South Africa’s Amajita lost 1-0 to South Korea in a hard-fought Group F encounter of the FIFA U-20 World Cup that was affected by torrential rain in Tychy, Poland. With just over 20 minutes remaining, a deflected cross into the South African penalty area looped high into the sky, and it was Kim Hyunwoo who found the corner of the net with a clinical header.
The Koreans comfortably saw out the game, and head into their final Group F clash with already-qualified Argentina. South Africa face a must-win clash against the two-time FIFA U-20 World Cup winners Portugal in Bielsko-Biala.
Elsewhere, Mali came from behind to defeat Saudi Arabia 4-3 at the Gdynia Stadium in arguably the most entertaining match of the competition so far.
Saudi Arabia raced to a two-goal lead after just 20 minutes thanks to Feras Albrikan running loose behind the Mali defence and Hassan Altambakti converting a penalty. Mali pulled one back after Saudi goalkeeper Abdulrahman Alshammari’s gifted the ball to Sekou Koita, who fired into an empty net.
Mali entered the second half looking dangerous, levelling the game in the 54th minute through Ibrahima Kone. However, nine minutes later Saudi Arabia regained the lead through Khalid Alghannam.
Still, Mali were unbowed. First Boubacar Traore tied the match once more from a blistering angled drive before Mohammed Camara struck a 90th-minute winner, guiding home Koita’s curling cross. Mali have four points from two games and a great chance of progressing to the quarterfinals. They face group leaders France in their final match.
