Here is the profile of the man who will be in the middle, Ravshan Irmatov of Uzbekistan. He has been in charge of two games in the tournament and both finished 3-0. His first was Mexico versus Gambia and the other, Chile versus Congo.
Over the years Uruguay has gained a reputation for producing some pretty brutal sides – brutal in the sense of dirty. However, check out this statistics page and it looks like this Uruguay side has been the #### cats of the tournament so far.
Even the red card given to goalkeeper Mauro Goicoechea was for a rugby tackle on a Zambian forward after he had missed what should have been a straight forward clearance. Only Costa Rica committed fewer fouls (29) in the first three games of the tournament than Uruguay (33).
On the other hand only Congo (59) has committed more fouls than the USA (57).
Congo beats Canada and so the four best third place finishers come from groups A, B, C and D. The draw for the last sixteen is now final and on side one its Austria vs. Gambia; USA vs. Uruguay; Spain vs. Brazil; Japan vs. Czech Republic.
On side two it is Chile vs. Portugal; Zambia vs. Nigeria; Argentina vs. Poland; Mexico vs. Congo.
In the quarter final round it will Austria or Gambia vs. USA or Uruguay and so on. The winner of that quadrant will play the winner of Spain or Brazil vs. Japan or the Czech Republic.
I'm heading to Toronto to cover the USA vs. Uruguay and Argentina vs. Poland games.
The remaining federation was Oceania represented by New Zealand who finished last in group C. Unlike the World Cup where you often have countries from the same federation drawn in the same group the under-20 tournament has no such duplication. It can make for some interesting comparisons.
Both South America (four for four) and Africa (four for four) lead the qualifiers based on home federation. UEFA has more countries in the last sixteen (5) with Scotland failing to move on from group F. CONCACAF have two countries out of a possible five qualify while only Japan out of the four Asian representatives have been successful.
Points gained by federation after the first group round:
FEDERATION P Pts % South America 12 21 58 Africa 12 21 58 Uefa 15 24 53 Concacaf 15 20 44 Asia 12 12 33 Oceania 3 0 0
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.
Scotland fans are well use to failures at World Cups. But as of last night Scotland has now taken it to a different level. Scotland’s last second loss to Costa Rica meant that not only are they heading home across the Atlantic but they also reduced the host country Canada’s chances of moving into the last sixteen. You invite someone to your party and they “water” your living room carpet!!
Yesterday was not a good day for the host nation as the options for qualifying for the knock stages eroded as the day went on. Prior to group B action the best scenario for Canada was this.
What Canada needs to do to definitely move on. Must win (against Congo) and… Hope Scotland and Costa Rica draw or….. Zambia and Jordan don’t win.
But Zambia did win.
And so before Group F action it had been reduced to – Update - What Canada must do to move on. 1. Must beat Congo and… 2. Hope Scotland and Costa Rica draw or if Scotland or Costa Rica win….. 3. Canada must then win by enough goals to finish with a better record than the other countries that finish third with three points.
But Costa Rica did win and so we are down to essentially two games that will decide Canada’s fate.
First of all here is a recap of the process to decide the four best place finishers from FIFA.com. “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”.
So applying the tie breaker rule we know that after yesterday’s games that North Korea is definitely going home (only two points) while Brazil (3 points and a minus 1 goal differential but have scored 2 more goals than Costa Rica) is moving on. Zambia’s win pushed Uruguay into third place but with four points they make it to the last sixteen with at least a point to spare.
So that leaves two of four spots for the best third place finishers left to fill. The teams that are left to fight it out are Portugal, Gambia, New Zealand, Canada, Congo and Costa Rica.
As they say in golf, Costa Rica is in the club house and they have set the bar (or is it they are sitting at the bar?). Here is each of the team’s positions.
Although on paper New Zealand is still in with a chance they are at a severe disadvantage. They are the only country left that could win today (against Mexico) and still finish bottom of their group. Because Portugal plays Gambia and Congo plays Canada a win for any of these countries means that they are guaranteed to finish no lower than third. So we are going to discount the chance that the Kiwis and fate can conspire to produce an unprecedented set of results and focus on the other four.
Portugal is clearly in the best position to move on and can afford to lose 2-0 to Gambia and still qualify because of goals scored. If Gambia can score the first goal then Portugal might be more inclined to cruise rather than chasing a game and possibly being hit on the break and losing heavily.
That's an advantage to Gambia but conversely they sit in a rather precarious position because of their goal differential of -2. Canada and Costa Rica especially will be hoping that Portugal can win. That scenario would put Costa Rica through. Canada would also then move on if they beat Congo (by any score) and Gambia lost by two goals to Portugal. A two goal win for Portugal is clearly the best case scenario for Canada.
