Third Rank FIFA U-17 World Cup 2023: Argentina U-17 Anticlimaks

JAKARTA - Mali U-17 won the third-placed FIFA U-17 World Cup 2023 match after beating Argentina U-17 with a convincing score of 3-0 at Manahan Stadium, Solo, Friday, December 1, 2023, WIB night.

Argentina U-17 looks anticlimactic. They appeared inferior in front of Les Aigles. Especially when looking at the creation of chances, the Tango Team lost far away.

The absence of the captain Claudio Echeverri as a starter turned out to affect the solidity of Diego Placente's team. In addition to talking about collectivity, he said that the number 10 player had an impact on team motivation.

Argentina U-17 is like appearing without spirits. There was no fighting force like when it clashed with Germany U-17 in the semifinals or previous parties.

Unlike the Mali U-17. They appear effective once they get the chance to attack. In fact, Les Aigles barely gave his opponent space to get out of the pressure.

As a result, there were 33 attempts, 15 of them were right on target.

Meanwhile, Argentina's U-17 looked difficult to develop the game almost in both rounds. Whenever you want to build an attack, the ball always runs aground in the midfield.

The attack sector, commanded by Agustin Ruberto, is sluggish. They only recorded eight opportunities, four of which were right on target.

The Mali U-17 midfield is indeed the key because it can really dominate and make the Tango Team die.

Not to mention the four defenders aligned with Les Aigles who always swiftly block the ball before reaching the penalty box.

Seeing Argentina's unexpected U-17 performance, it was not surprising that Soumaila Coulibaly's team had scored a quick goal in the game not even 10 minutes.

Ibrahim Diarra opened the scoring in the ninth minute. His left foot placing shot slid fast into the bottom right corner of Jeremias Florentin's goal.

Being in the top of the wind, Mali U-17 continued to break down the opponent's defense. Several attacks made Argentina's U-17 defensive line panic.

Coulibaly's team's efforts only bore fruit towards the end of the match or to be precise in the 45th minute. Mamadou Doumbia doubled the advantage through a header after taking advantage of Hamidou Makayou's free kick.

The two goals left Diego Placente, Argentina's U-17 coach, overhauling the team in the second half. Echeverri was immediately included.

The game had changed. It's just that Argentina's U-17 experiment to dominate the game always hit the midfield of Mali U-17.

Instead of reducing the gap, the Tango Team missed quickly. Three minutes into the second half, it was Hamidou Makayou's turn to enter the scoreboard after converting assist Ibrahim Diara.

His beautiful action devastated Argentine defender U-17 to the third goal of Les Aigles. He crossed three opposing defenders as well as goalkeeper Florentin before throwing the ball into the net.

Tango's team actually had several chances, including through Echeverri. The captain could escape from defenders' guard before scoring a goal.

However, the referee disallowed the goal because Echeverri was already in an offside position.

Until the 70th minute, the efforts of Ruberto and colleagues were always stuck. In fact, Mali U-17 almost added goals in the 72nd minute.

Makalou's hard free kick slightly outside the penalty box hit Florentin's bar. After that, the match took place in the middle field.

Finally, the 3-0 score for Mali U-17's advantage lasted until the match was over.

This is the first time Les Aigles has finished as third in the history of the FIFA U-17 World Cup. They have previously appeared in third place in the 2017 edition.

In fact, Mali U-17 once had better achievements in the FIFA U-17 World Cup. They were runners-up in the 2015 edition of Chile after losing to Nigeria U-17.

At that time they had to settle for ending the tournament as fourth place. Mali U-17 lost two goals without reply against four-time champion, Brazil U-17.

Meanwhile, this defeat made Argentina U-17 finish three times as the fourth-ranked team.

Two failures to win third place previously occurred in 2001 editions in Tokyo and Tobago and 2013 in the United Arab Emirates.

Lineup Of Players

Argentina U-17 (4-1-4-1): Jeremias Florentin; Dylan Gorosito, Tobias Palacio, Juan Villalba, Octavio Ontivero; Mariano Gerez; Santiago Lopez, Gustavo Albarracin, Valentino Acuna, Ian Subiabre; Agustin Roberto

Coach: Diego Placente

Mali U-17 (4-3-3): Burama Kone; Gaoussou Kone, Issa Traore, Baye Coulibaly, Moussa Diop; Hamidou Makayou, Sekou Kone, Ousmane Thiero; Mahamoud Barry, Mamadou Doumbia, Ibrahim Diara

Coach: Soumaila Coulibaly