Striker Harry Kane scored a second-half equalizer to earn England a 1-1 draw against Chile in the FIFA Under-20 World Cup on Wednesday, while Egypt and New Zealand were knocked out of the tournament.
Kane collected a pass from midfielder Ross Barkley in the 64th minute and beat goalkeeper Dario Melo with a low shot at the near post to give England their second point in Group E after drawing 2-2 against Iraq in their opener.
It was a hard-fought result for manager Peter Taylor’s team, who narrowly escaped defeat when Bryan Rabello’s strike in the closing minutes hit the crossbar.
Photo: AFP
Nicolas Castillo had put Chile in front from the penalty spot in the 32nd minute with his second goal of the tournament after a late tackle by Daniel Potts brought down Chile winger Angelo Henriquez as he dribbled his way in from the right.
Referee Alireza Faghani of Iran did not whistle immediately, taking several seconds to make up his mind on the second penalty against England of the tournament.
After another foul, Potts later received his second yellow card of the competition and will miss England’s decisive group match against Egypt tomorrow.
England struggled to keep possession in the first half and only created danger with two shots from well outside the area, with Barkley watching his effort go just wide, while Kane’s shot was saved by Melo.
Chile remained in control for the early stages of the second half, but failed to create clear chances and lost the plot after Kane’s equalizer.
England started to turn up the pressure and came close to scoring when substitute Alex Pritchard headed the ball straight at Melo from close range in the 82nd minute.
In the other Group E match, Iraq defeated Egypt 2-1, moving them to the top of the table ahead of Chile on number of goals scored.
In Group F, Uruguay bounced back from their opening defeat against Croatia to beat New Zealand 2-0 with goals from Giorgian de Arrascaeta and Nicolas Lopez.
After four minutes, De Arrascaeta slotted home a free-kick from just outside the penalty box after he was fouled by New Zealand’s Tim Payne.
Uruguay missed several opportunities to double the score before Lopez tucked home the rebound after his initial effort hit the post in the 75th.
Uruguay moved third in Group F behind Uzbekistan and Croatia, who drew 1-1 in their match on Wednesday.
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