If Portugal only wins by one goal then Canada should be hoping that Gambia is shut out in the process. A high scoring one goal win for Portugal would require Canada to exceed Portugal’s high scoring one goal of a difference win or beat Congo by two clear goals. If Portugal scores first then Gambia will have nothing to lose by piling forward.
Unfortunately for Canada there is one more possibility which may actually be the most likely outcome of the Portugal and Gambia match-up. A draw would mean that the group positions would stay as they are and both Gambia and Portugal would move on. That would leave Canada needing a three goal win to move on at the expense of Costa Rica.
No matter the outcome of the late afternoon games we know that when Congo and Canada kick’s off tonight both countries will know what is required. In the case of Congo they know already. A win puts them through to the last sixteen – with the possibility that they could still finish second in the group. A draw does neither country any good and so if we get an early first goal then the other side is going to be forced forward which could mean a lot more opportunities at both ends. The first goal in any game is critical but even more so tonight.
Latest Betting on today's games
Canada 2/1, Draw 11/5, Congo 11/10.
New Zealand 10/1, Draw 9/2, Mexico 2/11.
Portugal 4/5, Draw 7/4, Gambia 4/1. (I like the odds on a win by Gambia)
FIFA Under-20 World Cup Champion
Argentina 3/1, Mexico 4/1, Spain 7/1, USA 8/1, Portugal 9/1, Nigeria 10/1, Uruguay 11/1, Brazil 11/1, Chile 12/1, Japan 14/1, Czech Republic 20/1, Poland 33/1, Zambia 50/1, Austria 50/1, Costa Rica 125/1, Congo 200/1, Gambia 200/1, Canada 300/1, New Zealand 500/1.
Has there ever been a time when you could get odds of 11/1 on Brazil in a men’s international tournament at the last sixteen stage?
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.You can also check out the National Post blog.
Gambia and Mexico put on a great display of football in what was, in my opinion, the best game of the FIFA under-20 World Cup so far. Although started the game more strongly than their African opponents it did not take long for Gambia to find their feet.
If it wasn’t for Mexico’s keeper Blanco, Gambia might have led at half time. Blanco pulled off two terrific saves to make sure that when half time arrived the game would still be scoreless.
Gambia started the second half as they had finished the first and when Mexico took the lead it was against the run of play. As a loose ball bounced on the left edge of the Gambian penalty box Giovanni Dos Santos pivoted a cracked a left shot past keeper Joe Gomez and into the roof of the net. A great and unexpected strike from Dos Santos, who had been up to that point in the game, restricted to a single shot.
Still Gambia pushed forward as the team teams traded attacks but after Mexico scored a second goal with a little over twenty minutes left there was no way back for the Gambians. The second goal was scored by defender Moreno but only after the first three Mexican attempts had hit the post, been cleared off the line and parried by the goalkeeper.
Although Gambia continued to push forward it was with less conviction. And given the critical importance of goal difference in deciding the best third place finishers it may turn out to be the most pragmatic course of action.
As the Gambian legs grew tired Mexico scored a third to put them top of the group. Javier Hernandez had come into the game as a late substitute and after running across the Gambian defence he was able to roll the ball into an empty net.
Here’s hoping that the third goal does not come back to haunt Gambia. The tournament could do with their spirit and commitment to attacking football in the knock out rounds.
Stand outs for Mexico were Dos Santos (based on his goal alone) and Villaluz. Gambia got great performances from defender Pierre Gomez, Bojang and Jallow.
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.
Canada huffed and puffed but they could make no impression on a vastly superior Chile side. Chile was fleeter-of-foot, quicker-of-mind and dominated Canada in every area of the field.
With flicks, one-two’s, nutmegs, faints and dribbles Chile put on an exhibition for a full house at BMO Field (or the National Soccer Stadium as it is referred to during this tournament).
There was never a point in the game when Canada was able to hold the ball for any extended period of time – as Chile showed poise and patience on the ball, Canada treated it as if it was part of a pass-the-parcel game with punishment forthcoming if they held on to it for more than a second.
It took 66 minutes for Canada to get their first attempt on goal and as the game progressed the Canadian got more frustrated with their inability to mount attacks of any consequence. If there were any positives to take out of this game for Canada it would be Begovic in the goal who could not faulted with any of the three Chile goals and at least the Canadians kept working throughout the ninety minutes.
Numerous Chilean players impressed with Arturo Vidal (Bayer Leverkusen) and Mathias Vidangossy (Villarreal) the best of the bunch.
Day 2 Wrap Five games and fourteen goals today made for a better day’s football. Although I only caught thirty minutes of the Spain – Uruguay game it looked to be an outstanding match with Diego Capel (Sevilla) scoring a great injury time equalizer that capped a two goal comeback for Spain.
Player of the day was a tougher pick to make than on day 1. Yosuke Kashiwagi was outstanding against Scotland but my player of the day is Mathias Vidangossy of Chile.
