After Senegal’s exit in the first round, another African nation was knocked out of the tournament on Wednesday 31 May: Tunisia were soundly beaten 4-1 by Brazil in the 1/8 finals, while Nigeria superbly beat hosts Argentina 2-0 to advance to the quarter-finals.
Dominated, cornered, but never sunk. Nigeria held off Argentina perfectly in the last 16 of the FIFA U-20 World Cup. The Flying Eagles were made to suffer before beating the hosts 2-0. In fact, the statistics for the match speak for themselves. The young Albiceleste had 26 shots on target, with only 6 on target, and they had 66% of the ball. But football is all about efficiency.
Nigeria understood this perfectly. They could have succumbed to the pressure, but the opposite happened. In the 61st minute, Ibrahim Beji Muhammad opened the scoring after receiving a fine pass from Emmanuel. It was only Nigeria’s 2nd shot on target at this stage of the match. The Flying Eagles even doubled their lead through Sarki (90+1) to keep their U-20 World Cup adventure going.
Tunisia powerless against Brazil
Tunisia were no match for Brazil. In the 1/8th finals of the FIFA U-20 World Cup, the Aiglons de Carthage lost 1-4 to the Brazilians, who have now booked their place in the quarter-finals. The Tunisians’ tormentor was Marcos Leonardo. The striker opened the scoring in the 11th minute from the penalty spot. He then provided the assist for Andrey Santos (31st, 2-0). Despite Robert Renan’s dismissal in stoppage time of the 1st half, Brazil were virtually unruffled. Indeed, even when outnumbered, the Tunisians only managed 2 shots on target in the match. In the final moments, Matheus Martins (90+1) and Andrey Santos (double 90+11) completed the Brazilian success. Othman reduced the deficit for Tunisia.
