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Four score Argentina beats Ghana 3-0 for fourth world youth title
Updated: Sunday July 08, 2001 5:47 PM
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) -- Argentina dealt Ghana a 3-0 drubbing Sunday to win a record fourth under-20 World Youth Championship. Argentina took the lead with a sixth-minute goal by defender Diego Colotto while tournament top scorer Javier Saviola headed in the second in the 14th minute. Maxmiliano Rodriguez slammed home the third in the 72nd minute. It was coach Jose Pekerman's third world youth cup title in seven years in charge. Argentina also won the trophy in 1979, 1995, 1997. Argentina has now won the cup four time in five final appearances. Twenty-four nations took part in the biennial tournament which began June 17 and is considered a showcase for soccer's most promising talents. It was Ghana's second loss in the final. It 1993, it lost 2-1 against three-time winner Brazil. Saviola, with 11 goals, becomes the championship's highest scorer ever. Before a capacity 50,000 crowd -- virtually all donning Argentina's blue and white colors -- at the Jose Amalfitani stadium, Argentina came into the match with the best scoring record of the tournament, 24-4. Ghana had had the least number of goals -- two -- scored against it.
Ghana never got going and did not have even one shot at goal in the entire first half. Argentina, meanwhile scored in its first two attacks. In the first one, Colotto connected beautifully with a curling free-kick by Leandro Romagnoli from the right wing to slot the ball in from some six meters (yards). Eight minutes later, Andres D'Alessandro chipped in a high cross from the same flank for an unmarked Saviola to head into the near right-hand corner of the goal. The game then settled down to a midfield battle with Argentina's backline -- Colotto, Mauro Cetto, Nicolas Burdisso and Leonardo Ponzio -- easily canceling out any attack attempts by Ghanian forwards Derek Boateng and Razak Pimpong. But Argentina didn't have an abundance of shots at goal, with only Saviola and Rodriguez managing efforts in the 32nd and 35th minutes. Ghana's first shot in the direction of goal came in the 50th minute when Michael Essien fired a long-range free-kick way over the crossbar. Burdisso came close to scoring Argentina's third in the 58th minute with a header from just off the line, which goalkeeper Maxwell Banahene punched away superbly.
D'Alessandro set up the final Argentine goal with a perfect pass into the area for Rodriguez, who slipped through the Ghanaian defense unnoticed to bullet the ball home. The rest of the game was played almost entirely in Ghana's half of the field, with the African side committing many fouls despite only picking up two yellow cards. The Africans missed a perfect chance to score a consolation goal when Abdul Ibrahim sent a penalty shot well wide three minutes from the whistle. Argentina reached the final by beating Egypt 7-1, Finland 2-0, Jamaica 5-1, China 2-1, France 3-1 and Paraguay 5-0. Ghana's biggest feat was eliminating Brazil 2-1. It also dismissed Egypt in the quarterfinals, defeated Paraguay, Iran and Ecuador and drew against France. Egypt beat Paraguay 1-0 earlier Sunday to finish in third place.
SummaryScorers: Diego Colotto 6, Javier Saviola 14, Maximiliano Rodriguez 73 Halftime: 2-0. Attendance: 40,000 Argentina - 18-Wilfrido Caballero; 2-Nicolas Burdisso, 4-Mauro Cetto, 13-Diego Colotto; 14-Leonardo Ponzio, 5-Nicolas Medina, 10-Leandro Romagnoli (16-Mauro Rosales, 69), 3-Julio Arca, 15-Andres D'Alessandro (9-Esteban Herrera, 80); 7-Javier Saviola, 11-Maximiliano Rodriguez Ghana - 1-Maxwell Banahene; 2-Sulley Muntari, 5-Patrick Villars, 14-John Mensah, 6-Emmanuel Papoe; 8-Adbul Ibrahim, 4-Michael Essien, 10-Derek Boateng, 15-John Pantsil; 9-Razak Pimpong (11-Frank Osei 75), 16-Kwaku Duah (7-Samuel Thompson, 68) Third-place playoff result: Paraguay 0 Egypt 1 Scorer: Mohamed El Yamany 64
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