PORT MORESBY, Papua New Guinea – Kiana Palacios scored two goals and Mexico (2W-0D-1L, 6 points) clinched a quarterfinal berth in the 2016 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup with a 3-2 win over Venezuela (0-0-3, 0) on Tuesday at Bava Park.
The Tricolor finished second to Germany (3-0-0, 9) and will face CONCACAF rival United States in the quarterfinals on November 25.
Palacios headed home the game’s first goal in the fourth minute, when she connected slightly from two yards on Maria Sanchez’s right-sided corner kick.
It was 2-0 six minutes later as Palacios held off defender Rafanny Mendoza in the box, turned left and ripped a left-footed shot into the far-side netting.
Eight minutes into the second half, Mexico netted what proved to be a valuable insurance goal. A right-sided corner by the influential Sanchez was headed down by Jaqueline Rodriguez. The ball deflected off defender Neily Carrasquel and bounced towards the left post, where Teresa Gonzalez was positioned to stab it in with the outside of her right foot.
Venezuela went on the attack in attempt of a comeback, getting goals from Gabriela Garcia and Lourdes Moreno in the 55th and 83rd minutes, respectively, but the Mexicans were able to hold on for its second victory in three outings.
Mexico, which tied 2-2 with the U.S. in a 2015 CONCACAF Under-20 Women’s Championship group-stage meeting, will be making its third U-20 Women’s World Cup quarterfinal appearance (2010, 2012).
