Inter Miami’s Benjamin Cremaschi stars as US U20 defeat Italy in U20 World Cup

United States U20 beat Italy 3-0 in the FIFA U20 World Cup round of 16 at Estadio El Teniente on Thursday.

Roma loanee Mattia Mannini nearly opened the scoring for Italy in the ninth minute, rattling the crossbar with a long-range shot.

Moments later, goalkeeper Adam Beaudry made a brilliant save to deny Christian Corradi from giving the Italians an early lead.

The US weathered the early storm and grew into the contest. Nolan Norris had their first opportunity, heading a cross into the arms of Jacopo Seghetti in the Italy goal.

Inter Miami midfielder Benjamin Cremaschi put the Americans ahead in the 15th minute, picking out the bottom left corner from a rebound.

The Americans continued to dominate possession and almost doubled their lead before half-time when Cole Campbell burst into the box but could only produce a tame effort.

Italy pushed to pull one back at the start of the second half, but could not break down their opponents.

Just after the hour mark, Beaudry produced a smart stop to prevent Mannini’s strike from finding the bottom corner.

Christian Corradi squandered another chance to level the scores for Italy, sending his header wide of the post from a well-struck free-kick.

Niko Tsakiris almost added to the US advantage when he struck the ball from a rebound and aimed for the post, but Seghetti pushed his header away.

Four minutes later, the 20-year-old made it 2-0 with a brilliant free-kick, leaving Seghetti with no chance.

Italy had two penalty claims turned down after a VAR review, before Cremaschi sealed the victory for the US.

The highly-rated youngster controlled a pass from Luke Brennan before cutting inside his marker to rifle a shot home.

Cremaschi is now the competition’s top scorer with five goals.