Mascherano’s Sub 20 beat Japan and finished fifth in the Maurice Revello tournament

The Argentine Under 20 national team beat their Japanese duo 3-2 on Friday, thus finishing in fifth place in the international tournament Maurizio Revello, formerly known as the Toulon Hopes. It is Javier Mascherano’s first experience as Youth DT.

The Argentine goals were transformed by Alejandro Garnacho – Manchester United player -, Nicolas Paz – Real Madrid Castilla player – and Santiago Castro – a man who plays for Vélez Sarsfield -. Discounted for the Asian team Isa Sakamoto and Ayuko Tokoyama.

The Under 20 team had started the tournament with two smiles, having beaten Saudi Arabia 1-0 and then 2-0 Panama. It seemed they already had a guaranteed place in the semi-finals – the top three of each group entered and the best runner-up – but on the last date of the opening phase they suffered a very hard 6-2 defeat against France, which meant staying out. from the first four.

Despite this performance that left a bad taste in the mouth, Mascherano was able to see closely and work for a couple of weeks with a group of young people who are exciting and already playing in European football.

This is the case of Garnacho, who has already made his first debut with Manchester United and finished with four goals in four appearances in the tournament. The same for Luka Romero (Lazio), Franco Carboni (Inter), Tiago Geralnik (Villareal), Matias Soule (Juventus), among others, who will certainly be the backbone of the team that will try to reach the next World Cup in the category.

This race was won by Argentina on two occasions: in 1975 (under the leadership of Cesar Luis Menotti) and in 1998 (Jose Pekerman was the coach of the team). The tournament is usually played by 12 teams divided into three groups. The three winners of each zone and the best second pass.

The latest instances of the tournament

The final of the tournament will be played this Sunday at Marcel Roustan Stadium from 13.00 (now Argentina). The duel will face France, who just beat Mexico 4-1, and Venezuela, led by Fernando Batista, who beat Colombia 5-4 on penalties. The match for third place will instead be played on the same Sunday starting at 9:30 (Argentine time) with Colombia and Mexico as protagonists.