NZ through to U20 Cup playoffs

Darren Bazeley’s New Zealand squad has qualified for the round of 16 at the Fifa Under-20 men’s World Cup after Colombia did them a massive favour.

The Colombians secured a 1-1 draw with Senegal in Argentina yesterday to dash the Africans’ hopes of making the playoffs, and dangle the Kiwis a coveted lifeline.

Depending on final group stage results today, New Zealand will either play the United States at 5.30am Wednesday (NZ Time) or Colombia at 5.30am Thursday.

The Kiwis were left to sweat about their qualification after failing to fire a shot in a 5-0 loss to host nation Argentina in San Juan on Saturday. Their heavy defeat dropped them to third place in Group A with a -4 goals differential.

The four highest third-place finishers from preliminaries join the six group winners and six runners-ups in the round of 16.

New Zealand had a nervous wait for yesterday’s results to make the cut. Senegal, who had an earlier draw, were just seconds away from going second equal with Israel when their dream was dashed. The Africans had led Colombia for over an hour after Mamadou Lame Camara struck in the 30th minute. With time ticking away, Oscar Cortes equalised for Colombia in the fifth minute of added time.