CAIRO: Ghana was crowned the champions of the U-20 World Cup, making them the first African team to hold the title after beating Brazil 4-3 in penalty kicks on Friday Earlier that day, Hungary reached third place after beating Costa Rica 2-0 in penalties. Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif and FIFA President Joseph Blatter handed the medals and the Cup for the three teams as they circled the stadium saluting the fans who greeted them warmly. We deserve to win the tournament; this is a wonderful historical event for Africa, we have given them hope that they can do it as we have shown them the path, Sellas Tetteh, Ghana coach, told Daily News Egypt The match unexpectedly wound down in a goalless draw with both teams failing to present their entertaining football as 10-man Ghana fell back to defense while Brazil couldn t turn any of its chances into goals. Brazilian defender Dalton sent the first warning of the game in the third minute followed by a couple of dangerous chances. Meanwhile Ghana seemed helpless in attack; Alex Teixeira fired a first time shot that went close. The Africans, enjoying the support of most of the 68,000fans who represented numerous African nationalities, only started playing in the last 15 minutes of the first half. They gained possession and started attacking before receiving a red card through Daniel Addo to continue the match with 10 players. In the second half, Brazil had their most dangerous chance when Agyei saved a header only to find the ball over the bar after a follow up from the Brazilian players. Brazil continued its pressure as Alan Kardec had two headers saved by Agyei; however, his efforts weren t enough to score a goal for Brazil. In the first half of extra time, after five minutes Agyei made the save of the day after denying a shot from inside the box with the tips of his fingers. The rest of the game was then confined to midfield as Ghana s defense continued its superiority. We were criticized for our bad defensive abilities before but now we proved it wrong, we are a team that can adjust to its problems, Tetteh said. Andre Ayew, Samuel Inkoom, Dominic Adiyiah and Emmanuel Bado scored for Ghana while Jonathan Mensah and Bright Addae missed; on the other hand, Alan Kardec, Giuliano, and Douglas Costa scored for Brazil while Souza, Maicon and Teixeira missed to send Ghanaians into celebrations. I am proud of my team and the performances we have put in during the tournament. The players were excellent and we controlled the game today, even before the sending off but we couldn t score and this is what matters, said Rogeiro Lourenco, Brazil s coach. This generation of players is very good; they have their highs and lows but they are big footballers who can develop into decisive players for their clubs and national team, he added. On the other hand, Hungary snatched third place from Costa Rica through penalties after the original time ended 1-1. Both goals were scored in the last 10 minutes. Once again, Costa Rica forced its tactical game as Hungary couldn t break their tight defense. In the second half Hungary cranked up their pressure, wasting few chances before Marcos Urena scored Costa Rica s first from a counter attack, breaking through Hungarian defense and firing a low shot. We are good at ball possession and individual abilities but the Hungarian team is very strong physically so we had to stay in defense, Ronald Gonzalez, Costa Rica s coach, told Daily News Egypt. In the first minute of additional time, Hungary won a penalty kick which Vladimir Koman used to change the score at the last minute. In penalty kicks, Hungarian keeper Peter Gulacsi made four saves while Krisztian Nemeth and Ronald Varga scored for Hungary to earn the Eastern Europeans a bronze medal. We proved that we are the best European representatives when everyone expected us to fail, nominating Spain, Italy and Germany for the title, Sandor Egervari, Hungary s coach, said after the game I thank Egypt for the hosting, I will have all the best memories from here, Gonzalez said. Back to the winners, Ghana s Dominic Adiyah was the star of the tournament raking in the Adidas Golden Ball as the best player in the tournament and Adidas Golden Shoe Award as the top scorer. Costa Rica s Esteban Alvarado won the Adidas Golden Glove Award as the tournament s best goalkeeper. Brazil won the FIFA Fair Play Award as well as the Adidas Silver and Bronze Ball for Alex Teixeira and Guiliano. The tournament set new records for the highest number of goals scored with 167 goals as well as the highest attendance, reaching 1,295,568 spectators in 52 matches.
