ALAJUELA: Colombia striker Mariana Munoz struck in the closing minutes of the match to hand her side a thrilling victory over Germany in the FIFA Under-20 Women’s World Cup opener. 

The two teams remained indulged in a see-saw battle in the first half of the curtain raiser as their defenders did well to bar the opposing team from making their mark on the scoreboard.

The opening match of the world cup was steering towards a tie before Mariana sneaked through the German defence to hand her team an important lead of 1-0 in the 87th minute that lasted till the final whistle.

German striker Ria Clara Fröhlich, however, had a vital chance to cut Colombia’s lead in the extra time but she failed to dodge the latter’s goalkeeper, who did well to deflect the ball away from the goal post.

Following this victory, Colombia secured the top position in Group B, while the opening match defeat resulted in Germany dropping to the bottom.

A total of four matches will be contested on August 11 including the host Costa Rica starting their U20 Women’s World Cup campaign against Australia.

The action-filled tournament is being telecasted live on Pakistan’s first HD Sports channel – A Sports and will be simultaneously streamed on the digital platform of ARY Digital Network – ARY ZAP in crystal clear HD quality.

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