The Argentina U-20 National Team continues to move forward confidently in the World Cup. The team led by Diego Placente defeated Nigeria 4-0 and qualified for the quarterfinals of the tournament, a stage where they will face Mexico, which recently eliminated host Chile.
From the start, the Albiceleste dominated the game and quickly took the lead on the scoreboard thanks to an early goal by Alejo Sarco after a precise assist from Dylan Gorosito.
After several back-and-forths from both teams, and playing on the opponent's desperation, Argentina extended the lead in the 23rd minute with a stunning free-kick goal by Maher Carrizo, following a foul by Nasiru Salihu at the edge of the box.
Faced with the need to chase the result, the African team began to play more physically and aggressively. In this context, Salihu received the first yellow card of the match for a foul on Carrizo.
One of those collisions caused the injury of Álvaro Montoro, who had to be replaced by Gianluca Prestianni. Minutes later, the National Team escaped a penalty after a review for a green card following a highly controversial action by Tobías Ramirez on Haruna in the box.
From that point on, Nigerian pressure did not let up, with two clear chances near the end of the first half. First, Tahir Maigana had a shot that went just wide, but was millimetrically offside, and a close-range shot by Daniel Daga that goalkeeper Santino Barbi saved.
For the second half, Placente made another substitution to adopt a more defensive scheme, bringing on Tobías Andrada for Ian Subiabre.
Gradually, Nigeria began to gain prominence in the match; however, Argentina delivered a cold shower and scored the third goal of the afternoon thanks to the second goal by Carrizo, who was left alone in front of goalkeeper Harcourt after an exquisite assist from Milton Delgado.
With the situation completely against them, the African team made three changes: Auwal Ibahim, Mustapha Kamaldeen, and Emmanuel Ekowoicho for Daniel Daga, Nasiru Salihu, and Israel Ayuma, respectively. Moments later, Teo Rodríguez Pagano came on for Maher Carrizo and Mateo Silvetti for Alejo Sarco for the Albiceleste.
This last change paid off almost immediately, as Silvetti scored the 4-0 in the 65th minute after a precise pass from Prestianni.
With the match already lost and hoping to at least score a goal, the Nigerian coach decided to change the entire left flank of his team, substituting Odinara Okoro and Orseer Achihi for Charles Agaba and Azuka Alatan. Meanwhile, Placente made the final change for the Argentine team: Santiago Fernández for Dylan Gorosito.
Showing clear frustration, the recently substituted Ekowoicho delivered a hard kick to Valentino Acuña. This play was reviewed after a request for a green card from the Albiceleste for a possible straight red card, but it resulted in nothing.
After 25 minutes with little excitement following Silvetti's goal, the match finally ended in a 4-0 victory for the Argentina U-20 National Team. With this qualification, the team led by Diego Placente will face Mexico in the quarterfinals, a match that will be played on Saturday, October 11 at 8:00 p.m. at the Estadio Nacional in Santiago de Chile, so they will not have to travel.
