Saturday’s opening 3-0 victory against Colombia had an element of luck to it and certainly flattered Walter Coyette’s young Argentines and although on Monday afternoon Los Pibes repeated the scoreline against Venezuela, on this occasion the margin could have been greater.
Racing forward Gonzalo Córdoba had already wasted three clear chances before captain Facundo Colidio assisted his Boca Juniors’ teammate Facundo Fernández to open the scoring. Anything that Venezuela did throw at Argentina was well stopped by keeper Manuel Roffo and after half-time La Albiceleste had certain of the result.
Colidio pounced on some poor defending to chase down a long ball over the top and confidently finish his second of the tournament and with minutes remaining Córdoba made amends for his earlier misses with a simple tap-in after good work from Javier Obando.
Sitting top of Group A after two 3-0 victories means that one win from their remaining two group games against Paraguay and Ecuador would guarantee Argentina a place in the final stage and certainly things are looking brighter than they have in recent under-17 and under-20 competitions.
