Colombia Blanks El Salvador, Tops U-20 World Cup Group C

by Fitzgerald Cecilio

Gaziantep, Turkey

Colombia booked a spot in the knockout stages of the FIFA U-20 World Cup after blanking El Salvador, 3-0, at Huseyin Avni Aker Stadium.

Andres Renteria and Jhon Cordoba delivered early goals in the first half while Juan Quintero capped scoring late in the game to help Colombia top Group C.

The Colombians finished the group stages with seven points while host Turkey joined them in the knockout phase following a 2-1 win over Australia that gave it six points.

El Salvador ended its campaign with three points while Australia went home with just a point from a 1-1 draw with Colombia.

Colombia took the lead though after 21 minutes when Renteria thumped a fine opener beyond Rolando Morales' reach.

Things went from bad to worse for the Salvadorians, when Olivier Ayala tugged down Cordoba inside the area. The striker made no mistake from the penalty spot, rolling coolly into the bottom-left corner for a 2-0 lead.

After scoring a stunning winner against Turkey in their last game, Colombia captain Quintero added a third tally for the Colombians in extra time with a left-footed strike from 25-yards.

Meanwhile, Turkey set up a last-16 duel with France after securing a 2-1 win over Australia.

The Australians grabbed a 1-0 lead behind Jamie MacLaren in the 51st minute but Hakan Calhanoglu tied the game two minutes later before Okay Yokuslu delivered the game-winner in the 86th minute.

Meanwhile, Greece settled for a 1-1 draw with Paraguay to advance to the last 16 as Group D winners.

Despite the draw, Paraguay also advanced to the next round to play the winners of Group E while Greece will face one of the best third-place teams.

Mexico have given themselves an outside chance of qualification for the last 16 after picking up a 4-1 win over Mali.

Sitting on three points, thanks to goals from Marco Bueno, Jesus Corona, Jesus Escoboza and Uvaldo Luna, the Mexicans must wait on the results from other groups before finding out whether they will advance.

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"Colombia Blanks El Salvador, Tops U-20 World Cup Group C "