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.

On Friday we looked at the results from Under-17 World Cup held in Peru two years ago in the hope that it might provide some clues as to who and what to watch for as the Under-20 World Cup kicks off in Canada on June 30.

Here is a rundown of the stars from the 2005 tournament as picked and described by World Soccer (in quotes) at the time with an update on where they are now.

Carlos Vela (Mexico) Striker 5 goals, Golden Shoe Winner
“Tournament top scorer (edit. Golden Shoe winner with 5 goals). Consistently too quick for his marker and finished well, both in the air and with his left foot.”

Where is he now? Vela was transferred to Arsenal from Chivas Guadalajara in 2005. He was subsequently loaned to Celta Vigo but they opted not to keep him for the 2006/07 season and instead he moved to Salamanca of the Spanish Second division.
Often played on the left side of midfield Vela still found the net for Salamanca on a regular base. He may return to Celta Vigo (just relegated from La Liga) next season before finally making a move to Arsenal sometime in 2008.

“Ramon (Brazil) Midfield 4 goals
Tall, strong attacking midfielder. Needs to improve his discipline but has huge promise.”

Where is he now? At the time of the 2005 Under-17 tournament Ramon was with Atletico Mineiro. He then moved to Corinthians before joining fellow Brazilians Jo, Wagner Love and Daniel Carvalho at CSKA Moscow. Ramon is not in the Brazilian squad of 21.

“Celso Borges (Costa Rica) Midfield 1 goal
Playmaker who caught the eye with defence-splitting passes and raking shots.”

Where is he now? Son of former Costa Rica and now Panama Coach Alexandre Guimaraes, Borges is still with Deportivo Saprissa of Costa Rica and continues to improve and mature. Borges will be a key member of the Costa Rica team in Canada.

“Choe Myong #### (North Korea) Midfield 3 goals
The “Korean Ronaldo” soon proved to be something different – a midfielder who can pass, shoot, and cross with power and subtlety.”

Where is he now? Choe Myong #### is one of the few - perhaps only - North Korean players playing outside of his country. He now plays for FC Krylya Sovetov Samara in the Russian Premier League. He was injured during most of Asian qualifying and contributed little. Despite reports that he had recovered his fitness he does not appear to be on the North Korean squad for the tournament.

“Ofori Sarkodie (USA) Defender 1 goal
A contender for defender of the tournament. Cool, neat and classy in everything he did.”

Where is he now? The 2005 NSCAA/adidas National Youth Player of the Year, currently plays with the University of Indiana although he has trained with the Columbus Crew. Sarkdorie captained the under-17 tea and is in the USA pool for the Under-20 tournament and is likely to make the starting eleven.

“Ceesay Momodou (Gambia) Striker 2 goals
Giant striker who terrified defenders with swift turns and strong surges. Needs to work on his left foot, but is certainly one to watch.”

Where is he now? Nicknamed Zico, Momodou missed the African qualifying competition in Congo earlier this year after undergoing surgery in Switzerland late in 2006. Reports indicate that the surgery was needed to clear up an injury that the player had been carrying since 2005. Momodou does not appear on the Gambian under-20 squad list. 

So out of the six stars on the Under-17 tournament picked by World Soccer two years ago it looks as if only 50% will be playing at the Under-20s in Canada. A confirmation if it was needed that the gap between promising youngster and emerging star can be a huge one.

On the other side of the equation Anderson (Brazil) was the winner of the Golden Ball at Peru 2005 and was eligible for Canada 2007. However, Anderson has been called up to the senior squad for the Copa America and recently completed a multi million dollar move from Porto to Manchester United.

It is also interesting to see how many players who were young enough to play in 2005 at the under-20s in Holland, but still qualified for Canada 2007 and actually made it.

The winners Argentina could have had both Lionel Messi and Sergio Aguero appear in Holland and Canada but we will have to make do with the latter. Runners-up Nigeria had seven players (Daddy Bazuaye, John Obi Mikel, Promise Isaac, Solomon Okoronkwo, Dele Adeleye, Kola Anubi, John Owoeri) who could have played in both tournaments but amazingly none of them have been named to the Nigerian squad.

As chance would have it Chelsea’s John Obi Mikel was in the news last week. He was suspended by the Nigerian FA from all Nigerian national teams after failing to accept a call up to the senior national team.

Canada is the complete opposite to Nigeria. When they traveled to Holland two summer’s ago six players (Jaime Peters, Will Johnson, Jonathan Beaulieu-Bourgault, David Edgar, Andrea Lombardo and Asmir Begovic) were hoping to repeat and all have.

The USA has also made full use of the players who picked up invaluable experience in Holland. Nathan Sturgis and Freddy Adu (now Real Salt Lake teammates) as well as Danny Szetela of the Columbus Crew are on the squad.

South Korea have two returnees (Jong Jin Park and Young Rok Shin) while Panama’s Celso Polo made it but Ivan Rodriguez did not. Carlos Carmona was the youngster in the Chile team in 2005 and now brings experience to the team. However, Japan’s Takayuki Morimoto was unable to make it two appearances at the Under-20 World Cup. 

Warm-up Games
Some warm-up games have been played over the weekend. New Zealand lost 3-0 to Costa Rica (Borges 2, Solorzano) while the USA beat Chile 2-1. Adu and Rogers scored for the US while Alexis Sanchez got Chile’s goal from the penalty spot.

South Korea scored the only goal of the game to beat the Czech Republic.

Suspensions
According to a FIFA media release the following players are not eligible to play in their team's respective first match due to a suspension carried over from previous competition:

Zambia 5 NYAMBE Henry is not eligible to play Match #6: Jordan - Zambia (01.07.2007).
Panama 6 CASTANEDA Francisco is not eligible to play Match #3: Korea DPR - Panama (30.06.2007).
Argentina 8 SANCHEZ Matias is not eligible to play Match #4: Argentina - Czech Rep. (30.06.2007).
CHI 11 GRONDONA Jaime is not eligible to play Match #5: Canada - Chile (01.07.2007).
CHI 10 ARENAS Juan is not eligible to play Match #5: Canada - Chile (01.07.2007).
CHI 17 MARTINEZ Hans is not eligible to play Match #5: Canada - Chile (01.07.2007).
CHI 7 SANCHEZ Alexis is not eligible to play Match #5: Canada - Chile (01.07.2007).

However, I received an e mail from Chile fan Pablo Oliva who tells me that the Chilean FA is still hopeful of having the suspensions for Grondona and Martinez set aside. We will keep you updated on this as this week progresses.

Other Perspectives
You will find an article on Scotland’s preparations.

A more in-depth look at the Argentine team.

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.