After a poor showing and a 1-0 loss to Ecuador in the first match of the final stage of the Sudamericano Sub 20, Argentina got their campaign back on track on Thursday night, and kept themselves in with a fighting chance of reaching the London 2012 Olympic Games, with a 3-2 win over Chile after going down 1-0 to a Bryan Carrasco strike in the first half. You can see the highlights right here.
A dubious penalty early in the second half, scored by Banfield forward Facundo Ferreyra, levelled the scores, before Michael Hoyos suffered the whims of fate’s compensation: a perfectly good goal from a free kick ruled out for no apparent reason. Juan Manuel Iturbe’s introduction at half time for Sergio Araujo had been the catalyst for Argentina’s fightback, and in the very next attack he picked up the ball in the middle of the field and drove forward, beating two men before finishing low to make it 2-1 to Argentina. After Ferreyra had pulled a centre back from the byline, his Banfield clubmate Nicolás Tagliafico finished it off, with some help from a hilariously bad dive from the Chilean goalkeeper. Felipe Gallegos pulled it back to 3-2 in stoppage time, but Chile couldn’t get the equaliser in spite of coming desperately close.
Sudamericano Sub 20 Peru 2011, final group stage, Thursday 3rd February: Argentina 3 – 2 Chile
You can follow the ins and outs during the build up to the 2011 Torneo Clausura, as well Argentina’s performances in the Sudamericano Sub 20, the country’s vast foreign legion and the latest news from the selección during the 2010-2011 season direct from Buenos Aires with HEGS on Twitter. If you’ve not signed up yet you can do so here. You can also join the official HEGS Facebook group, to keep up to date with the latest posts on the blog and discuss things with other fans. You’ll find it here. Also remember to bookmark Hand Of Pod, our home to a brand new Argentine football podcast (or subscribe to it on iTunes here)
Photo taken from canchallena.com
Hasta El Gol Siempre 