Uruguay vs England, summary: Gyabi, score, goals & highlights | Under-20 World Cup
Uruguay vs England: as it happened
Thanks for joining!
What a brilliant game of football we've seen tonight, even if I thought for a brief period that the pigeon football team was going to be the highlight.
Thankfully, DarkoGyabi made sure we're talking about him instead and his fantastic winner - rightly so!
Thanks for tuning in and make sure to head over to en.as.com for more football this weekend.
Joe
Thanks for joining!
What a brilliant game of football we've seen tonight, even if I thought for a brief period that the pigeon football team was going to be the highlight.
Thankfully, Darko Gyabi made sure we're talking about him instead and his fantastic winner - rightly so!
Thanks for tuning in and make sure to head over to en.as.com for more football this weekend.
Joe
How things look in Group E:
1. England 6pts +2GD
2. Uruguay 3pts +3 GD
3. Tunisia 0pts -1GD
4. Israel 0pts -4GD
Full-time report:
Well, what an end to an even game.
Darko Gyabi's golazo at the end proved to be the winner as Uruguay's late goal was not enough for them to come away with any points.
The South American side started both halves brightly and scored an early goal in the second half which could have seen England wobble.
But the Three (little) Lions stood strong and battled through the challenges as Uruguay's fantastic individual talent tested them and pushed them deeper and closer towards their own goal.
England were clinical in the boxes as Uruguay missed big chances to go ahead just before Devine's goal and Gyabi's late winner.
A very, very even game overall, and both teams will be confident they can get through to the next round.
And that's all!
Full time at the La Plata Stadium!
Back-to-back wins for England who are now on 6 points.
Duarte hit a ferocious shot off the bar from 30 yards out and Abaldo tapped in the rebound!
England, as you might expect, are resorting to launching the ball into the air at every opportunity.
We're underway again.
England played a short corner and Gyabi went on a mazy run through two challenges before sliding a fabulous shot into the far corner of the goal!
GAME OVER
Uruguay have pushed England back into their own box and are looking for any gap in the defensive line. So far, there's nothing, and England stand strong.
CHANCE!
LucianoRodríguez weaves his way through 2 challenges on the edge of the box before watching his shot fly agonisingly over the bar.
9 added minutes.
A BIG CHANCE FOR URUGUAY!
Does Humphreys pull back Duarte? VAR says no.
URUGUAY WANT A PENALTY!
Señor referee says no...
The corner is cleared and whipped back in for Homenchenko, who heads over. He's a big lad.
De Los Santos sees his shot blocked by Quansah and run out for a corner.
Duarte and Homenchenko ON
Díaz and Franco González OFF
Scott is fouled by Sosa.
The two England midfielders, Gyabi and Scott, have put an extraordinary shift in today. The pitch is heavy, the ball is slippery and Uruguay have thrown the tackles around like crazy, but the duo have managed their way through it all superbly well.
Cox booked for time-wasting.
A half chance for Uruguay but Edwards defends well and blocks the cross from Abaldo, who wriggled excellently down the right to make space and strike a low ball towards goal.
Devine tries to lay the ball off to Gyabi who is running onto the pass but the ball is short and Uruguay clear.
Into the last 10 and Scarlett is back on the pitch.
We're back underway and England currently have 10 on the pitch as Scarlett changes his bloody shirt.
De Los Santos and Sosa ON
Ferrari and García OFF
Scarlett is receiving treatment for a cut on his head.
In other news, there's a full football teams worth of pigeons that are still hanging around. Maybe they've booked the pitch for later and have just turned up early.
27, 231 at the ground today. Easily the biggest crowd so far at this stadium.
Scarlett is down after bumping heads with Boselli.
Scott is now booked after a nasty tackle on González. One of those 'tactical' fouls.
Scott hits a volley as the ball loops up from a skewed clearance: blocked well by Boselli.
Those pesky pigeons are back but Oyegoke doesn't care and runs through them like a child in Trafalgar Square. He wins another corner after the ball comes back off a Uruguay defender.
An amazing tackle from Alfie Devine as Uruguay winger Abaldo breaks away viciously after the corner is cleared.
A potentially match-saving tackle from the Warrington-born man.
