Cuba traced on Wednesday against Italy to achieve a two-go historical draw and get its first point in the U-20 World Cup in soccerbased in Chile.
The Cubans, who had fallen into their debut 1-3 against Argentina, sealed the matched in the second half of the game, thanks to two penalties marked by striker Michael Camejo.
In both cases, Cuban coach Pedro Pereira appealed to the new VAR card against clear offenses of the Italian team that the Ecuadorian referee Augusto Aragón did not whist EFE.
Habanero Camejo, who had entered the second half, for sure both penalties, at a time when the Europeans played with a man of less. In this way, Cuba managed to “scratch” a point to an Italy full of promises from his professional league.
In the absence of the match that Cubans will play next Saturday for the closure of the group against Australia, this is already the best performance of the island in a World Cup in the category, after in their first appearance, in 2013, he lost the three meetings and scored only somewhat.
Italy Cuba#U20WC pic.twitter.com/brdfctxmpw
– FIFA World Cup (@fifaworldcup) October 1, 2025
Italian advantage
In the clash corresponding to Group D of the contest and staged in the city of Valparaíso, the Italians confirmed their favoritism with two annotations in the first part.
The first goal of the Azzurra Sub-20 reached 14 minutes with a corner kick from the 17-year-old central Andrea Natali, formed in the Spanish Barcelona and currently ceded to the youth team of the German club Bayer Leverkusen, review EFE.
The defender barely had to push the ball to score, after a rebound by Cuban goalkeeper Yurdy Hodelin, before a header from Jacopo Sardo, who at 20 years already debuted in series A with the Monza, and who took ownership to be the leader of the game, according to the Spanish agency.
After a first failed claim of the Italian high command on a possible lack of Cuba in the area, the transalpins achieved 2-0 over half an hour. This time the scorer was the promise of Inter Jamal Iddrisuou, who anticipated the defense to define a center of Cristian Cama.
However, Iddrisuou himself left his team with 10 players after being expelled at the end of the first part when receiving his second yellow card. The Italian coach asked to review the decision, but lost his second VAR card because the Ecuadorian judge reiterated his appreciation.
Cuba ties
In the second half, the Cubans, in numerical superiority and with nothing to lose, multiplied in the attack to the point of generating the two penalties after asking their review to the VAR.
The first score came after a elbow in the Natali defender area to Marcos Campos, which also earned the Italian defender. The second, on the other hand, was the result of a push from Christian Corradi about Didier Reinoso, which also entered the second half.
Michael Camejo dressed as a hero with the two penalties marked, to become the first player to do so in a game of a U-20 World Cup since the Argentine Erik Lamela did it in front of Egypt in the 2-1 triumph of the Albiceleste during the 2011 Colombia Cup.
However, the MVP of the party was also the Cuban Jade Quiñones, who stood out for its precise speed and game.
After this historic result, Cuba has the possibility of achieving its classification to the next phase against Australia, which so far has not achieved successes in the tournament. Meanwhile, Italy will have to do your homework and look for at least one draw against the already classified Argentina to ensure a quota among the 16 best teams.
