With Wednesday's games now in the books, five teams out of the eight quarter-finals spots are set for the round, including one big surprise “party spoiler.” Uruguay edged past Saudi Arabia to secure passage through to the quarterfinals, while Tournament's revolution Zambia continued its solid run through to the final eight after astonishingly outplayed European powerhouse Germany 4-3. Meanwhile, England topped costa rica to book a spot in the quarterfinals.
Here's a quick summary of Wednesday's match results and how they actually went down.
England 2, Costa Rica 1
After the Three Lions “jumped” to a 2-0 lead with thirty-fifth and sixty-third minute goals from Everton young forward Ademola Lookman, it eventually looked-like a win was well on its way. However, Costa Rica fought back fervently in the final minutes and nearly spoiled the “party” for England. Not lucky enough, Costa Rica playmaker Randall Leal's eighty-ninth minute penalty kick was saved by the Three Lions goalkeeper. Few minutes afterwards, Leal scored the consolation goal for Costa Rica to make the final score line 2-1 at fulltime.
Zambia 4, Germany 3 (AET)
Finally, tournament's revolution Zambia pulled-off the upset of the day as the African champions takes down a resilient Germany team in extra-time.
After the young Germans took the lead from a Phillip Ochs' thirty-fifth minute goal, the Zambians pulled-back three “unanswered” times from Junior Sakala, Enock Mwepu, and Emmanuel Banda. Down to two goals few minutes before stoppage time, the young Germans pulled-off a stunning come back as attacking midfielder Suat Serdar notched one for his team in the eighty-ninth minute and Jonas Arweiler struck the equalizer for Germany in the ninety-third minute.
Despite a fine come back, Germany apparently failed to extend their lead as Shemmy Mayembe scored the 106th minute winning goal for Zambia. This will be the first time the African nation is reaching such stage in such stage in world football.
Uruguay 1, Saudi Arabia 0
After a goalless first forty-five minutes, the young Uruguayans managed to earn a penalty kick just after the both sides returned to the field of play in the fiftieth minute.
Forward Nicolas De La Cruz stepped-up to the penalty spot box and slotted home the winning goal, sending Uruguay to the final eight round as one of the two remaining South American teams, joining the Plainsmen of Venezuela. The last three quarterfinals “competitors” will be decided this Thursday, as France Under-20s will be taking on Italy, Mexico locking horns with Senegal and the United States facing-off New Zealand for a place in the final eight.