Margao: A late goal by substitute Noah Awuku lifted Germany to a 2-1 win over Costa Rica in their opening match of the U-17 World Cup here on Saturday. Germany were more organised in attack and dominated play in halves, creating quite a few scoring opportunities.
The European heavyweights scored through striker Jan Fiete Arp (21st minute) and Awuku (89th). They could have won by a bigger margin had it not been for some erratic shots in front of the goal.
Costa Rica, who defended for the major part of the game, pulled one back in the 64th minute through Andres Gomez. Costa Rica showed promise in the initial stages and came up with a couple of dangerous moves.
The Germans took time to settle down but once they did, there was no looking back, as they came up with swift counter moves from the flanks and took the lead in the 21st minute after missing a couple of chances.
Nicolas Kuuehn was a livewire in the middle and split the rival defence with a through pass to Arp, who ran into the box and chipped the ball over advancing goalkeeper Ricardo Montengero.
The Germans did the bulk of attacking but Costa Rica found the equaliser against the run of play. Germany scored the winner just before the final whistle.
Iran trump Guinea
Iran defeated 10-man Guinea 3-1 in the second Group C match on Saturday. Allahyar Sayyadmanesh put Iran ahead in the 59th minute. Mohammad Sharifi extended their lead 11 minutes later from the penalty spot.
Guinea defender Cherif Camara received a straight red card for kicking out Mohammad Ghaderi in the 69th minute. Saeid Karimi made it 3-0 in the 90th. Fandje Toure scored a stoppage-time consolation goal for the African team.
