New York City FC midfielder Yangel Herrera captained Venezuela to a stunning 2-0 upset of mighty Germany in the opening match of the 2017 FIFA U-20 World Cup in South Korea on Saturday.
With Herrera patrolling the center of the park for the full 90 minutes, the underdogs were worthy winners in warm, muggy conditions in Daejeon. Sergio Cordova and Ronaldo Pena scored within three minutes of one another shortly after halftime to pace the Vinotinto at Daejeon World Cup Stadium.
The result gets Venezuela off to a dream start in Group B, where Mexico needed an injury-time winner to pull out a wild 3-2 victory over debutants Vanuatu in the day's other match. Venezuela next face Vanuatu in Daejeon on Tuesday (4 am ET | FS2, FSGO in US).
Herrera, 19, joined NYCFC on loan from Manchester City over the winter and has been impressive in his MLS outings thus far, notching a goal and an assist in five appearances (two starts).
Elsewhere at the U-20 World Cup, England defeated Argentina 3-0 and the host nation defeated Guinea by the same scoreline in Group A. The US U-20s open their tournament with a key Group F match vs. Ecuador early Monday morning (4 am ET | FS1, FSGO in US).
