Argentina U17 win 5-0 vs. Venezuela at World Cup round of 16

Argentina’s U-17 defeated Venezuela 5-0 at the Indonesia World Cup round of 16 and will play Brazil in the quarterfinals on Friday.

Diego Placente’s team dominated the whole game and started with two early goals by Santiago Lopez. The first one came from a cross after a good individual play by Ian Subiabre on the left side, while the second one also came from a cross by Subiabre that was poorly cleared by the Venezuelan defense. Lopez controlled the ball and finished brilliantly with his right foot.

Still in the first half, the captain and number 10 Claudio Echeverri would establish a 3-0 lead after another good cross from the left side. “El Diablito” finished with class to extend Argentina’s dominance.

In the second half, Argentina continued having possession of the ball and generating dangerous occasions. After a foul on Franco Mastantuono, who had come in from the bench just a couple of minutes before, Argentina was given a penalty kick, and Venezula’s right-back Pablo Ibarra was shown the red card (second yellow). The Albiceleste’s number 9 Agustín Ruberto converted with a panenka penalty that hit the crossbar and then went in.

Some minutes later, Agustín Ruberto would score again after a brilliant turn inside the box and a precise finish with his left foot, giving Argentina the final 5-0 lead. The striker scored in every game of this World Cup so far.

In the post-game interview, Claudio Echeverri stated the desire of his team to get the trophy:

“This team is ready to be champion. We thought it before arriving in Indonesia to play the World Cup. It is the only title we are missing, and we are going to try to do our best to achieve it.”

Argentina’s U-17 will play Brazil in the quarterfinals on Friday. The Brazilians come from a 3-1 win vs. Ecuador.