Group A
After commencing the competition with a 2-0 win over Panama, Morocco were beaten 2-0 by Ecuador. Micheal Bermudez opened the scoring with a penalty in the 62nd minute and finished the Moroccans off in the second minute in stoppage time.
Indonesia and Panama drew 1-1 at the Gelora Bung Tomo Stadium in Surabaya in front of 45,000 spectators. Oldermar Castillo put Panama ahead on the stroke of halftime before Kaka Arkhan Putra levelled the score in the 54th minute for the host nation.
Ecuador tops Group A with four points followed by Morocco with three points in second. The host Indonesia after two draws is third on the table with 2 points with Panama at the bottom with just 1 point.
Group B
Mali was beaten by Spain 1-0 with Juan Hernandez scoring the only goal of the game in the 72nd minute. Mamadou Doumbia,17, the hattrick hero in Mali’s 3-0 thrashing of Uzbekistan received a red card in the 40th minute subsequently giving the Spaniards a numerical advantage.
Uzbekistan defeated Canada 3-0 in the other game of Group B with an own goal from 15-year-old Richard Chukwu and Amin Saidov’s brace sealed an emphatic win for the Asians.
Spain is the first country to qualify for the knockout stage after winning 6 points from a possible 6. Mali is second with 3 points followed by Uzbekistan in 3rd with three points also. Canada occupies the bottom position as they have lost two games and have slim chances to qualify for the next stage.
Tomorrow’s fixtures
Brazil will play against New Caledonia in Group C with England squaring off against Iran.
In Group D, Senegal plays Poland and Japan lock horns against Argentina.
