Julio Soler leads Argentina U20 to dominant 4-0 victory against Nigeria in U20 World Cup

Bournemouth defender Julio Soler captained Argentina U20 to a 4-0 win over Nigeria in the FIFA U20 World Cup round of 16 at the Estadio Nacional Julio Martinez Pradanos on Wednesday evening.Soler has featured in all but one game for the South American side since the start of the competition.Argentina got off to a dream start, opening the scoring in the second minute as Bayer Leverkusen forward Alejo Sarco tapped Dylan Gorosito’s pass home.Maher Carrizo made it 2-0 in the 23rd minute with a brilliant free-kick from outside the penalty area, which he curled inside the right post.Goalkeeper Santino Barbi made a brilliant one-on-one save to prevent Tahir Maigana from halving the deficit for Nigeria.The West African side then had two penalty calls – the first was ignored by referee Maurizio Mariani, and the second was not awarded after a VAR review.Nigeria cranked up the pressure to halve the deficit before halftime, but could not get a breakthrough.Their biggest chance came in stoppage time, when captain Daniel Bameyi thought he had scored, only to see his effort saved by Barbi.The Flying Eagles continued to push for an equaliser after the interval, but it was Argentina that increased their lead when Carrizo scored after receiving a pass from Milton Delgado.Two minutes later, Haruna Aliyu squandered a big chance to score for Nigeria, heading the ball wide of the post.The South American side sealed their victory in the 66th minute through Mateo Silvetti, who picked out the bottom left corner after receiving a pass inside the box.Nigeria’s woes almost deepened in the 78th minute when Emmanuel Ekele was nearly sent off for a dangerous challenge. However, he was only given a yellow card after a VAR check.Three minutes from time, Silvetti got the game’s last chance, unleashing a shot which was saved by goalkeeper Ebenezer Harcourt.