Devine allowed in easily as nobody tracks the forward and Facundo González races over to stop the low cross. Corner to England.
Update: Oyegoke broke down the right and they scattered.
As you may have noticed, the game's high tempo has somewhat dropped over recent minutes.
A gang of around 15 pigeons (do they have pigeons in Argentina?) have assembled on the pitch inside Rodríguez's box. Obviously not happy with their seats in the stands.
He's back on the pitch, limping slightly. Now it's Gyabi who's down after a fall.
Update: Both OK.
England's Oyegoke has gone down injured.
Díaz tries his luck from distance as the ball sits up nicely for him on the edge of the box but his connection is poor and it flies over.
England get caught out with a quick free-kick and Uruguay are almost in behind them in a flash.
Jebbison ON
Joseph OFF
Gyabi's cross is met by Devine but Uruguay defender Matturro gets a vital last-gap touch on the ball to see it out.
Joseph tricks the defenders with a bounce and fires a shot towards goal that is blocked out for a corner to England.
Franco González's long ball bounces over the head of Ferrari who almost gets in behind but the slippery surface favours England and the ball bounces out for a goal kick.
Another corner for Uruguay, who are pushing England back into their own defensive third and have all the momentum.
The Mexican VAR referee says nopenalty and we play on.
NO PENALTY!
They want a penalty after the ball appeared to hit Edwards' hand.
HUGE APPEALS FOR HANDBALL AND URUGUAY ARE ALL OVER ENGLAND
England work the ball down well from long pass and Scarlett's touch gives him some room to swing his left boot at the ball that fizzes past the post.
Joseph blasts over from distance and it's fair to say that England have reacted well to conceding their first goal of the tournament.
SCARLETT FIRES WIDE FROM DISTANCE!
Matturro concedes a corner after a delightful ball is whipped in by Vale towards Devine.
Cox is almost caught out as Abaldo's cross is wayward and flies just over the bar! Uruguay have found their mojo.
Scott tries to settle the English nerves with a shot from distance but it bobbles well wide of Rodríguez's goal.
Back underway...
Franco González was well onside as Cox stopped the shot from Abaldo - and the stadium has erupted in noise!
GAME ON!
He looked onside to me...
Franco González was quickest to tap in after Abaldo's shot was saved by Cox. The flag went up for offside but it's being checked by VAR.
No! OFFSIDE!
Rodríguez went for something like Roberto Carlos vs France but it ended up being like Fede Valverde when he hit that shot into the window of the flat above Vallecas.
Ferrari fouled in a good position for La Celeste, just on the edge of the box.
The game starts off again in the same way as the first: Uruguay have some early possession as England sit off, waiting to pounce.
No changes from either side at half-time.
And we're off!
England get us going for the second 45!
The players are back out for the second half!
Here we go...
Meanwhile...
In the other game that's being played now, France are 0-1 down to The Gambia...
"Heads up" at half-time
"Keep going, there's still a long way to go", reads the Uruguay message at half-time. It's true, if Uruguay can focus themselves when attacking then they may have a chance against England's back line. But so far it's all been a bit gung-ho and without any discernable patterns.
Half-time report:
England go into the break two goals to the good after clinical finishing form Humphreys and Devine saw them take advantage of what has been quite an even game in the middle of the pitch.
But the games are won in the boxes and England have been defensively solid and clinical up front, which is a football potion that everyone desires.
We've seen some tasty tackles and a lot of pushing and shoving inside both boxes on set-pieces, with Uruguay getting very angry very quickly.
They started the game brightly, and forced England to work their way into the game slowly, which they did with spells of possession from Scott and Gyabi.
Half-time!
England go into the break two goals up.
The cross is whipped in and Matturro heads wide.
Uruguay have a free-kick near the managers' areas and the referee has to watch carefully as there is a lot going on inside the England box...
Díaz is caught by Scott and looks to be in a lot of pain.
Cox's long ball finds Joseph on the edge of the box. The Leeds striker traps the ball delightfully and slips in Devine on the right, who fires a shot underneath Rodríguez from inside the box. A lovely goal.
England take their sweet time with a throw-in and the referee says to his colleague on the sideline that he's adding another minute on the clock.
