The Mexico U-17 team took another step toward earning a third-straight trip to the U-17 World Cup final Monday by defeating Ecuador 2-0.
Claudio Zamudio's volley from the center of the box off of a corner in the 41st minute opened the scoring, and Bryan Salazar nailed a penalty in the 55th minute, after Jose Gurrola drew a foul, to put the game away. This is Mexico's third-straight trip o the semi-finals.
In the round of 16, Mexico beat Chile, 4-1. They made it out of the group stage by beating Argentina, 2-0; tying Australia, 0-0 and beating Brazil,2-1.
Mexico will play Nigeria on Thursday with a trip to the final on the line. Nigeria is coming off a 3-0 win against Brazil and a 6-0 win against Australia. They also beat the USA 2-0 in the group stage. Nigeria are the defending champions, having beat Mexico 3-0 in the final in 2013. Mexico won the U-17 World Cup in 2011 (beating Uruguay 2-0 in the final), though, and will be eager to secure a third-straight trip to the final.
Correction: This post has been updated to reflect Mexico beat Uruaguay, 2-0, in the 2011 final, instead of Hinduras, 3-0.
Contact The18 Staff Writer Sam Klomhaus at Klomhaus@The18.com or follow him on Twitter @SamKlomhaus
