Mexico qualified for the semifinals of the FIFA U-17 World Cup in Morocco on Sunday after beating Italy 5-4 on penalties in a memorable performance by goalkeeper Valentina Murrieta, who saved two penalties during the match, which ended in a 0-0 draw, and another in the shootout.
Mexico came out brave and tried to take control of the match. It looked like the Italians would take the lead after 15 minutes with a goal from ‘9’ Elise Stack, but the referee of the match, Australian Lara Lee, annulled the action after reviewing the VAR and awarded a penalty in favor of Italy.
Murrieta gets bigger
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That’s when the figure of Murrieta appeared, who stopped the shot by the Italian Rachele Giudici to keep the score level.
Minutes later, in an action very similar to that of the first penalty, Mexico U-17 committed another infraction inside the area.
This time, it was Giulia Galli who took the responsibility, but Murrieta reappeared to save her second penalty of the night in an impeccable performance to keep the score 0-0 at the break.
In the second half, both teams had great chances to take the lead, but were very inaccurate in their finishing touches.
Italy had one of the clearest chances in the 90th minute, when Murrieta made a bad save that ended with Galli heading wide.
Mexico wins in penalties and dreams of the final
With Mexico U-17 showing signs of faltering in the final minutes, the Italian team managed to score in stoppage time, but their goal was disallowed for offside.
Thus, both teams went to a penalty shootout to decide the winner.
Murrieta, the protagonist of the night, saved for the second time the Italian Giudici’s shot in the third shot of the shootout.
And it ultimately gave Mexico the victory, which advanced to the semifinals of the tournament, where it will play against the Netherlands.
With information from EFE
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