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The United States were eliminated from the U-20 World Cup in the quarterfinals for the third tournament in a row, bowing 2-1 to Ecuador in Gdynia, Poland.
Jhon Espinoza scored the decisive goal in the 43rd minute for Ecuador, who will play against South Korea or Senegal on Tuesday. Italy meet Ukraine in the other semifinal.
Jose Cifuentes gave the advantage to Ecuador in the 30th minute and Tim Weah created the tie in the 36th.
The United States lost to Serbia on penalties in the quarter-finals of 2015 and against Venezuela in overtime in 2017. The Americans have not gone past the quarter-finals since 1999, when an American team with goalkeeper Kasey Keller lost to Nigeria in the semifinals.
Cifuentes, who was under no pressure from the defenders, gave the advantage to Ecuador with a curling shot fired from about 28 yards to the left of goalkeeper David Ochoa.
Alex Mendez had just scored on a free kick four minutes later.
Weah, son of the Liberian president and former FIFA World Player George Weah, tied the score with his second goal of the tournament. Mendez's corner kick was led by American defender Chris Richards and bounced back against Gustavo Vallecilla of Ecuador. Weah reacted just outside the penalty area and scored with a left-foot shot.
Ecuador regained the advantage when Gonzalo Plata's long shot hit the crossbar and Leonardo Campana managed the rebound before, where he missed his leg slipping Espinoza. The goal was confirmed after a video review that determined that Espinoza was not offside.
Jackson Porozo hit the crossbar with a header on a free kick in the 60th minute,
Mendez and Chris Durkin, both midfielders, came back from a one – game suspension for having accumulated a yellow card and replaced Richard Ledezma and Brandon Servania. Ochoa, who played in the group stage against Qatar, succeeded Brady Scott in goals.
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