Abaldo takes just too long to make up his mind on the edge of the box as Uruguay attack: the defenders get their positioning correct and Cox deals with Rodríguez's high cross from the right.
5 added minutes.
Good news as Cox is up again and we're back underway.
Cox is down after taking a tumble when catching the free-kick from Joseph's foul.
The first yellow of the day goes to... Mateo Joseph. He stood on the foot of Ponte by accident.
Just under 5 minutes of normal time to go and England look cool, calm and very wet in the torrential rain in Ciudad La Plata.
This stadium is supposed to be holding plenty more matches during this tournament but the pitch looks to be getting muddier by the second.
Joseph's defensive output is excellent once again and he tracks back well to meet Rodríguez on the right side of Uruguay's attack.
Cox catches a high ball hit in the air from González. That was done in frustration as Uruguay seem to have lost their early mojo...
Joseph heads away a dangerous cross from Uruguay, who have struggled with England's increased attacking pressure over the past 10-15 minutes.
England continue to push as Vale's cross is almost met by Scarlett, who falls to the floor.
England's calm possession flipped into action as they broke down the right, with the cut-back landing at the feet of Oyegoke, who smacked his shot at a centre-back.
OYEGOKE COMES CLOSE!
Humphreys mis-kicks the ball after it jumped up off the turf and England's steady possession is now going to be countered by Uruguay's all-action everything-ness.
A lovely ball is played in after the corner is cleared and England's defensive line are almost on their six-yard box, allowing Uruguay to push on.
González gets on the eventual clearance and shoots from distance, but his effort is dragged wide.
Oyegoke heads out for a corner after Matturro's deep run forced England's defence back.
The referee is allowing all sorts of argy-bargy today, especially on set-pieces. There's a real sense of edginess to some of the challenges that are flying in.
Uruguay are furious that Scott is awarded a free-kick for what looked like a weak challenge in the middle of the pitch.
The Three (little) Lions look like they have a new sense of self-belief and confidence after what was a slightly shaky start. England have another corner.
We're back underway.
That goal came from nothing: Uruguay had just had their best chance of the game and England broke and won a corner. They've scored with their first attempt on target.
A nice corner from Devine is met by Humphreys who smacks a powerful header past Rodríguez in the Uruguay goal!
Luciano Rodríguez broke away from Humphreys and fired a shot at Cox, who saved well. The attacker got on the rebound down the right but his effort hit the side netting. A huge chance for Uruguay to go one up.
BIG SAVE FROM COX
Ferrarri asking for the crowd to rev their engines (sorry) as Uruguay win their first corner of the game.
Cox in the England goal allows a dangerous, bouncing ball fly over his goal that gets a few 'ooos' form the crowd. It was Matturro's long-range lob that almost tricked the Brentford goalkeeper.
"How is that a foul?" says Scott, as the referee blows for a Uruguay free-kick, "he grabbed me on my shirt!"
Rodríguez and Scott butt heads and the game is stopped as the argument continues. Díaz has just slammed the player to the floor.
Chance!
Vale's cross is terrible and it slurps off his foot, almost catching Rodríguez out at his near post. Corner for England.
Scarlett receives the ball on the edge of the box but he fails to see Scott behind him, instead taking a touch towards a defender and seeing the ball swept away.
Leeds' Mateo Joseph goes down in the box after he skips past a defender in what is, without a doubt, England's best spell of possession.
No penalty given.
Rodríguez gives away the ball and Scott plays to Oyegoke, giving England a chance to attack.
The counter-press from the South American side is ferocious and England are forced back.
Díaz looks like a third centre-back when Uruguay are in possession; the full-backs fire up the pitch and La Celeste build up in a 3-4-3.
A loose pass from Vale gets some groans from the players on the pitch as England struggle again to make things work in possession.
Matturro's cross from the left is whipped in and looks dangerous but nobody in blue can get a head to it.
Devine breaks for England but the Spurs player takes a heavy touch and the ball rolls out for a goal-kick.
Ferrari nearly gets in behind as Quansah is sloppy in possession. The rain is making touches difficult for both sides, but it's Uruguay who are handling things better in the opening minutes.
