Serbia's Mijat Gacinovic (white jersey) is challenged by Victor Guzman of Mexico during their FIFA U-20 World Cup match on June 6, 2015, in Dunedin, New Zealand. (Photo: FIFA via Getty Images)
DUNEDIN, New Zealand -- Serbia scored both of its goals in the first half to post a 2-0 victory over Mexico in the 2015 FIFA U-20 World Cup on Saturday at Forsyth Barr Stadium.
That result, combined with a 1-1 draw between Mali (1-1-1, 4 points) and Uruguay (1-1-1, 4 points), saw Serbia finish (2-0-1, 6 points) atop the Group D table, while the Mexicans were eliminated.
The European side took a 1-0 lead in the second minute, when Sergei Sergei Milinkovic’s head flick at the right post off a long throw-in found Nemanja Maksimovic. The unmarked midfielder, sprinting into the six-yard box, headed it past helpless goalkeeper Jose Gonzalez.
Andrija Zivkovic doubled the advantage in the 43rd minute with a spectacular left-footed free kick from 25-yards out that curled around the outside of the wall and just under the crossbar.
The CONCACAF champion tried to claw back into the game, but found goalkeeper Predrag Rajkovic in excellent form. The 19-year-old made outstanding saves in the second half on efforts from Alejandro Diaz and Erick Gutierrez.
