FIFA Under-17 World Cup: Italy & Turkey Advance To Round Of 16

Turkey trounced Costa Rica 4-1 in a replayed Group D match of the FIFA Under-17 World Cup at the Nnamdi Azikiwe Stadium in Enugu. Meanwhile, Italy stopped South Korea 2-1 in Kaduna to qualify for the knockout stage of the competition.

Turkey have thus recorded six points as they beat Burkina Faso 1-0 in their opening group match.

The Turkey-Costa Rica match was called off after 21 minutes of action on Wednesday as a result of a poor pitch caused by torrential rain.

On Thursday, the young Turks raced to a 3-0 lead after 42 minutes.

After just three minutes Omer Ali Sahiner tucked past the Costa Rican goalkeeper, before outstanding skipper Muhammet Demir smashed a second goal from top of the box. Engin Bekdemir then drove into the opponents' area to drill home the third goal.

Costa Rica reduced the deficit in the 44th minute through Jonathan Moya, who cashed in on a rebound to find the back of the net.

Turkey completed the rout on 70 minutes with as a superb 25-yard strike by Gokay Iravul.

In Kaduna, Italy defeated South Korea 2-1 with goals from Michele Camporese and Pietro Iemmello to reach the round of 16. They also won their first group game against Algeria.

In Kano, the United States beat Malawi 1-0 with a second half goal.

Samm Audu, Goal.com