The format of the South American under-20 championship does not necessarily leave a vital, winner takes all ‘final’ match but last night in a packed Estadio Centenario, Argentina faced hosts Uruguay with the title and a place at the Rio Olympics on the line. Humberto Grondona’s side needed only a draw but after falling behind to Gastón Pereiro’s early goal, Los Pibes struck back through Sebastián Druissi and influential captain, Ángel Correa. The late goal from Correa capped an extraordinary return to football after his heart surgery and the Atlético Madrid forward lifted the trophy for Argentina.

In the last few years of Julio Grondona’s regime as AFA President, the outlook for Argentine youth sides has been bleak with the obvious regression from the all-conquering sides of the late 1990s and early 2000s. Winning the first South American championship since 2003 is certainly not a return to those days but it is a welcome boost to Argentine football and there are plenty of opportunities to push on in the next 18 months.

Qualification for the World Cup in New Zealand later this year and a place at the Olympic games in Rio de Janiero 2016 will provide a more thorough examination but perhaps the more telling statistic will be how many of the young players will begin to filter into the senior national side. With only Federico Fernández coming through the under-20s in the past six years, an increase in those who graduate is fundamental to the continued growth on the senior international scene.

Grondona’s under-20s improved over the course of the tournament and the defensive lapses that were evident in the opening few matches decreased with the excellent Emanuel Mammana marshalling the back line. However, Uruguay’s early opener was the product of further sloppiness. Fulham’s Tiago Casasola did not do enough to prevent the ball coming across the face of the goal but even then Real Madrid target, Augusto Batalla should have claimed it. Instead, the goalkeeper fumbled and allowed Pereiro a simple tap in to send the Centenario wild.

However, Los Pibes began to grow into the match and as has been the case so often during the tournament, most of the threat came via captain Correa. Before half time, Argentina found an equaliser as Correa’s deep cross was headed down by Casasola and as Uruguay failed to clear, Sebastián Druissi drilled the loose ball into the bottom corner.

The draw was enough for Grondona’s side and as the second half ticked on, Uruguay needed to press forward in search of a winner. With the space that this left, Argentina finally took advantage. Ángel Correa twisted and turned in the penalty box and after a fortunate break past the defence he poked the ball past Gastón Guruceaga to ensure the trophy would be heading back across the Rio de la Plata to Buenos Aires.

This is perhaps not an under-20 side to rival those that were World champions in 2005 or 2007 but the hope would be that the likes of Correa and Mammana will gradually start coming through the system. There were important contributions from Leonardo Rolón, Lucio Compagnucci and the tournament leading scorer, Giovani Simeone and although they are some way from senior call-ups, the World Cup and the Olympics should provide further experience.

Argentina were worthy winners in Uruguay, in New Zealand they will face much tougher competition from Europe and Africa and then in Rio with the addition of some more experienced players, we should get a clearer idea of who could push on and perhaps be on the plane to the senior World Cup in 2018.

Argentina  2 – 1  Uruguay