Group D (Montreal, Ottawa)
Poland, Brazil, Korea Republic and USA.

Coach Michal Globisz has coached numerous Polish age group teams but he has his work cut out if Poland is to make an impact on this tournament. Poland has not been at this level in this age bracket since 1983.

Poland hosted the final eight in Europe and was exempted from the early rounds of qualifying. As it was, they qualified after finishing third in their group beating Belgium on goal difference. A 4-1 win over Belgium was the pivotal result and a hat trick from Legia Warsaw striker Dawid Janczyk crucial. UEFA.com described Janczyk as “the brightest light in a disappointing campaign for the hosts.” And went on to say, “calm and collected in front of goal, Janczyk’s nerveless finishing provided his side with a valuable cutting edge.”  

In years past Brazil may have been known for nuts and coffee but ever since their first World Cup win in 1958 Brazil has been known the world over for football. But although Brazil and Brazilian players have provided some of the most memorable footballing moments of the last 50 years “the beautiful game” branding is a product of a time long-gone.

Brazil learned through the dark days from 1971 to 1993 that beautiful football is not necessarily enough to win world championships and they now approach each tournament with a cold pragmatism that is often at the opposite end of the “beautiful game.” (I should add that in the case of the 2006 World Cup sentimentality trumped pragmatism!).

Even so Brazil arrives as 4-times winners of this competition and has played in 14 of the 15 tournaments. The squad is as impressive as Brazil’s history and perhaps the strength of the squad can be gauged by the quality of players who didn’t make the cut - players such as Kerlon, Ramon, Thiago Heleno, Eliezio and Carlinhos.

Alexandre Pato will be touted as the player to watch but that has more to do with his exceptional debut in the Brazilian Championship in November of last year. Playing for Internacional against Palmeiras Pato scored in the first minute and set up two more before half time.

The star of this Brazilian squad would most certainly have been Anderson but although named in the initial squad of 25 he was moved to the senior squad and will play at the Copa America. Anderson, still only 18, recently joined Manchester United from Porto.

Jo (sometimes revered to as Joao) has just turned 20 and is in his second season with Russian club CSKA Moscow. He scored 14 goals in his first 18 appearances for CSKA before injuring a knee. Even so he was called into the full Brazilian squad for a friendly against England a month or so ago.

Some others to watch.
Cassio (Gremio) was the third choice keeper for Brazil at the South American qualifying competition but was still widely considered the best goalie on show.

Lucas plays midfield for Gremio but looks to be on his way to Liverpool. A central midfield player who can take care of both defensive and attacking responsibilities he is outstanding at timing his runs into the penalty box and often scoring.

Marcelo joined Real Madrid from Fluminense this past winter and is regarded as the successor to Roberto Carlos at both Real Madrid and for the Brazil national side. Marcelo can also play in midfield according to some reports. 

Renato Augusto is revered to in the June edition of World Soccer as “a right-footed version of the young Rivaldo”. His club coach Ney Franco (Flamengo) believes that within two years Renato Augusto will be one of the best players in Brazil. You can expect to see him in an attacking role playing just behind the main strikers. 

Korea Republic has made regular appearances in this tournament and made it to the 1983 semi finals. Earlier this year they finished third in Asian qualification having lost to Japan on penalties in the semi-finals. Shim Young-Sung was the top scorer in qualifying with 5 goals and he will likely carry the scoring load again.

This will be the USA’s sixth straight appearance and their eleventh in all. Their best performance was in 1989 when he finished fourth in Saudi Arabia. Coach Thomas Rongen has put together what looks to be an experienced squad with heavy MLS and European representation.

Freddy Adu will attract most of the media interest even though he arrives at this competition looking more and more like a player with a great future behind him. There are a number of players who are ready to show that they have overtaken the much-hyped Freddy and the under-20 World Cup provides an ideal platform.

Josie Altidore (New York Red Bulls) made an instant impact on MLS when he made his debut as a 16-year-old last season. Goal scorers are hard to find and when one so young shows scouts are attracted like moths to a flame (or Paris Hilton to a camera).

Michael Bradley played in five games at the recent Gold Cup and can be considered a certain starter in midfield for the US.

Nathan Sturgis played at Holland 2005 and recently moved from LA Galaxy to Real Salt Lake. Rumours had Rangers interested in the young defender a few weeks ago.

Dax McCarty and Danny Szetela will compete for midfield spots while a number of American fans are relishing the chance to see Bolton striker Johann Smith in action.

Predicted finish – 1. Brazil, 2. USA, 3. South Korea and 4. Poland.

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 FIFA Under-20 blog go ahead and post your link under comments.