Triumph of “The Stars and Stripes”. The United States youth team achieved its second victory in the U-20 World Cup, 3-0 over France, and with 6 points on the table it anticipated its classification to the round of 16 from Group “E”, whose second day closed with South Africa’s 5-0 victory against last-place New Caledonia.
On the first date, the USA had beaten the New Caledonians 9-1 while the French beat the South Africans 2-1 at the start of the competition organized by FIFA in Chile.
This Thursday, in a disputed match at the Codelco El Teniente Stadium in the city of Rancagua, the North American team eliminated the Frenchmen with two goals in the final minutes. Zavier Gozo opened the scoring in the 85th minute, Brooklyn Raines expanded in the 88th minute and the Ecuadorian-American Marcos Zambrano sealed everything in the 92nd minute.
The third and final day of this group of the “U-20 World Cup 2025” will be played on Sunday, October 5: South Africa will clash against the United States and New Caledonia will face France, both matches at 4 pm ET (TV: Fox Sports 2 and Telemundo).
The United States tried harder, showing greater confidence in attack and creating danger on the wings, but without bothering the French defense and much less the goalkeeper Lisandru Olmeta, who barely had to appear in the first 45 minutes. In the opposite area, American goalkeeper Adam Beaudry had an outstanding game.
In the 60th minute, the American midfielder of Argentine heritage Benjamin Cremaschi warned with the only really clear chance until then, after a good arrival from the second line to the center of Niko Tsakiris that Olmeta, the most outstanding of the French team, neutralized.
The match seemed doomed to a 0-0 draw until in the 85th minute, a good cross from the right by Luke Brennan was connected with a header by Zavier Gozo, a great combination between the newcomers to the field, which made it 1-0, breaking the resistance of “Les Blues”.
Only 3 minutes later, the “Stars and Stripes” team sentenced the duel. Pass filtered by Gozo to Brooklyn Raines and the Houston Dynamo midfielder did not fail in the one-on-one against Beaudry. Soft, low shot that hit the European goal and caused euphoria among the North American players.
And just before the Uruguayan referee Gustavo Tejera declared the end of the match, the attacker Marcos Zambrano collected a great shot against the crossbar for Gozo – who won the man of the match award after a stellar 30 minutes – and from the center of the French area established the 3-0 with a dry shot.
A rout in the history of youth football in the United States. And a brilliant result that ignites the hope of reaching the top in this U-20 World Cup.
This is how they aligned
– United States (3): 12-Adam Beaudry; 3-Nolan Norris, 4-Josh Wynder, 16-Ethan Kohler, 17-Frankie Westfield; 8-Benja Cremaschi (Capt.) (2-Reed Baker-Whiting, 84), 6-Brooklyn Raines, 10-Niko Tsakiris (19-Matthew Corcoran, 62); 7-Cole Campbell (11-Luke Brennan, 74), 14-Taha Habroune (9-Marcos Zambrano, 74), 13-Peyton Miller (20-Zavier Gozo, 62).
– Coach: Marko Mitrović.
– France (0): 1-Lisandru Olmeta, 2-Gady-Pierre Beyuku, 3-Justin Bourgault (13-Moustapha Dabo, 72), 4-Steven Baseya, 5-Alyaz Zidane, 7-Lucas Michael, 8-Rabby Nzingoula (19-Fody Sylla, 46), 10-Mayssam Benama (18-Gabin Bernardeau, 90) 11-Tadjidine Mmadi, 14-Noham Kamara (6-Ilane Toure, 46), 20-Djylian Nguessan (12-Anthony Bermont, 46).
– Coach: Bernard Diomede.
– Referee: Gustavo Tejera (URU).
(With a report from Elvis González, from EFE)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ecsJN7lVGJ8