Day 3 Three games tomorrow, Austria vs. Congo, Portugal vs. New Zealand and Gambia vs. Mexico.
Update from the Canadian West Coast
Kevin called me from the two games held in Burnaby today – say it quick and it sounds a bit like the home of Real Madrid. The stadium which looked good on TV looked just as good in real-life. The overall organization in and around the stadium was also very good and the spectators were having a good time. The Spain - Uruguay game was particularly well received by the crowd.
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.
Player Updates Brazil’s captain Lucas who was part of the Group D preview is injured and has been replaced by Marcone. Gambia’s Abdourahman Dampha has replaced by Ken Jammeh.
Officials Sent Home Media release issued by FIFA – “On 26 June 2007, the referees selected to officiate matches during the FIFA U-20 World Cup Canada 2007 had, as usual for FIFA competitions, a fitness test to evaluate their speed and endurance. Their performances confirmed their excellent physical condition during this very demanding exercise.
Jerome Damon (RSA), Enock Molefe (RSA), Siphiwo Jibiliza (RSA); Hector Baldassi(ARG), Ricardo Casas (ARG), Walter Velaz (ARG); Leonardo Gaciba (BRA), Altemir Hausmann,(BRA), Roberto Braatz (BRA), were all sent home as one in each trio failed the test.
In one of the steps FIFA has taken to significantly improve refereeing standards, instructions issued to the referees prior to the competition made it clear that entire trios would be forced out of the competition if any of their members failed the fitness test. Consequently, FIFA will replace the departed referees with 3 FIFA Canadian referees who will be acting as 4th officials during this tournament; Steven Depiero (CAN), Silviu Petrescu, (CAN), and Paul Ward (CAN)”.
Officials for first 12 Games Barclay’s Premiership referee Howard Webb will be in charge of the opening game (Poland vs. Brazil) of the tournament. Webb will officiate along with two other Premiership officials Darren Cann (the assistant referee at the centre of the Arsenal Carling Cup Final controversy) and Michael Mullarkey.
The USA opener against South Korea will be officiated by Joel Aguilar (El Salvador) assisted by Roberto Giron (Honduras) and Daniel Williamson (Panama). An all-Spanish crew has been allotted Canada’s opening game against Chile. Mallenco Undiano, Fermin Matrinez and Juan Carlos Jimenez Yuste will take charge.
An USA crew consisting of Terry Vaughn, Chris Strickland and George Gansner with Canadian Silviu Petrescu have drawn the Jordan vs. Zambia game on Sunday in Burnaby.
Group C (Toronto, Edmonton & Montreal) Portugal, New Zealand, Gambia and Mexico
Portugal is one of the few nations that can boast of winning a world football title and what is more they have done it twice. Back in 1989 Portugal won the World under-20s and then retained the title two years later. However, it has been eight years since they last made it to the tournament that all Portuguese consider to be very special.
Former Porto Coach Jose Couceiro is in charge of a squad that on paper looks to be strong but that disappointed in qualifying. To make it to the final round in Europe Portugal had Macedonia to thank for drawing against both Israel and Croatia.
Grouped with Spain, Scotland and Turkey, Portugal drew all three games but still finished third ahead of Turkey. They had to battle back from two goals down to share the points with Scotland but led 3-1 and 4-3 to Turkey before sharing the spoils.
Under normal circumstance a draw against Spain would have been an excellent result but with Scotland beating Turkey 3-2 it was not enough to move into the semi finals. The consolation was that third place was good enough to book a trip to Canada.
Bruno Gama (Braga) was Portugal’s best player last summer’s and looks set to be the man to watch once again. Defender Antunes (Pacos Ferreira) also comes with high expectations.
Mexico has already shown that they can play with the best. The win at the under-17 World Cup in Peru two years ago was a long awaited break-through for a country that has historically produced talented but psychologically brittle sides.
Coach Jesus Ramirez was in charge of the world champion squad. A top four finish this time might be enough to encourage the Mexican FA to appoint him to replace Hugo Sanchez who has made an unimpressive start with the senior squad.
Barcelona recognized the new wave of talent emerging from Mexico and has acquired a significant contingent of young Mexican players.
Giovanni Dos Santos, Jorge Hernandez and Efraín Juárez Valdez are all part of the Barcelona set up.
Giovanni Dos Santos’ father was a Brazilian striker called Zizinho who played for America and Leon. The youngster moved to Spain to join Barcelona at the age of twelve after being spotted playing in an international youth tournament. Since then awareness of his prodigious talent has grown exponentially to the point that everyone will tell you that he is a fantastic talent but few have actually seen him play. Over the next few weeks we will. According to the Barcelona coaching staff Dos Santos is primarily a goal scorer but with the other facets of his game gaining quickly.
Jorge Hernandez is known for his range of passing and is currently on loan with Atlas. Efraín Juárez Valdez (on loan to Barbate) has “impressive ball control, awareness, passing and versatility.”
