Football
ESPN staff 7y

Venezuela knock United States out of U20 WC; Uruguay make semifinals

Venezuela booked their place in the semifinals of the Under-20 World Cup for the first time in their history with a 2-1 extra-time victory over United States.

Venezuela had the best of the chances over the 90 minutes at the Jeonju World Cup Stadium in South Korea, seeing a Sergio Cordova goal ruled out for offside by the video assistant referee.

They also hit the crossbar twice and forced Jonathan Klinsmann into a number of saves, but despite their dominance, the game remained goalless at full-time.

Venezuela finally managed to break the deadlock in the sixth minute of extra-time through Adalberto Penaranda, who slotted home Samuel Sosa's cross into the far corner.

The South American side then extended their advantage five minutes from the end of extra-time, with Nahuel Ferraresi heading in a Ronaldo Lucena corner.

United States pulled one back with three minutes left on the clock through Jeremy Ebobisse's looping header, but they were unable to find an equaliser and force the game to penalties.

Venezuela will meet Uruguay in the semifinals on June 8 after they defeated Portugal 5-4 on penalties following a 2-2 draw.

It was Portugal who took the lead at the Daejeon World Cup Stadium after just 55 seconds, with Xande Silva netting with a dinked effort, before Santiago Bueno equalised 15 minutes later with a header from close range after Nicolas Schiappacasse had hit the bar.

Portugal were back in front shortly before the break as Diogo Goncalves cut in from the left and fired into the top corner with a fine strike, but Uruguay drew level once more five minutes after the restart -- Federico Valverde converted from the penalty spot after Yuri Ribeiro fouled Agustin Canobbio in the area.

Neither side could find a winner in extra-time and so the tie progressed to penalties, with the "ABBA" format being used to decide the outcome.

Uruguay goalkeeper Santiago Mele went on to make two saves in the shootout, with Bueno then scoring the winner to send the South American nation through to the semifinals.

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