The USA's Christian Pulisic (white jersey) and Fabian Monilla of Chile battle for the ball during their FIFA U-17 Men's World Cup game on October 23, 2015, in Vina del Mar, Chile. (Photo: FIFA via Getty Images)
VIÑA DEL MAR, Chile – Chile (1W-1D-1L, 4 points) scored three goals in the second half to post a 4-1 win over the United States (0W-1D-2L, 1 points) in the FIFA U-17 World Cup on Friday at the Estadio Sausalito.
The result eliminated the fourth-place Americans from the competition, while Nigeria (2W-0D-1L, 6 points) and Croatia (1W-2D-0L, 5 points) captured the top two spots in Group A and gained automatic advancement to the knockout rounds. Chile, the tournament host, must wait on results from other groups to see if it will progress as one of the best third-place sides.
The U.S. jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the 10th minute, when Brandon Vazquez gained possession of teammate Lucas de la Torre’s blocked pass and burst into the box, before beating goalkeeper Zacarias Orlando Lopez from nine-yards out.
Ten minutes later, Chile equalized through Marcelo Allende, who found the back of the net on a deflected attempt from 15 yards after his initial effort was blocked.
Following the break, the Chileans grabbed hold of the encounter and it started with Gabriel Mazuela. The 16-year-old poked home from inside the six-yard box as goalkeeper Will Pulisic had difficulty gathering in a ball played along the ground towards the left post.
Despite the USA’s intensive labors to level, Chile put the game away with a pair of late strikes.
Gonzalo Jara made it 3-1 in the 86th minute, curling a brilliant left-footed shot inside the left post and the under the crossbar from just outside the box.
In the third minute of stoppage time, Camilo Mora punctuated the scoreline, slotting a right-footer from 15 yards into the left side of the net.
