Germany leave it late against Costa Rica as Iran sink Guinea in Group C

The efficient Germans were too good for their opponents.

Noah Awuku came off the bench to help Germany U-17 beat Costa Rica U-17 2-1 in the FIFA U-17 World Cup 2017 in front of 12,329 fans at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, earlier on Saturday.  

Germany coach Cristian Wueck started with three forwards in the front making it an attacking 4-3-3 for the Duetschers, while on the other hand, Los Ticos gaffer Breansse Camacho surprisingly fielded only two defenders as Walter Cortes and Sebastian Castro were given the responsibility of wing-backs, with skipper Jose Alfaro leading the team from the front.

It was just on the go when Costa Ricans were awarded a free-kick in the danger area as Yannik Keitel brought down Josue Abarca just outside the box but Greivin Fonseca shot over the crossbar. A minute later, Jose Alfaro wasted an open chance to take Costa Rica on a lead as the forward saw his shot missed the target narrowly after receiving a cut-back pass from Abarca from the inside the box.

The Deutschers also had the chance to open the account but Jan Boller's strike from 10-yards went just over the crossbar. At the other end, Costa Rica once again came close to scoring but Andres Gomez wasted an open chance as he failed to direct Abarca’s curling cross.

With just ten minutes crossing on the clock, Germany came up with series of attacks on the opponents but Costa Rica keeper Ricardo Montenegro was at his best as he first paired Dennis Jastrzembski’s header from point-blank range, while in same minutes, he once again came with a brilliant block to Nicolas Kuehn in one-on-one situation.

 

Also Read

Brave India go down fighting to street-smart USA in FIFA U-17 World Cup bow

New Zealand and Turkey split the points as Paraguay edge Mali in Group B thriller

FIFA U-17 World Cup 2017 Matchday 3 Preview

Five minutes later, they wasted another opportunity when Jastrzembski found Jann-Fiete Arp in front of the goal with a perfect low cross, but the German striker failed to connect with just Costa Rican keeper Montenegro to beat.

However, Arp made no mistake to the chip the ball home from inside the box and put his side ahead in the 21st minutes when he was set by Kuehn with a smart through ball in the box.

The Duetschers had the best chance to double their lead in the last minute of the first session when Kuehn cut past a defender and sent a grounder to Elias Abouchabaka, who released it to unmarked Arp without touching the ball. The forward latter saw his shot clear off the goal line by Amferny Arias to keep away his side from any further damage.

The European side had another clear-cut chance in the very first minute of the second half when Arp found himself at the receiving end of Jastrzembski’s cut-back pass in front of the goal but the striker failed to convert the same as the shot went wide.

FIFA U-17 World Cup 2017: Germany 2-1 Costa Rica

Ten minutes later, another chance for the Germans went in the vain when John Yeboah’s striker off Pascal Hackethal’s  long throw-in was brilliantly blocked by Karin Arce at the cost of a corner.

At the other end, the Central American found the equaliser in the 64th minutes. in the event, Abarca brilliantly chested down his teammates shot pass before taping it to on-rushing Gomez who clinically finished the ball in the net and made it all square for his side.

Pumped-up by the equaliser, Los Ticos became sharper in the attacking and marched many times on the opponents but Germany’s stern defending and aimless shots restricted the Central American from taking the lead.

While Germans punished them for wasting so many chances and scored the winner with just a minute left to the regular time. After an outstanding performance in the entire match by Costa Rican defender Fernan Faerron, the Centre-back failed to clear Arp’s cross in the box, taking advantage of the same Germany’s substitute Awuku blasted the ball home and bagged the full three points for his side. 

Iran 3-1 Guinea highlights

In the evening's other match, Iran U-17 secured an easy 3-1 win over Guinea U-17. After a goalless first session, Sayyad Allahyar scored the opening goal of the match in the 59th minutes.

Ten minutes later, Sharifi Mohammad made no mistake from the spot after Guinea's Camara Cherif brought down Ghaderi Mohammad in the box. Cherif was sent off for his ruthless tackle on the Iranian winger.

[KH_RELATED_NEWS title="Related News"][/KH_RELATED_NEWS]

While substitute Karimi Saeid scored the team's third goal in the 90th minutes. Whereas Toure Fandje scored the consolation goal for the West African side in the added time.