U20 World Cup: Mexico beat Portugal

Toronto:

Giovanni Dos Santos and Pablo Barrera scored second-half goals and Mexico remained unbeaten at the Under-20 World Cup with a 2-1 win over Portugal on Thursday night.

The victory gave Mexico six points and a spot in the second round. Portugal remained with three points, tied with Gambia and a match against the Africans on Sunday.

Antunes replied on a free kick in the 89th minute for Portugal.

Cautions outnumbered shots on goal in a sluggish first half that featured just one clear scoring chance. Dos Santos, who plays for FC Barcelona, escaped the defense and crossed from the left but Efrain Juarez blazed the shot over the bar.

Mexico took the lead three minutes after the break. English referee Howard Webb awarded a penalty after Paulo Renato pulled down Dos Santos. The Mexican calmly converted from the spot, rolling the ball into the bottom right corner with Portuguese keeper Rui Patricio diving in the opposite direction.

The goal snapped Portugal out of its lethargy. Fabio Coentrao curled a left-footed shot just wide of the far post shortly after, and Guedes almost levelled in acrobatic fashion in the 60th minute, narrowly missing an over head kick on a corner kick from Coentrao.

Mexico withstood the challenges to move ahead 2-0 in the 66th minute. Julio Cesar Dominguez crossed from the right and substitute Pablo Barrera fired a shot past Rui Patricio from 12 yards.

Antunes scored on a late 22-yard free kick to narrow the gap, but Mexico held the ball for most of the majority of injury time to secure the win.