Uruguay beat Gambia 1-0 on Thursday to qualify for the U-20 World Cup quarter-finals against USA, thanks to Anderson Duarte’s decisive goal from the penalty area. However, the match was filled with tension and conflict, with both teams losing players due to red card incidents. Mansour Mubiye’s dismissal put Gambia one man down from 17 minutes, while Uruguay’s Luciano Rodriguez was sent off just before half-time. Despite having several chances to double their lead, Uruguay struggled to score against an exhausted Gambian side.
In the semi-finals, the winner of Uruguay vs. USA will face either Brazil or Israel. Elsewhere, South Korea defeated Ecuador 3-2 in one of the most thrilling matches of the tournament. Korea took the lead in the 11th minute with Lee Young-joon’s cross-volley, with Bae Joon-ho adding a second goal in a counter-attack eight minutes later. Ecuador scored a goal from the penalty spot in the 36th minute, and Juan Cuero’s goal was confirmed by a video review. In the second half, South Korea scored their third goal with a header by Choi Suk-hyun, while Sebastian Baquero scored one in the 84th minute for Ecuador, who kept the pressure on until the final whistle.
South Korea will face Nigeria in the quarterfinals, and the winner will take on either Italy or Colombia in the semifinals. AP Soccer provides continued coverage of the tournament at https://apnews.com/hub/Soccer, and the latest updates can be found on https://twitter.com/AP_Sports.