Uruguay on Sunday beat Italy 1-0 to win their first FIFA Under-20 World Cup title.
The victory by the Celeste ended a streak of four consecutive wins for European teams in the tournament.
Luciano Rodriguez scored the winning goal in the 86th minute by a header from close range, giving Uruguay a much deserved victory after an entire match of dominance against Italy.
Photo: Reuters
More than 40,000 fans, mostly cheering for Uruguay, attended the match at the Diego Maradona Stadium. FIFA president Gianni Infantino was also present.
Uruguay barely needed to count on their steady defense, which conceded only three goals in the tournament, all against England in the group stage.
The South American team had clear chances to open the scoring much earlier with a free-kick taken by Rodriguez, two long-distance shots by captain Fabricio Diaz and a header by Anderson Duarte that forced Italy goalkeeper Sebastiano Desplanches to make one of the best saves of the tournament.
“This is crazy, crazy, crazy and we deserve it,” a tearful Rodriguez said after the match. “We are living a dream.”
Uruguay was so involved with the match in La Plata that the nation’s soccer association suspended Sunday’s round of the national championship so fans could watch the final against Italy.
Italy’s Cesare Casadei, the tournament’s top scorer with seven goals, had a disappointing performance in the final.
Italy coach Carmine Nunziata recognized Uruguay played better, but said the poor pitch affected his players.
“The pitch has penalized any player who has more skills,” Nunziata said.
“We had an incredible run. This match doesn’t cancel what we have done, playing all these matches is not easy. They were better than us today,” he said.
Neither Uruguay nor Italy were among the favorites when the tournament kicked off on May 20, but unlike Brazil, Argentina and England they faced less resistance from clubs about releasing players for the tournament.
It is not mandatory for clubs to allow their players to take part in international youth competitions.
Uruguay lost the final of the tournament in 1997 and 2013. Brazil were the last winners from South America in 2011.
Earlier, debutants Israel beat South Korea 3-1 to secure third place in the same stadium.
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