Having shattered England's dreams of Under-20 World Cup stardom in the last 16, Italy Under-20s prepare for another test of their mettle against Colombia Under-20s in Saturday's quarter-final at the Estadio San Juan del Bicentenario.
The Azzurrini scraped past England 2-1 to make it this far, while their South American adversaries enjoyed a simpler stroll to the last eight with a 5-1 thrashing of Slovakia.
Match preview
Having both scored and conceded in each of their three group games versus Japan, Israel and Senegal - avoiding defeat on each occasion - Colombia continued along the same path in the last-16 affair against Slovakia, where a second-half onslaught sent them through to the quarters in some style.
After a scoreless 48 minutes, Oscar Cortes, Yaser Asprilla and Tomas Angel all made the net ripple during a merciless four-minute period, before the former and latter completed their braces for the day either side of a consolation goal from Timotej Jambor.
As a result, a second successive quarter-final appearance now awaits Hector Cardenas's men, who fell at this hurdle to eventual winners Ukraine in the 2019 tournament - a good omen for Italy if they can make lightning strike twice against the Tricolor.
Cardenas's men enter the quarters having suffered just one defeat from their last 10 matches in all tournaments, but only once have Colombia managed to make it further than the last eight - ending up in third place in the 2003 Under-20 World Cup, beating Argentina 2-1 in the bronze medal match.
With back-to-back semi-final appearances to their name, Italy also have previous when it comes to competing for the final spot on the podium, and the Azzurrini had one of their England-based players to thank for their nervy success over the Three Lions in the last 16.
A divine volley from the appropriately-named Alfie Devine cancelled out Tommaso Baldanzi's opening goal on Wednesday night, but with 87 minutes on the clock, Chelsea's Cesare Casadei - who will soon be making acquaintances with England's own proteges - found the top corner with a rocket of a penalty after Jarell Quansah's controversial handball.
By seeing off the Three Lions, Italy continued their praiseworthy run of reaching the quarter-finals in all of their Under-20 World Cup appearances since 1987 - although the Azzurrini have failed to qualify for several tournaments since then - and they managed to advance to the semis in both 2017 and 2019.
As is the case with Colombia, Italy also have just the one loss to show from their most recent 10 games heading into Saturday's tie, which will be their second with the Tricolor at Under-20 level; the South American nation ran out 2-0 winners during the group stage of the 2005 World Cup.
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