The Round of 16 of the U-20 World Cup in Chile, which begins on Tuesday, opens the door for a select group of players to impose their conditions to become the star of the tournament, a race in which 16-year-old Mexican midfielder Gilberto Mora has taken the lead.
The star of El Tri and Tijuana, in addition to showing his ability to play, has scored three goals, which have put him in contention for the Golden Shoe for the top scorer of the tournament, along with four other players.
Mexican and Moroccan jewels dazzle
The talented midfielder’s goals have been key for Mexico, two of them against Spain.
One of them came in the last minute, and the other was a penalty kick against Morocco to advance to the round of 16 of the U-20 World Cup, where they will face Chile.
The Mexican jewel is in the eye of big teams such as Barcelona, Real Madrid, Manchester United, Manchester City, and even Inter Miami of MLS and Messi, but to reach Europe he must first turn 18 years old.
The explosive Moroccan winger from French Ligue 2 side USL Dunkerque, Gessime Yassine, led his national team to two wins over Spain and Brazil to kick off the U-20 World Cup and will now take another step forward against South Korea.
The 19-year-old left-footed attacker has been involved in all four goals scored by the Atlas youth team, including one goal and three crucial assists.
Against Spain he provided the assist for the first goal and scored the second in a 2-0 win, and against Brazil he made two passes to his teammates that ended in goals in a 2-1 victory.
Sarco and Cremaschi lead the U-20 World Cup
Argentina’s powerful center forward Alejo Sarco tops the list of top scorers at the U-20 World Cup with his three goals, a brace against Cuba in the opener and another against Australia.
The promising German Bayer Leverkusen player, who emerged from Vélez Sarsfield’s youth academy, showed his forcefulness in the opponent’s area and his personality to stand out as a great striker.
The attacker stands out for his ability to be quick, agile and energetic in shaking off opponents in duels and he will put it to the test again against Nigeria.
Benjamin Cremaschi led his team in the group stage with two great games against New Caledonia and France that allowed the United States to reach the last round of the SUb-20 World Cup.
The player on loan from Inter Miami to Italian club Parma has three goals and one assist in the tournament.
He is the compass of his team with a differential physical capacity, making his three seasons in the soccer elite worthwhile.
The United States will need the best version of its star player for the match against Italy, after Cremaschi was somewhat lacking in the last game against South Africa.
France and Paraguay rely on their jewels
Lucas Michal and Andrea Le Borgne have been the highlights of a French team that left doubts in qualifying third after a three-way tie on six points with the United States and South Africa with the best goal difference, and will be looking for a boost against Japan.
AS Monaco’s Lucas Michal put in a great performance against South Africa, scoring the winning goal and being a knife on the left flank, scored a brace in the win over New Caledonia and was outstanding in the loss to the United States.
Como 1907’s Andréa Le Borgne stood out as the key figure in the French midfield, leading her team’s attacking operations and capping a great group stage with a hat-trick against New Caledonia.
Enso Gonzalez was one of the sensations of the U-20 World Cup until he was sent off with a straight red card against South Korea on the second day of the group stage.
The winger had scored a goal in the opening match in which he was the reference point for his team, who looked for him in every attacking action, knowing the enormous creative ability of the Wolverhampton Premier League player.
After a one-match absence, the winger will be back on the field in the Round of 16, eager to get his revenge against Norway.
With information from EFE
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