Group A (Toronto & Edmonton)
Canada, Chile, Congo and Austria.

As host nations in international tournaments generally do, Canada has benefited by a good group draw. With only a third of the teams going home after the group stage Canada has a terrific opportunity to make it to the knock-out rounds.

A place in the last sixteen should be a minimum for Canada while moving onto the last eight would be considered a successful tournament. Anything beyond that would be Canada punching well above their weight.

Although the Canadian players are generally short of the top level experience enjoyed by some of the top countries in the competition they will benefit from having six players back from the previous Under-20 tournament in Holland in 2005. Coach Dale Mitchell was also in charge two years ago.

The Canadians have undergone one of the most intensive periods of preparation of any Canadian international soccer team and should be a well-oiled machine when kick off comes.

In his days as a player Dale Mitchell was lethal from free-kicks and you can look for Canada to take advantage of set piece opportunities. The spine of this team will dictate how far it goes so look for the likes of Asmir Begovic in goal, David Edgar at centre back, Will Johnson in midfield and Andrea Lombardo who will run all day for the cause up front. A concern for the squad is the relative depth should they hit injuries and / or suspensions.  

The schedule has also been kind to the hosts as they face Chile on Canada Day in front of a sold out BMO Field. Chile will also be without their star turn Alexis Sanchez. Sanchez is suspended, as is at least one more Chilean player and possibly another two. Sanchez is considered a phenomenon in South America having been capped by the senior Chilean national team only two months after his 16th birthday in 2005.

Serie A club Udinese signed the youngster for $4M but left him on loan at Colo Colo in Chile. It was a move that paid off for Colo Colo as Sanchez helped lead his club to the final of the 2006 Copa Sudamericana only to lose to Pachuca of Mexico. Regular viewers of the Fox Soccer Report will remember some of his displays. Sanchez excels when running at defenders and has a bag of tricks that allows him to dribble out of tight spaces. Free-kicks are another specialty.

Central defender Arturo Vidal had an outstanding South American qualifying campaign and as well as being called up to the senior squad he earned a move to Bayer Leverkusen in Germany. Midfielder Mathias Vidangossy (Villarreal) plays a critical role in Chile’s counter-attacking style although his finishing still leaves much to be desired.

Chile qualified as the fourth places country in South America and only beat out Paraguay on goal difference. Coach Jose Sulantay was in charge of the under-20 side in Holland two summers ago.

Given the performances from African countries at previous under-20 tournaments Congo deserves respect, particularly as Congo arrives as African Champions. In the last eleven tournaments stretching back to 1985 African nations have provide nine top four finishers even though Africa has still to provide a champion.

Congo may have benefited from hosting the qualifying tournament but still handled perennial finalists Nigeria 1-0 to become African Champions. Congo’s striker Fabrice Nguessi Ondama was named best player at the African tournament.

Austria last qualified when the competition was held in Mexico in 1985. Austria slipped through the preliminary round of European qualifying group when they finished five points behind group winners France but progressed after beating out Wales on goal difference. The Austrians then hit their stride in the next round beating Russia, Slovenia and Hungary all be single goals.

In the final round of qualifying Austria finished second behind the Czech Republic in Group A ahead of Poland and Belgium. A 4-1 win over Belgium remains the only win of consequence for Austria. In the semi final the team collapsed in the face of a Spanish onslaught that saw the eventual European Champions run up a 5-0 win.

If Austria has any chance to move on it will be down to the form of striker Erwin Hoffer (Admira Wacker) who scored four goals in three group qualifying games but missed the game against Spain through a suspension after picking up too many yellow cards.
 
Predicted finish – 1. Canada, 2. Chile, 3. Congo and 4. Austria.

Team Updates

Aldo writes to say that attended Chile’s first practice and the team is “surprised at how hot it can get in Canada”. The weather is something that might be a shock for a lot of teams.

Eric managed to catch the second half of the warm up game between South Korea and the Czech Republic. “Thousands of Koreans singing and chanting, one solitary Czech guy! Korea scored a cracker in the second half, they looked fast and skillful, knocked the ball around well. Czechs were more interested in punt and run. Big Guys up front for the Czechs. Korea could maybe surprise a few, but it was only exhibition”.

Other news

Olympic Stadium is looking at an extra expense. It seems that the Canadian Soccer Association agreed to rent a moveable artificial surface from an Australian company only to have the surface fail FIFA’s quality control and certification process. Ironically the CSA now has to buy a surface at an estimated cost of $500,000 from Montreal-based Field Turf.

You can send any information (fsr@mts.net) that you think might be of interest about the twenty-four countries and I will post a regular selection. If you have a blog and you have information on the tournament you can post your link under comments.

Tomorrow a preview of Group D – Brazil, USA, South Korea and Poland.