ANDhe world title in the under-20 category has a new owner. Uruguay passed over Italy in the Diego Armando Maradona final. In a thick match, with passivity as the tonic of the match, due, in large part, to a state of the pitch that is more than better available, Uruguay ended up raising the World Cup to the sky of Argentina.
Marcelo Broli’s pupils ended a drought of more than 73 years without winning a FIFA title. Along the way, they had chained Copas América, but since Brazil 1950, La Celeste had not known what it was like to become World Champion. It had to be these young people who once again taught the charras the way to victory.
Uruguay took to the field as if the final was going to be decided in the first ten minutes of the match. A suffocating pressure did not let out the Azzurri from their own area, although the state of the pitch and La Celeste’s own anxiety prevented clear chances on the Desplanches goal. It was a matter of time before the physical rhythm imposed by the Uruguayan team came to an end.
Italy began to exist, instead of resisting. Pafundi’s left foot and Baldanzi’s class settled the transalpines on the field of play, although without creating dangerous chances. Uruguay was physically superior and this was demonstrated in the best occasion of the first half. Desplanches gave his team an extra life after a huge stretch to respond to a header from Duarte inside the area. Uruguay wasted the clearest of the match.
Franco Rodríguez fights for the ball.
With the scare still in their bodies, the Italian team took a step back, while Luciano Rodríguez, La Celeste’s best player, was taking steps forward. The 19th went down to receive, faced alongside him and overflowed in all areas of the field. Italy endured without losing an iota of its essence. He had held out for the first 45 minutes, but the plan had to change if he wanted to stay in the game.
There was no script change in the match
The second part continued with a similar script, only the last pass deprived the sky-blue team of appearing before the Desplanches goal. Italy, in each action, was up against the wall González, a youth player in whom Valencia has placed a large part of its hopes for the future. Not even the early changes stunned the Azzurri.
Díaz laments the missed opportunity.
When the game was dying until extra time, an action by Prati paralyzed the match. The studs of the 4 of the Italian team impacted the knee of the charra captain, Díaz. The referee, at first, showed the red card to the transalpine midfielder, but the VAR entered the scene. He visits the monitor and incomprehensibly changed his decision.
The VAR shook the game
Uruguay, which has been seen with one more player with ten minutes remaining in the match, was filled with fury. In the umpteenth set piece for the charras, a header from Boselli, a couple of rebounds inside the area and the final action fell on the head of Luciano Rodríguez, who sent the ball into the net and ahead of Uruguay in the final with five minutes remaining in the match.
Luciano Rodrguez kisses the shield.
The agony of the review of a possible offside in the goal was visible on all the faces of the Uruguayans. The eleven minutes added seemed eternal, but the wait had become longer during the 73 years without winning a FIFA tournament for La Celestesince the one achieved in Brazil 1950. Uruguay is the new World Champion in the sub-20 category.
