As with the other semi final played the previous night this one was essentially decided in the first quarter of an hour. Only seven minutes after Chile goalkeeper Cristopher Toselli had set a new FIFA under-20 World Cup record for minutes without conceding a goal Argentina finally solved the puzzle that five other countries in over 480 minutes of play had failed to solve.

Banega drove forward from midfield and after winning a decisive tackle inside Chile’s half he floated a beautiful play into the path of Di Maria. In full stride Di Maria struck the ball from the left side of the penalty into the postage stamp corner of Toselli’s top right hand corner.

Three minutes later and Chile was a goal down and a man down. Argentina’s right back Mercado and Chile’s midfielder Medal clashed as the ball went out of play for a throw in around the half way line. Mercado was clearly the first player to kick out as he fell to ground while a fraction of a second later Medal also flailed out with his right boot.

It didn’t look as if Medal made contact but Mercado’s reaction indicated a boot to the face. Medal was sent off and Mercado escaped censure. Both should have been sent to the dressing room.

Despite being down a man Chile enjoyed more possession and Cortes came close with an outrageous shot from only a couple of yards from inside Argentina’s half. Caught off his line and furiously back-peddling keeper Romero was relieved to see the shot drift a foot or so wide.

The second half was more of the same. Yacob gave Argentina a two-goal lead after a neat cut back from Moralez. Then referee Wolfgang Stark sent off Currimilla after a second yellow card. The foul count continued to mount as the second half ebbed away and Argentina capped the night off with a third this time from Moralez.

The statistics at the end of the match showed a total of 53 fouls with nine yellow cards (two turning into a red) and two red cards to Chile. Argentina picked up two yellow cards to Cahias and Yacob and both will miss the final. Di Maria looked to have pulled a hamstring in the second half and he looks like he will struggle to make Sunday’s starting line-up.

Before we start to look at some of the teams and players that will be competing at the FIFA Under-20 World Cup it is worth taking a moment to look at the rules governing the competition.

Back in March of this year the draw for the tournament was made in Toronto. The format called for six groups of four countries playing a single round robin. The top two countries from each group along with the four best third place finishers will move on to a last 16 with all the last matches in each group being played simultaneously.

Rankings in group play will be decided in the following order: most points gained in group matches, goal difference in all group matches, most goals scored in all group matches. If still tied the tie-breaker will progress through; most points gained in head-to-head matches, goal difference in head-to-head matches, most goals scored in head-to-head matches, fair play system in which the number of yellow and red cards are evaluated, drawing of lots.

The four best place finishers will be determined by; most points gained in group matches, goal difference in all group matches, most goals scored in all group matches, fair play system in which the number of yellow and red cards are evaluated, drawing of lots.

With the four best third place finishers moving on the permutations for the round of sixteen are numerous. It is a topic that we will revisit in a future blog. 

From the last sixteen on, it is a straight knock out competition. In the case of a tie in the knock out stage two 15-minute periods of extra time will be played in full and if still tied the game will be decided by penalty kicks. 

All teams must arrive in the host country at least four days before the opening match regardless of the date of their first match. Eligibility criteria are that all players must have been born on or after January 1, 1987.

The final team list comprises 21 players, “three of whom shall be goalkeepers”. The final team list is due ten working days before the opening match of the competition so according to me calculations all the rosters must have been lodged. Having said this FIFA has yet to post the final squads on the official site. 

A player listed on the final team list may be replaced in the event of serious injury up until 24 hours before the kick-off of a team’s first game.

Atleti-female has provided an update on the Argentine squad
“The coach of Argentina's U-20 team, Hugo Tocalli, chose many of the same players that he used for the South American U-20 Cup 2007 in Paraguay. So, supporters of Argentina will not notice many surprises.
A few changes exist in the offence: Mauro Zárate (striker for Vélez Sársfield), Damián Escudero (midfielder for Vélez Sársfield) and Sergio Agüero (striker for Atlético Madrid) will debut in Canada after missing out on the South American U-20 Cup due to complications with their respective clubs.
Coach Tocalli also included Pablo Daniel Piatti (striker for Estudiantes) and Alejandro Cabral (midfielder for Vélez Sársfield) as they have had fairly impressive seasons at their respective clubs.
Gonzalo Abán, Pablo Mouche and Ismael Sosa lost their spots on the squad due to mediocre seasons and/or injuries. Gonzalo Higuaín, striker for Real Madrid, asked to sit this competition out because the club would like him to rest and prepare for next season's campaign.

Here's the full squad list:
1 Sergio Romero-goalkeeper- Racing
2 Federico Fazio-defender-Sevilla
3 Emiliano Insúa-defender-Liverpool
4 Gabriel Mercado-defender-Racing
5 Ever Banega-midfielder-Boca Juniors
6 Matías Cahais-defender-Boca Juniors
7 Claudio Yacob-midfielder-Racing
8 Matías Sánchez-midfielder-Racing
9 Mauro Zárate-striker-Vélez Sársfield
10 Sergio Agüero-striker-Atlético Madrid de España
11 Damián Escudero-striker-Vélez Sársfield
12 Javier García-goalkeeper-Boca Juniors
13 Germán Voboril-defender-San Lorenzo
14 Leonardo Sigali-defender-Nueva Chicago
15 Alejandro Cabral-defender-Vélez Sársfield
16 Alejandro Gómez-midfielder-Arsenal de Sarandí
17 Maximiliano Moralez-midfielder-Racing
18 Ángel Di Maria-midfielder-Rosario Central
19 Pablo Daniel Piatti-striker-Estudiantes de La Plata
20 Lautaro Acosta-striker-Lanús
21 Bruno Emiliano Centeno-goalkeeper-San Lorenzo

'Vamos Argentina!'”

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

The tournament starts on June 30, with the final set for Toronto on July 22. Make sure to tune in nightly to the Fox Soccer Report at 10:00 EST on Fox Sports World Report in Canada and Fox Soccer Channel in the USA.