2023 U-17 World Cup: The Captain Creates Brace, Ecuador U-17 Extends Dominance Over Morocco U-17

The brace was made by the captain, Michael Bermudez, for Ecuador. (Instagram.com/@fifaworldcup)

JAKARTA - The Ecuadorian U-17 national team managed to extend their dominance in the 2023 U-17 World Cup. After holding back the U-17 Indonesian national team in the first match of Group A, Diego Martinez's team won in the second match.

Against the Morocco U-17 national team, the match took place at the Gelora Bung Tomo Stadium (GBT), Surabaya on Monday, November 13 at 16.00 WIB. In this match Ecuador U-17 won with a score of 2-0, this success could not be separated from the brace made by the captain, Michael Bermudez.

Morocco's duel against Ecuador has been exciting since the start of the first half. Both teams are both actively creating opportunities to score the opening goal at Gelora Bung Tomo Stadium, Surabaya.

Unfortunately, the less intense finishing made it difficult for Morocco and Ecuador to deliver the ball to the opponent's net. The team members were still deadlocked until the match lasted more than 20 minutes.

Morocco finally got a golden opportunity in the 25th minute. Zakaria Ouazane almost listed his name on the scoreboard with a free kick if his efforts were not thwarted by goalkeeper Christian Joel Loor Santamaria.

Entering the 34th minute, it was captain Michael Bermudez's turn to open the scoring for his team. He was already on the same side with Morocco goalkeeper Taha Benrhozil, but his shot went wide of the post.

Morocco created the last chance in the first half through its player Ayoub Chaikhoun. He fired hard from outside the penalty box, but was able to be held by Ecuadorian goalkeepers, so the 0-0 score lasted until halftime.

Morocco and Ecuador tried to find opportunities to break the deadlock in the second half. La Tri got the golden opportunity in the 58th minute. The referee pointed to the spot after Morocco's Naoufel El Hannach fouled the box.

VAR checks were carried out to confirm the existence of a foul. Next, Michael Bermudez who came down as the executor to take a penalty kick.

Ecuador's captain managed to carry out his task well in the 62nd minute. Although Taha Benrhozil managed to read the direction of the shot, Morocco's goalkeeper failed to stop the ball towards the net, thus changing the score temporarily to 1-0 for Ecuador's advantage.

Unsatisfied with one point against Morocco, Ecuador again managed to take advantage of the opportunity in extra time. Entering the 90+3 minute, the execution was carried out by Ecuadorian officials, the captain's shot shook Morocco's net again and put the score 2-0 up until the end of the match.