Rodríguez has started in very lively fashion as England can't really get hold of the ball. Scott and Gyabi in the middle are yet to have a touch.
England are sitting off in a 3-4-3 mid block as Uruguay decide to go long from the back.
Uruguay start off on the front foot and Rodríguez gets down the right early on. His nickname is 'The Jaw'. Fantastic.
And we're off!
La Celeste kick us off in Ciudad La Plata.
Uruguay's national anthem beats England's and I'm not having it any other way. I've never openly wiggled like I just did at that introduction. Delightful.
Some whistles for the England National anthem... Darko Gyabi the best singer by a mile there.
But first, a fantastic show of synchronisation from the mascots with the big FIFA logo in the middle of the pitch. Stunning footwork.
Here come the teams!
It's a rainy afternoon in La Plata, but that won't stop this from being an intriguing game.
Time for the national anthems!
What an atmosphere!
There is a huge noise in the stadium!
They've never won the Under-20 World Cup, but you wouldn't be able to tell from this fan performance!
Who's the ref?
Marco Antonio Ortiz Nava is the man with the whistle today.
The Mexican, bornin1988, made his debut as a referee in 2015.
He has refereed games in Liga MX, in both Apertura and Clausura stages, as well as the Gold Cup. He is also a fully qualified VAR official as of this year.
He is what you might call 'card happy' and by my maths, he's given out 39 yellows over his last 10 games, as well as 4 red cards.
A reminder of the starting XIs:
Uruguay
GK: Rodríguez
DEF: Ponte - Boselli - González - Matturro
MID: Díaz - García - Rodríguez - González - Abaldo
ATT: Ferrari
England
GK: Cox
DEF: Humphreys - Edwards - Quansah
MID: Vale - Gyabi - Scott - Oyegoke
ATT: Joseph - Scarlett - Devine
Just under 30 minutes until kick-off...
The ground is slowly filling with Uruguay fans, who are out in full force to push on their Under-20 side.
Against Iraq, fans of La Celeste made a huge noise for the full 90 minutes - let's see if they have the same impact against England!
Fancy watching the big game this evening?
Well, here's all the information on how you can feast your eyes on the youth football fun. And follow the live coverage, of course.
It doesn't matter where you are in on planet Earth, FIFA have done a very good job at making this tournament accessible to anyone with an internet connection. Even a broken clock is right twice a day.
One of the names on the Uruguay team sheet is on AS' list of Latino stars to watch during the tournament.
Check out the full list via the link - then you can impress whoever you see in the streey with your fabulous in-depth knowledge of youth football on the American continent.
Failing that, you can just enjoy the time you spend learning about new players. Everybody wins.
Who to watch: Uruguay
The man to watch in blue will be Liverpool's (not that one) Fabricio Díaz.
The centre-midfielder, born in 2003, is Uruguay's captain and has already been linked with a move to FC Barcelona, saying it would be "beautiful".
He has played over 100 games for Liverpool Montevideo, and can slot into any midfield role, although he is most comfortable as a defensive pivot.
England reveal their starting XI:
Harvey Vale captains the side as Ian Foster makes just one change, with Leeds United's Mateo Joseph replacing Sam Edozie up front.
Here are some shots of the stadium
The Uruguayan team have arrived at La Plata to a huge reception from the travelling fans and the dressing room is ready to go! They're playing in the gorgeous light-blue kit that we all know and adore.
Uruguay starting XI:
It's the same lineup that took on Iraq in the first round of fixtures, with Díaz captaining the side that won 4-0.
Who to watch: England
Leeds United's Darko Gyabi started off his Under-20 World Cup campaign in fantastic style.
His performance from the centre of midfield in England's XI was spectacular and he allowed the attacking unit to play with the freedom that they did.
Some of his stats are below, and the ex-Manchester City academy player is definitely one to keep an eye on tonight.
The player won promotion to the Premier League 2 top division with Leeds this season, along with striker Mateo Joseph, who is also in England's squad for the tournament.
England's Alex Scott on his journey through football:
Returning home, reignited my love for football, and I just generally enjoyed my life a lot more, doing things I wouldn't have done in previous years off the pitch; seeing friends and other family members I wouldn't see on weekends when I would be at school all week and then go away for football.
