The Colombian team came back to overcome a negative result, triumphing 2-1 against Japan this Wednesday to seal their ticket to the round of 16 of the U-20 World Cup.
As happened last Sunday in the game they played against Israel, the South American team started to lose and had to row from behind to keep the three points.
Yáser Asprilla and Tomás Ángel this time scored in the second half to come back from Riku Yamane’s goal after 30 minutes of the first leg.
Played at the Único Diego Armando Maradona stadium in the city of La Plata, the game started evenly and the teams worked much more in the center of the field than on the areas.
With two climbs on the left becoming the first dangerous approaches, midfielder Daniel Luna broke the ice, though speed soon dropped again.
Full-back Kota Takai brought Japan into the penalty area defended by Luis Marquinez and a well-executed corner from Taichi Fuiki put the opposing goalkeeper into action as Anrie Chase prepared to head in.
On minute 25, Yáser Asprilla hit the ball against the crossbar after a great move that started in midfield after leaving centre-back Hayato Tanaka on the way.
And when Colombia had generated more danger and started closing in, the one that struck was the team led by Koichi Togashi.
Yamane took advantage of a great play from Fukui in the right sector and left the rival goalkeeper with no options with a superb shot that came after a good assist from the Bayern Munich midfielder.
The ball entered low to the left-hand side and Japan went 1-0 after 30 minutes of the first half. Colombia was not long in coming and before 60 minutes they were already ahead.
In minute 53, Asprilla took advantage of a great pass from Andrés Salazar and equalized the game with a strong shot that the rival goalkeeper couldn’t resist.
Immediately, Ángel took advantage of a rebound inside the penalty area, scored the second and, 59 minutes after time, unleashed the joy of the fans who accompanied his country.
In the end, a manual penalty from Jhojan Torres could change everything, but Kuryu Matsuki crashed his shot against the horizontal and the Colombian team took the win.
For example, the South Americans reached six points and remained at the top of group C in which Japan collects three points, while Israel and Senegal each have one.
The games Colombia-Senegal and Japan-Israel will be played next Saturday.
Source: El heraldo

I’m George Gonzalez, a professional journalist and author at The Nation View. With more than 5 years of experience in the field, I specialize in covering sports news for various print media outlets. My passion for writing has enabled me to craft stories that capture the attention of readers all over the world.