Everything looked quite comfortable for the Argentina Under 17s as they were cruising along with a 2-0 lead over the Columbia U17s Wednesday afternoon in Nigeria in the Under 17 World Cup round of 16. A first half goal from Leandro Gonzalez Pirez and a second half strike from Sergio Araujo had Argentina up two with only half an hour to play.
Then things changed...and changed in a big way. Columbia clearly wasn't going to bow out of the tournament quietly. Jeison Murillo would give Columbia hope as he volleyed home a corner kick in the 63rd minute and the game was suddenly very much on. Just a minute after the Columbia goal, Argentina's Esteban Espindola was called for handball in the box. Columbia was awarded a penalty and Espindola was sent off leaving Argentina to play with 10.
Cuerro stepped up and fired the penalty home, but the referee called for it to be retaken due to player incroachment. The second time Cuerro put the spot kick in the same spot only to have Argentine keeper Martinez dive and make the save.
At that point the wind clearly came out of Columbia as they struggled to regain momentum. It looked like Argentina would be able to escape. That is until the 88th minute when substitute Jean Blanco fired a left footed strike into the corner of the net to tie the match. Only two minutes later Columbia would find the winner as Hector Quinones scored and Columbia were through to the quarterfinals at the Under 17 World Cup.
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