Marquinhos’ introduction off the bench nearly sparked a comeback for Brazil at the U20 World Cup, however they fell to a 3-2 opening-game defeat at the hands of Italy.
Our winger came off the bench at half-time with his side trailing 3-0 in Mendoza, Argentina thanks to a Matteo Pratti strike and a brace from Cesare Casadei, but he managed to get involved in his side’s first goal on 72 minutes when his shot fell into the path of Marcos Leonardo who steered it home.
The same player got on the scoresheet again with three minutes remaining when he converted a header, but it was too little too late for Selecao Sub-20 who kicked off their campaign with a loss.
They’ll have the chance to redeem themselves on Wednesday when they take on the Dominican Republic at the same venue, who also tasted defeat in their opening game courtesy of a 2-1 defeat to Nigeria.
Meanwhile, Alexei Rojas was an unused substitute as Colombia managed to overturn a 1-0 deficit to win 2-1 against Israel, thanks to a last-minute winner from Gustavo Puerta.
They’re also in action again on Wednesday when they face Japan, in a crunch game at the top of the group after they beat Senegal in the other group game.
Brooke Norton-Cuffy’s England will take to the field for their first game on Monday against Tunisia, however our man won’t be involved in the group stage due to his club commitments as Coventry City aim to reach the Premier League via the Championship play-off final on Saturday against Luton Town.
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