Carlos Vela has already been featured in a previous blog. Cesar Villaluz (Cruz Azul) was part of the attacking troika along with Dos Santos and Vela and should play a key role again.
Patricio Araujo (Chivas Guadalajara) captained the Mexico side in 2005 and will lead to team once more. A defender, Araujo is considered the heir apparent to Mexican central defender Rafael Marquez.
Gambia will be making its debut at this level after proving to be the surprise team in African qualifying when winning the bronze medal. In the group stage they finished top ahead of the hosts Congo, Ivory Coast and Burkina Faso but fell 3-1 to Nigeria in the semi final. Ousmane Jallow and Abdoulie Mansaly were pivotal in African qualifying but Gambia will again be missing Momodou Ceasay. Ceasay has been troubled by injury and despite an operation in Switzerland the highly regarded striker will not be in Canada.
New Zealand qualified through the Oceania federation now bereft of the dominant Australians since they moved to the Asian Federation. Even then the Kiwis made heavy work of qualifying and relied heavily on Chris James (Fulham). The New Zealand team will no doubt enjoy the experience but it would be a monumental achievement if they make it to the last sixteen.
Predicted finish – 1. Mexico, 2. Portugal, 3. Gambia and 4. New Zealand.
Pablo has written to tell us that this is the latest speculation regarding Chile’s starting line-up (3-5-2) for their first game against Canada.
Christopher Toselli in goal; Nicolas larrondo, Mauricio Isla and Christian Suarez; Dagoberto Currimilla, Gary Medel, Arturo Vidal, Carlos Carmona and Gerardo Cortes; Mathias Vidangossy and Nicolas Medina.
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.
For those regulars looking for the weekend preview it has been pre-empted by the FIFA Under-20 World Cup blog. However, here are a couple of unrelated articles anyways.
Stephen Brunt in the Globe & Mail has officially declared that soccer has taken root in Central Canada.
We may be three years away from the Finals but qualifying for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa will be getting underway in two months time.
Back to the Under-20s. International age-group championships are extremely difficult to predict because of the constant turnover as players progress. With the exception of Brazil and Argentina, who have both consistently delivered great teams, you are never quite sure what you are going to get from the other countries.
The media tends to relate the strength of teams competing at age-group championships with senior squads. However, it has been shown that this a poor predictor of success. Take Italy, France and Germany for example. In the last seven world cups these countries have delivered between them four World Cups and have been runners-up five times.
Compare that to the twelve Under-20 championships held since 1983 and the same three countries can account for one runners-up spot – that in 1987 when the then West Germany lost to the then Yugoslavia. Drill-down to the under-17 level and it doesn’t get much better – France won in 2001 and West Germany in 1985.
If there are any hints of what to expect, sometimes clues can be found be looking at the countries performance at the Under-17 Championship held two years prior. Although the age groups do not line up perfectly there has only been one occasion out of nine when a top four country at the Under-17s has not at least matched that record two years later at the Under-20s.
And that is not solely down to the traditional powerhouses of South America. The likes of Ghana, Nigeria, Germany and Spain have top four finishes in different age-group competitions two years apart.
So what happened at the Under-17 World Cup held in Peru two years ago? The winners were Mexico who beat Brazil 3-0 in the final. Netherlands took third and Turkey fourth. Only the two finalists out of the final four have qualified for Canada 2007.
Meanwhile five other countries that qualified for Peru 2005 have also made it through the qualification process to the under-20s in Canada. Costa Rica made it to the quarter finals in 2005 before losing to the eventual winners Mexico. Mexico had trailed 1-0 for most of the game before snatching an equalizer with only two minuts remaining. Two goals from Mexico in extra time saw Costa Rica exit the competition.
Gambia did not make it out of the group stage but were desperately unfortunate. They finished tied on points with Brazil and Netherlands but failed to move on due to an inferior goal difference. What made it worse was that Gambia missed a late penalty when down 2-0 to Netherlands when a successful attempt would have seen them qualify. Perhaps Gambia might be a country that should not be written off too quickly in the Under-20s.
Another Brazil victim was North Korea but again the eventual silver medalists were pushed all the way. The North Koreans took Brazil to extra time before eventually losing 3-1.
The USA won their group comfortably but could not deal with a Dutch side in the last eight. The remaining country Uruguay finished bottom of their group losing all three games.
Coming up tomorrow a look at some of the stars from Peru 2005 and where they are now.
From Aldo, some information on the Chile team. Colo Colo star Alexis Sanchez forward that’s heading back to Udinese of Italy this upcoming season will miss the first match against Canada due to a red card suspension from the last game of the qualifiers back in January. Also missing this match due to red or yellow card accumulations are Hans Martínez, Jaime Grondona and Juan Pablo Arenas.
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 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.
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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