Hungary tops Costa Rica on penalties for third place at FIFA U-20 World Cup

October 17, 2009

Costa Rica missed four-consecutive tries from the penalty spot, as Hungary captured third place at the FIFA U-20 World Cup 2-0 on penalties, following a 1-1 tie after regular time at the Cairo International Stadium today.

Diego Estrada, Cristian Gamboa, Esteban Luna and Carlos Hernandez each failed to find the back of the net for the CONCACAF champion, while Krisztian Nemeth and Roland Varga were on target for the winners.

It was the first time that Hungary finished in the top three at a FIFA competition since taking the silver medal at the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich.

For Costa Rica, it was the best finish for a CONCACAF team at the U-20 World Cup since Mexico lost to the Soviet Union on penalties in the final of the 1977 tournament in Tunisia (the game ended 2-2 after extra time).

Intense heat of nearly 100 degrees Fahrenheit contributed to a rather pedestrian opening half.

The second half, though, saw Hungary take control of the game and fashion numerous scoring chances. Costa Rican goalkeeper Esteban Alvarado, however, was in exceptional form, making saves on attempts from Andras Gosztonyi, Varga and Nemeth.

As the half wore on, Hungary continued its stranglehold on the flow of play, but it was Costa Rica that would take an 81st minute lead.

Marcos Ureña made it 1-0 when he sliced his way through the Hungarian defense and took a right-footed shot that that beat Peter Gulacsi. It was Ureña’s third goal of the competition, a team high.

The young Ticos were only moments away from an historic victory, when Jose Mena committed a foul on Nemeth in the penalty area. Referee Yuichi Nishimura pointed to the spot and Vladimir Koman converted the resulting penalty to knot the score in the first-minute of stoppage time. Mena was ejected for his second yellow card of the match.

The teams went directly to penalty kicks, where the exhausted Costa Ricans could not persist with the magic that carried them this far.

CAIRO, Egypt

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Tags: 1972 olympic games, Andras Gosztonyi, back of the net, Cairo, cairo egypt, cairo international, Carlos Hernandez, Costa Rica, costa ricans, degrees fahrenheit, Diego Estrada, Egypt, Esteban Alvarado, Esteban Luna, fifa competition, fifa u 20, fifa u 20 world cup, Hungary, intense heat, Jose, krisztian nemeth, Marcos Urena, mena, Mexico, Munich, nishimura, penalty kicks, roland varga, target, ticos, u 20 world cup, Vladimir Koman, yuichi

Brazil tops Costa Rica 1-0 in U-20 semifinals

October 14, 2009

Costa Rica allowed a second-half goal and was beaten by Brazil 1-0 in the Under-20 World Cup semifinals on Tuesday.

The result sends Costa Rica to Friday’s third-place game against Hungary, already having achieved its best performance at the biennial youth championship.

Costa Rica reached the second round in 2001 in Argentina, its furthest advancement in six previous trips to the U-20 finals.

Brazil will play Friday for the title against Ghana, which beat Hungary 3-2 in the other semifinal earlier Tuesday.

The match was a marked improvement for Costa Rica – which was the last team to qualify for the second round — from its first match against Brazil, when it was beaten 5-0 in its open game of the group stage.

Brazil finally converted a dominant possession game in the 67th minute when Bertucci’s curling left-footed cross just cleared the head of teammate Alex Teixeira but landed at the feet of Alan Kardec, who hit a powerful volley from near the byline between the near post and goalkeeper Esteban Alvarado.

The goal was reward for Brazil, which had more than twice the possession, shots on goal and corners as the CONCACAF champion, but created few dangerous chances.

Of Brazil’s nine shots on goal, most were directly at Alvarado, who had his best moment by extending his left hand to knock away Souza’s shot from 10 meters from in front of the goal.

Costa Rica had few chances but tested Brazilian keeper twice in the first half, a free kick by David Guzman that had to be tipped over the bar in the 16th minute and Marcos Urena’s right-footed shot on a counter that was pushed around the near post by Rafael in the 44th.

CAIRO, Egypt

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Tags: alan kardec, alex teixeira, Argentina, best performance, brazil, brazil 1, byline, Cairo, cairo egypt, Costa Rica, curling, david guzman, Egypt, Esteban Alvarado, free kick, ghana, group stage, Hungary, left hand, Marcos Urena, open game, place game, possession game, Rafael, souza, teammate, volley, world cup semifinals

Costa Rica beats UAE 2-1 to reach U-20 semis

October 11, 2009

Marcos Urena scored in the 122nd minute to lift CONCACAF champion Costa Rica to a 2-1 victory over the United Arab Emirates on Saturday and earn a semifinal match against Brazil at the Under-20 World Cup.

Urena ran onto a rebound at the top of the area after Allen Guevara’s shot was blocked by United Arab Emirates goalkeeper Yousif Abdulrahman. Guevara reacted quickly after Hamdan Al Kamali’s header of a long free kick all out of the back didn’t have enough pace to reach Abdulrahman.

Guevara flicked a shot from the middle of the area that Abdulrahman was able to block with his body, but the ball bounded to the top of the area, where Urena volleyed a low shot into the net.

Costa Rica, the last team to qualify for the knockout round and the only team from CONCACAF to advance past the group stage, next plays on Tuesday against Brazil – which has outscored its opponents 13-3 in five games and beat Germany 2-1 in extra time in its quarterfinal earlier Saturday.

The goal came against a United Arab Emirates side that had been reduced to 10 men three minutes earlier when Mohamed Fawzi was ejected for a two-footed tackle that upended second-half substitute Ricardo Blanco. The Emirates created more quality chances in the extra periods, outshot Costa Rica nearly two-to-one in the match and also had nearly twice as many corners and more possession.

The United Arab Emirates took the lead in the 33rd minute when Ahmed Khalil outraced Roy Smith on the right and send a ball across the face of goal, where Ahmed Ali beat David Guzman to redirect it past Costa Rica goalkeeper Esteban Alvarado.

The Ticos equalized four minutes later when Brian Oviedo sent in a cross from the left and Josue Martinez outleapt the UAE defense to drive a header into the top corner.

CAIRO, Egypt

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