead with Spain in Group B.
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