Football: The crucial call that denied New Zealand under-20s a famous shootout win over Colombia

New Zealand goalie Michael Woud looked to have made a third straight save before it was ruled to be retaken. Photo / Sky Sport

Harsh call or the right one?

The New Zealand under-20 football side have been eliminated from the World Cup following a controversial shootout defeat to Colombia.

The key turning point came when New Zealand goalkeeper Michael Woud, who was superb throughout the second round match, made a third straight save to start the penalty shootout.

That would have put New Zealand in the box seat and a chance to go up 2-0 after three attempts each.

However the referee's assistant ruled that Woud moved too early before Colombia's Andrés Perea attempted his saved shot. He was ruled to retake the penalty which he converted to get Colombia back in the shootout.

Following a second missed attempt for New Zealand from Gianni Stensness, which was blasted well over the crossbar, the shootout then went to sudden death.

New Zealand's Matt Conroy then missed his side's seventh shot.

Colombia will face either Ukraine or Panama in the next round.

The match finished 1-1 after 120 minutes.

Andres Reyes opened the scoring for Colombia in the 11th minute before Elijah Just equalised for New Zealand 10 minutes before halftime. Both teams had plenty of chances to score the winner in both the second half and across extra-time but both keepers made some crucial saves.