The Argentine Under-20 national team lost 2-0 to Nigeria in San Juan, and said goodbye to the World Cup that is taking place in the country in the round of 16.
At the San Juan del Bicentenario stadium, packed with almost 28,000 people, the African team surprised and qualified for the quarterfinals, thanks to goals from Ibrahim Muhammad and Haliru Sarki, both in the second half.
After a first phase with a perfect score, the team led by Javier Mascherano did the merits to, at least, tie the game and even had a shot off the post from Luka Romero, but they did not know how to break the iron defense of Nigeria, who defined it on the end.
The sin of the locals, who had more failed attempts than goal plays, was a defensive imbalance that made them say goodbye to the World Cup early.
The Argentine team participated in this contest, after not having reached the quota in the South American Cup in Colombia and only valued the host quota to play, after FIFA withdrew the venue from Indonesia.
Nigeria entered the top eight and will play on Saturday, June 3 at 2:30 p.m. at the Madre de Ciudades stadium in Santiago del Estero against the winner of Ecuador and South Korea, who will meet this Thursday on the same stage.
After a first half that had them dominating, but with failures in the last meters, the Argentine team had a few minutes of confusion that were taken advantage of by Nigeria and ended up being decisive.
The difference was also in the changes, since those who entered the second half in Nigeria were key in the goals, while Mascherano’s variants had no effect.
At 12 minutes into the second half, the African team warned with a shot to Nnadi Tochukwu’s crossbar that left the public in silence.
The Argentine team could not get out of that moment of defensive distraction and four minutes later, at 16 minutes, Ibrahim Muhammad silenced Bicentenario with a practical finish. The speedy African winger received a great pass from the admitted Emmanuel Umeh behind the defense, and defined the cross before the goalkeeper Gomes Gerth went in vain.
Until that moment, Nigeria had not done much to be ahead, but they had the effectiveness that the home team lacked.
The cold numbers recorded that Argentina had more than 20 attempts to break the zero but, unlike what happened against New Zealand, the ball did not want to enter and made the frustration bigger.
The illusion vanished after 45 minutes, when another player who entered the second half, Haliru Sarki, made it 2-0 with a popcorn against an undefended goal.
The “Águilas” flew high in San Juan and scored three chances to win.
Before the second goal, the lack of reaction from the substitute bench was surprising, since there were two changes to be made and Matías Soulé, one of the jewels, did not have minutes, after having started the first two dates.
The enthusiasm for this generation quickly faded in San Juan and it was shown that this World Cup was not for Argentina.
Synthesis:
0 ARGENTINA: G.Gerth; Giay, Avilés, V. Gómez, Barco; Tanlong, Round; B. Aguirre, Carboni, Romero; Suitcase. DT: Javier Mascherano.
2 NIGERIA: aniagboso; Bameyi, Fredrick, Ogwueche, Agbalaka; Tochukwu, Dagger; Muhammad, Lawal, Sunday; Phage. DT: Ladan Bosso.
Stadium: Bicentennial (San Juan).
Referee: Glenn Nyberg (Sweden).
Goals: 61m Muhammad (N); 90m Sarki (N).
Changes: 46m Sarki for Sunday and Umeh for Fago (N), 65m Gauto for Aguirre (A), 75m Infantino for Carboni and M. Puch for Avilés (A), 79m Eletu for Muhammad (N), 90m John for Nnadi and Ibrahim for Lawal (N).
