Irapuato, Mexico.- The Mexican U-20 National Team qualified for the World Cup in this category, to be held in 2025 in Chile, after beating Costa Rica 2-1 in the Quarterfinals of the Concacaf Championship, at the Sergio León Chávez Stadium.
Mexico had the courage to overcome adversity and even its past, after the failure of two years ago. El Tricolor was losing at 29′ with a goal by Claudio Montero, but Diego Sánchez at 39′ with a great goal and Amaury Morales at 83′ came back to, in addition, complete their passage to the Semifinals.
The scoreline did justice to the game, because Costa Rica had a defensive approach and barely caused any problems with Andy Rojas’ shot off the post in the first minute of the game and then with Claudio Montero’s well-aimed penalty after a grotesque error by Mexican goalkeeper Emmanuel Ochoa.
The Mexican goalkeeper was shouting with pure rage, while coach Eduardo Arce applauded his players, at the moment of greatest tension. Mexico needed forcefulness because up to that point shots like Yael Padilla’s over the crossbar or Heriberto Jurado’s runs or Stephano Carrillo’s incessant fighting were of no use.
In the most unexpected way, with a long-distance volley, Diego Sánchez saved the ball in the upper right corner, a real goal that restored peace to the Tricolor.
Mexico dominated the entire second half, but once again lacked the composure to finish, as in that play by Padilla in the 66th minute when, after overcoming several rivals, he preferred to shoot instead of assisting better-positioned teammates.
The decisive play came in the 83rd minute, after a slide by José Pachuca, a pass from Jurado and a miraculous cross from Mateo Levy, right in the position of Amaury Morales, who beat the goalkeeper with a left-footed shot.
Costa Rica’s coach, Christian Vella, went crazy because he thought there had been a foul at the start of the game and then he shouted at the referee and asked him to review the VAR. He wanted to confront the referee, but both the fourth official and the number one assistant shielded his teammate. A match so rough that the Costa Ricans went after the referee at the end of the game, which is why there was another expulsion.
El Tricolor will face the winner of Honduras-Cuba in the Semifinals and will play next Friday at the Nou Camp Stadium.
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