The under-20 teams of Colombia and Slovakia meet this Wednesday at 12:30 p.m. at the San Juan del Bicentenario stadium, in the round of 16 of the World Cup in the category in which Argentina plays.
The tricolor team is unbeaten in this game after winning in group C, with seven units, as a result of the victories over Israel (2-1) and Japan (2-1) and the draw against Senegal (1-1).
The national representative is contesting its eleventh edition in the U-20 World Cups, in which the third-placed signing in 2003 had the best participation, behind Brazil and Spain, in the only chance it managed to get into the top four.
The keys to the team under Héctor Cárdenas are the goal-scoring prowess of Óscar Cortés and captain Gustavo Puerta, as well as the potential of Tomás Ángel, son of legendary goalscorer Juan Pablo, and Yaser Asprilla.
“With a lot of calm, a lot of certainty, as we have always done, and above all with a lot of humility. All rivals that have made it through to this round are complicated and if you want to become champion, you have to beat everyone,” Gustavo Puerta said of the game against the Slovaks.
Slovakia, meanwhile, reached this round of 16 after being the third-best third in the group stage with only three units in zone B behind the United States and Ecuador.
In this first instance of the ecumenical event, they beat Fiji 4-0 on their debut and then lost 2-1 to the South Americans and 2-0 to the North Americans, all in San Juan.
Slovakia plays its second U-20 World Cup with a precedent in 2003, when it was eliminated in the round of 16 by Brazil (1-2).
The European team, led by Albert Rusnak, entered this World Cup after finishing fifth in last year’s U-19 continental tournament held in his country after beating Austria 1-0 in the play-offs .
Maté Szolgai, Leo Sauer and Timotej Jambo (captain) are the great references of the ‘Halcones’.
“We are a team that is very respectful of our rivals. We believe in finding the game that brought us to this World Cup and I trust my managers completely,” said the DT.
Probable formations:
Colombia: Luis Marquinez; Edier Ocampo, Kevin Mantilla, Fernando Álvarez, Andrés Salazar; Gustavo Puerta, Johan Torres, Daniel Luna; Oscar Cortés, Yaser Asprilla and Jorge Cabezas. Coach: Hector Cardenas.
Slovakia: Adam Hrdina; Samuel Kopásek, David Ovsonka, Sebastian Kosa, Nicolas Sikula; Dominik Snajder, Mate Szolgai; Adam Gazi, Mario Sauer, Leo Sauer; and Adam Griger. Trainer: Albert Rusnak.
Referee: The Saudi Mohamed Al Hoish.
Stadium: San Juan of the Bicentennial.
O’clock: 12:30 PM (Colombian time).
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.
