9th June, 2023
By Kazeem Ugbodaga
Italy have reached the FIFA Under-20 World Cup final for the first time, as they beat Asian side, Korea Republic 2-1 in the semi-final.
Italy will now play Uruguay in the final of the tournament ongoing in Argentina on Sunday. None of the sides had ever won the FIFA Under-20 World Cup.
Italy had opened scoring on 14 minutes. Cesare Casadei got a shot away from the edge of the box and scored into the top right corner, with Riccardo Turicchia providing the assist for the goal.
Korea equalised on 23 minutes from the penalty spot. Seung-Won Lee put the ball into the top left corner past the outstretched arm of Sebastiano Desplanches.
On 59 minutes, Matteo Prati wasted a great chance from the resulting corner. He timed his header superbly when he leapt high to meet a precise cross, but could not aim better than into the middle of the goal, straight into the arms of the goalkeeper.
Four minutes later, Seung-Won Lee blew a huge opportunity. He was totally unmarked and fired a first-time shot towards goal from a few yards out, but Sebastiano Desplanches reacted superbly to keep the ball out.
Italy scored the winning goal from a superb free-kick taken by Simone Pafundi. He struck with a perfectly taken free kick from the edge of the box. He curled the ball straight into the top right corner.