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.
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.
Nicky Campbell delves into the vaults for the story of Joe Baker. One of the comments mentions that Joe’s brother Gerry played for the USA. Something I thought the writer would have mentioned. Joe Baker was a legend at Hibs and scored 42 goals in the 1959/60 season.
The Stevens’ Inquiry looks to moving to the arrest and charges stage.
And to this weekend’s football.
Gillette Stadium is host to a triple header on Saturday with two Gold Cup quarter finals (Canada vs. Guatemala and USA vs. Panama) and New England Revolution vs. Columbus Crew in MLS.
Traditionally Canada has found goals difficult to come by but are scoring on a regular basis at the moment. In Guatemala they face a country that they have only ever lost to twice in their history – 11 games in all. However, on both occasions the losses were costly. In World Cup 2006 qualifying Canada lost 2-0 at home in the first game of the semi final round robin group stage. Canada did pull off a notable 1-0 win in the return fixture but the opening game loss was devastating.
Back in 1988 Guatemala inflicted on Canada their worst ever win!! Sound strange then let me explain. The two countries were drawn against each other in an early stage of qualifying with the winners moving on to the group stage. Two years earlier Canada had made it to the World Cup Finals in Mexico and was favourite to beat Guatemala.
Guatemala won 1-0 at home and the return was at Swangard Stadium in Burnaby, British Columbia. My recollection is that the game was at least partially played in a downpour and Guatemala led 2-0 at half time. Although Canada came back (Ian Bridge and now soon to be national team coach Dale Mitchell with 2) and won 3-2 they went out on the away goals rule.
You may remember that Mexico was suspended for the 1990 World Cup for using ineligible players in age group competitions and the USA – courtesy of Paul Caligiuri’s goal against Trinidad and Tobago – went to Italy representing CONCACAF together with Costa Rica. In those days I think it is fair to say that Canada got the better of the US more times than not. The defeat to Guatemala and with it, a possible chance to return to the World Cup Finals, coincided with the second season of the fledgling Canadian Soccer League.
Given that a number of the national team players played in the CSL a successful World Cup qualifying campaign might have been enough to provide the new league with some traction. As it was the league died a lingering death and was deceased before the 1994 World Cup was held in the United States. In my opinion the loss to Guatemala was a pivotal moment in Canadian soccer history and one that I would suggest it has yet to fully recover from.
The USA picked up the pace against El Salvador and has now scored seven goals in three matches. The goals have come from six different players with DaMarcus Beasley notching a double on Tuesday. Despite some reports to the contrary there is no indication that Rangers have in fact signed the American winger from PSV Eindhoven. In the second quarter final the 2005 Gold Cup Final will be repeated with Panama providing the opposition. Panama continues to grow in stature and should provide the USA with a stiff challenge.
After last weekend’s sensational finishes in La Liga it is probably unrealistic to think that there could be a repeat. However, with the title to be decided, UEFA Cup spots still in doubt and four teams trying to avoid the last two relegation spots you can bet that there is going to be drama somewhere.
The Spanish League has opted to split the final round of La Liga matches on Sunday into two batches. Generally the first group of games at 9:00 EST will decide the drop spots. (Celta Vigo v Getafe, Racing Santander v Real Betis, Valencia v Real Sociedad, Athletic Bilbao v Levante and Espanyol v Deportivo Coruna).
Four hours later the matches to decide the champion club and UEFA Cup qualification will kick-off. (Gimnastic v Barcelona, Osasuna v Atletico Madrid, Sevilla v Villarreal, Real Madrid v Real Mallorca and Recreativo Huelva v Real Zaragoza).
It is extremely likely that the tie breaker rule will need to be used to decide final placements. So here for your ready reference is the rule. 1. Most points obtained in the games between the teams in question 2. Goal difference in the games between the teams in question 3. Goals scored in the games between the teams in question 4. Goal difference in all league games.
There are another three criteria but given the standings it the first four should suffice. At the top of the table there appears to be the following permutations. Real Madrid wins the league if they at least match the results of Barcelona and Sevilla. Real Madrid would also take the title if they drew as did Barcelona and Seville won. All three teams would finish on 74 points but Madrid would win based on a mini-league table.
Barcelona can win the league if they can produce a better result than Real Madrid even it was only a draw. In that situation Sevilla could win and tie with Barcelona on points but still lose on the head to head rule. The only way for Sevilla to win the league is for both Barcelona and Real Madrid to lose and Sevilla to win or for Real Madrid to draw, Barcelona to lose and Sevilla to win. That would leave Sevilla and Real Madrid tied at the first three levels but Sevilla would win on a better league goal difference.
Sevilla has the least chance of winning and they have to play a rampant Villarreal side that has won their last seven league games and now sit in fifth spot. However, Sevilla has a cracking record against Villarreal and have only lost twice in the last 13 head-to-head meetings.
Barcelona is at already relegated Gimnastic and would seem to be a banker bet to win. That leaves Real Madrid in the poll position. Unless you have been asleep under a rock it will be the final game in Madrid colours (if white is a colour) for David Beckham. The same goes for Roberto Carlos. A final game win would be a remarkable triumph for a Madrid side that for most of the season played quite poorly.
However, it would also mark an incredible season for Ruud Van Nistelrooy. Van Nistelrooy has scored in seven consecutive matches equaling a club record set by Hugo Sanchez. He has scored 25 league goals and is one behind the current Golden Shoe leader Francesco Totti who has completed the Serie A season.
Should Madrid stumble on the final day of the season it will not be the first time in recent memory. In 1992 and 1993 Real Madrid lost their final game of the season at Tenerife and allowed Barcelona to take the title.
At the wrong end of the table four teams are fighting to escape the two remaining relegation spots. Real Sociedad (34 points), Celta Vigo (36), Athletic Bilbao (37) and Real Betis (37) are involved in a fight to the end. There are so many possible permutations it drives you nuts trying to come up with them – I know I have tried. Suffice to say that Real Sociedad (away to Valencia) is in the most difficult position, followed by Celta Vigo (home to Getafe) and Athletic Bilbao (home to Levante). Bilbao has never been relegated but they are cutting it mighty close this season.
Real Betis is in the best position and cannot be relegated as long as they at least match Athletic Bilbao’s result. In most of the possible tie situations Real Betis holds an advantage although they would lose out if they finished equal with Real Sociedad alone. In the event of a four way tie then the mini-table would be Real Betis (10), Real Sociedad (9), Celta Vigo (8) and Athletic Bilbao (5). Celta and Athletic would be relegated.
I am the soccer analyst for the Fox Soccer Report and appear twice a week - every Monday and Friday at 10:00 EST. I have also been a regular contributor to the Fox Soccer Channel website since the summer of 2004. Over the last twenty years I have contributed to various radio and television programs throughout North America as well writing about the game for newspapers, magazines and websites.
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