The Argentine team began its defense of the U-17 South American champion title with victory by beating Venezuela 4-2 this Friday on the first day of the group stage of the tournament, which is played in Ecuador.
The game was put very soon in the face of the Albiceleste with goals from Claudio Echeverri and Santiago López Grobin, but the Vinotinto managed to equalize it with goals from David Martínez, from a penalty, and from Junior Colina, for which they had to appear the attacker Agustín Fabían Ruberto with a brace to give Argentina the victory.
After 20 minutes, the Albiceleste were already winning 2-0 thanks to goals from Echeverri, with a dry and low right hand from the edge of the area; and López, who culminated with an empty goal an electric counterattack.
When the game seemed to paint for a win by Argentina, Vinotinto recovered with a penalty converted by David Martínez to close the gap and with a goal from Junior Colina, who shot the goal after a clever clearance behind the defense.
Even so, the Argentine team went into the break with an advantage thanks to Ruberto’s goal in added time in the first half, who sent a cross shot into the net due to a defensive mismatch by Venezuela.
Already in the second half, the River Plate striker signed his second goal by finishing off a ball inside the area that allowed the team led by Diego Placente to seal the match.
With this victory, Argentina is now the leader of Group B with 3 points, ahead of Bolivia, who earlier beat Peru 2-1, while Paraguay rested on this day.
– Datasheet:
4 – Argentina: Froilan Diaz; Ulysses Gimenez, John Gimenez, John Manuel Villalba, Axel Hair; Gustavo Albarracin (m.46, Valentino Acuña), Claudio Echeverri (m.78, Tobias Palace), Camilo King Domenech (m.44, Mariano Gerez); Ian Subiabre (m.46, Kevin Gutierrez), Santiago Lopez Grobin and Augustin Fabian Ruberto (m.67, Alejo Uriel Sarco). Selector: Diego Placente.
2 – Venezuela: Jesus Lara; Santiago Silva, Giovanny Sequera (m.57, Emmanuel Melendez), Rai Hidalgo (m.79, Jose Miguel Correa), Juberth Bermudez, Angel Borgo; Junior Hill (m.64, Leenhan Rosemary), Michael Vegas, David Martinez (m.79, Mayken Gonzalez); John Arango and Luccian Reign (m.65, Alexander Cichero). Selector: Ricardo Valino.
Goals: 1-0, m.14: Claudio Echeverri. 2-0, m.21: Santiago López Grobin. 2-1, m.31: David Martínez, penalty. 2-2, m.36: Junior Hill. 3-2, m.45+1: Agustín Fabián Ruberto. 4-2, m.63: Agustín Fabián Ruberto.
Referee: Colombian Carlos Betancur admonished Albarracín (m.19), Hidalgo (m.25), Silva (m.31) and Vegas (m.37).
Incidences: match of the first day of the group stage of the South American U-17 Championship, played at the George Capwell stadium, in Guayaquil.