Now, being a professional footballer, it is a lot more serious and I can't go out as much as I used to, but there are a lot of players who come through academies who maybe didn’t get the chance to do that and it's tough. Any young lad should have the chance to enjoy their life, not only on the pitch but off the pitch too.
I doubt I would have had the career I'm having now if I hadn't returned to grassroots football and St Martin’s. That decision to go home, enjoy my football, and live my life more fully made me happier off the pitch, which in turn meant better performance on the pitch.
Here are all the winners throughout history:
Argentina are the record-holders with 6, and Brazil are just behind with 5.
A certain Diego Maradona inspired Argentina to their first title, while Dunga and Bebeto featured for Brazil in their 1983 win.
Prosinecki, Mijatovic, Suker and Boban all starred in Yogoslavia's 1987 win in Chile, in what was a seriously impressive side. Ten years later, Scaloni, Cambiasso, Walter Samuel and Riquelme led Argentina to another Under-20 World Cup win.
Ghana became Africa's first World Cupchampions after their side, led by Andre Ayew, went all the way in 2009.
Ok, one more Brazil mention: Oscar, Casemiro, Danilo and Coutinho beat Portugal in the final of the 2011 edition to lift the trophy for the 5th time.
In case you weren't aware, FIFA had originally awarded this tournament to Indonesia and everything was in order until football's governing body decided to move the competition almost 10,000 miles to Argentina.
"Following today’s meeting between FIFA President Gianni Infantino and President of the Football Association of Indonesia (PSSI) Erick Thohir, FIFA has decided, due to the current circumstances, to remove Indonesia as the host of the FIFA U-20 World Cup 2023™", FIFA said in a statement.
Find out why in this piece by Roddy. It's a lot more interesting that just small stadiums and dry pitches.
Some of football's greatest names have made their mark on the tournament...
We've seen some fantastic talents so far at the Under-20 World Cup, such as Yánes Asprilla (Colombia), Darko Gyabi (England), Adama Bojang (The Gambia) and Cesare Casadei (Italy).
Will we see another superstar in the making tonight?
Where is the game being played?
Tonight's game is at the Estadio Ciudad de La Plata, which is also known as the Estadio Único Diego Armando Maradona.
The stadium opened in 2003 and is located in Buenos Aires province. It holds 53,000 people and hosted the highly entertaining Japan 1-2 Colombia game yesterday.
As for England...
The Three (little) Lions have played in the Under-20 World Cup 12 times and their best result is... World Champions in 2017!
It was held in South Korea and England stormed to the top of the group before beating Costa Rica in the Round of 16 and Mexico in the quarter-finals, with a goal from Dominic Solanke sentencing El Tri.
Solanke got a double against Italy in the next round along with Lookman’s late strike to put England through to the final, where they faced Venezuela, who had just knocked out Fede Valverde’s Uruguay on penalties.
England’s Dominic Calvert-Lewin got the only goal of the game and England lifted the trophy for the first time in their history.
Best ever finish: Uruguay
Trust me, the Pogba photo makes sense.
The South American side have played in 16 editions of this tournament- but they have never won it.
Their best finishes came in 1997 and 2013, when they were losing finalists. In the most recent of the two, held in Turkey, Uruguay came second in their group behind a Rebic-inspired Croatia.
Uruguay beat Nigeria and then Spain, a team with Jesé (remember him?), Saúl (remember him?), Suso, DiegoLlorente, DenisSuárez and GerardDeulofeu, before the semi-final against Iraq went all the way to penalties.
The final against a Pogba-led (told you!) France awaited, and it too went to penalties, with France winning 4-1.
Here's how the group looks:
1. Uruguay: 3pts +4GD
2. England: 3pts +1GD
3. Tunisia: 0pts -1GD
4. Iraq: 0pts -4GD
***
Both Uruguay and England won their opening games in the tournament but the South American’s 4-0 thrashing of poor Iraq means that they go top on goal difference; England, for their part, beat Tunisia 1-0.
Welcome!
Hello and a very warm welcome to the AS USA live coverage of the Under-20 World Cup.
It’s Joe here and I’ll be taking you through the ups and downs of today’s fantastic game: Uruguay vs England in Group E!