A controversial penalty in the final minutes of the first half gave 6-time champions Argentina the space needed to secure a berth in the final 8, defeating Egypt 2-1 in the second round of the U-20 World Cup in Colombia. Argentina almost took the lead when Facundo Ferreyra headed Roma newboy Erik Lamela's corner onto the post midway through the first half. However, Walter Perazzo's men soon broke the deadlock three minutes from the interval with the first penalty of the evening. Carlos Luque went down in the box and Lamela stepped up to drill the ball past Ahmed Al Shenawi, despite the Egyptian goalkeeper getting fingertips to the shot. Egyptian players confronted the referee, saying the Argentine striker dove. The replay shows little contact, and what contact was there, did not initially take down the striker. But the penalty was awarded. The South Americans repeated the tactic midway through the second-half, with Lamela burying his second spot-kick of the match after Luque was again fouled inside the area. Egypt converted a penalty of its own in the 70th minute, when Mohamed Salah kept his nerve from the spot to hand his side a lifeline. The North Africans had chances to draw even, but solid goalkeeping from Esteban Andrada and a goal-line block by Leonel Galeano sent the Egyptians home. Argentina will now face Portugal in the quarterfinals on August 13 after the Portuguese squeezed past Guatemala 1-0. BM
