New Delhi: African champions Mali sealed their place into the knock-out rounds of the FIFA U-17 World Cup with a dominating 3-1 win over New Zealand in their final Group B game at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium here, Thursday.
With this win Mali finish in second in their pool with six points from three matches while Paraguay topped Group B with an all win record beating Turkey 3-1 in the other match at Mumbai.
Mali, who finished runners-up in the last edition, took the lead in the 18th minute through Salam Jiddou who struck a 25-yard stunner assisted by Djemoussa Traore.
Traore doubled the lead five minutes into the second half as he cut in from the left and sent a curling right footer from the top of the box, beating a diving goalkeeper to find the back of the net. They could have made it 3-0 in the 65th minute had Cheick Oumar Doucoure’s shot not rebounded off the woodwork.
New Zealand reduced the margin, much against the run of play, through Charles Spragg in the 72nd minute but Lassana Ndiaye again made it a two-goal advantage for Mali with a strike in the 82nd minute.
The match which was played in hot and humid conditions was mostly dominated by Mali who had 61 percent ball possession firing as many as 36 shots at the goal compared to New Zealand’s four.
In the other game at Mumbai, Giovanni Bogado (41st minute), Fernando Cardozo (43rd) and Antonio Galeano (61st) scored for Paraguay. Kareem Keegan got a consolation goal for Turkey in added on time.
Press trust of India
