During last Friday’s show I mentioned that North Korea might be a surprise team at the FIFA under-20 World Cup and if that was the case, it would not be for the first time that this secretive country has shocked larger and more renowned soccer playing countries.

Josh wrote to suggest that I write an article on North Korea’s exploits during the 1966 World Cup. Unfortunately with games coming thick and fast there just is not enough time to pull together an article but here are a number of links to stories about North Korea, their performance in 1966 in England and how the legend has been maintained forty years later.

The BBC remembers the upset against Italy and the almost upset of Portugal.

Jim White on the 2002 return of the remaining players to England. 

Three articles relating to the documenmtary that was made a few years ago about the team's impact on the 1966 World Cup. One by John Larkin another by Ian Ball and one that appeared in the International Herald Tribune.

Before the Riverside there was Ayresome Park.

"When Saturday Comes" had a great article on the return of North Korea to notrth-east England in the November 2002 edition but unfortunately it is not available on line.

Well day one is done and not many people would have bet that both Brazil and Argentina would complete the first day of competition without a win and without a goal. Argentina arrived as a strong defensive team and that was clearly on show against the Czech Republic.

Argentina dominated possession (59 to 41) and attempts on goal (22 to 2) but was missing an out-and-out goal scorer to get on the end of the numerous build-ups.

Ironically it was the Czechs who had the best chance of the game when Argentine keeper Romero opted to charge the Czech attacker on a break away and Argentina had to rely on substitute Acosta to clear the ball as it rolled towards the goal line.

Replays also showed that the Czechs were denied a first half penalty when Fenin tripped in the penalty box. Rather than pointing to the spot the referee booked the Czech player for diving. 

Moralez was the main threat (and a crowd pleaser to boot) during the first half while Banega dominated the second half for Argentina. Banega 's style was reminiscent of former great Fernando Redondo while Sergio Aguero often looks like a young Romario. 

Group E finishes day one with no goals and all four countries sitting on a point each. On Tuesday the Czech Republic plays North Korea and Panama plays Argentina. No matter Tuesday’s outcome all four teams are already guaranteed to be in contention on the final day of Group E play on Friday. 

Day 1 Wrap
Decent weather, great crowds, some good football but not a lot of goals.
Player of the Day - Lee Young Sung (South Korea)

TV Broadcast
Low point – The CBC crew of Steve Armitage and Paul Dolan were clueless when Krol was sent off against Brazil. It wasn’t until Krol was walking to the dressing room that it clicked that perhaps he had received something more than a yellow card – even though referee Howard Webb clearly showed a red card straight after the second yellow.  The first was shown 20 minutes earlier.

Please stop – refering to Canada as Team Canada.

High point – On the Argentina – Czech Republic game CBC used Steve Banyard as the play-by-play announcer and he was as usual excellent.

Blame it on the Boogie - CBC is using two in-studio analysts as well as two play-by-play crews. Of the four experts (two colour commentators and two in-studio analysts) three are former goalkeepers (Paul Dolan, Craig Forrest and #### Howard) and a left back (Bob Lenarduzzi). Don’t be surprised if Bob gets blamed if any of the former goalkeepers makes a mistake.

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.

Group E (Ottawa, Montreal)
Argentina, Czech Republic, North Korea and Panama

Argentina arrives as reigning champions and with four world championships and one fourth place finish in the last six tournaments. Hugo Tocalli has been in integral part of Argentina’s success, first as the 2IC to Jose Peckerman and now as the head man.

Argentina finished second to Brazil in South American qualifying although the Canadian-bound squad will be significantly stronger. It will not include Lionel Messi but Sergio Aguero is named to the twenty-one man pool. Aguero just turned 19 but he has already packed a considerable amount of experience into the last few years.

He made his debut for Independiente a month after his 15th birthday and a year later he scored his first senior goal. Initially he was not part of the Argentina squad that embarked on 2005 qualification but he was eventually called up. During the finals in Holland he made four appearances – all off the bench – but still contributed to the Argentine win. In the final match against Nigeria he was brought down in the penalty box and his pal Lionel Messi scored the winning goal.

Less than 12 months later Aguero moved to Atletico Madrid for $35M and he has just completed his first season La Liga play.

Ever Banega (Boca Juniors) will almost certainly start in the midfield for Argentina and will be the fulcrum of activity. Defender Emiliano Insua moved from Boca Juniors to Liverpool last January on loan with the strong possibility of the arrangement becoming permanent. Goalkeeper Sergio Romero (Racing) finished the qualifying competition unbeaten in 390 minutes.

 
The Czech Republic has produced some fine age group sides over the last decade or so although this team may struggle to reach the heights achieved by others. In European qualifying the Czech Republic lost at the semi final stage to eventual runners-up Scotland 1-0.

Inconsistency makes it difficult to predict how this Czech side will fair and it is reasonable to assume that attacking midfielder Marek Strestik (Brno) wil have a lot to do with it.

Back in 1966 at the World Cup North Korea pulled off one of the greatest upsets in the history of sport in beating Italy and knocking them out of the World Cup. A few days later the North Koreans were leading Portugal 3-0 in the quarter-finals before an Eusebio-inspired comeback led to a 5-3 win for Portugal.

The North Koreans slipped back to their closed society leaving only legends and stories. Over 40 years later will the North Koreans reemerge? Two years ago at Peru 2005 at the under-17s they made it to the last eight and were only eliminated after taking Brazil to extra time. As Asian Champions the North Koreans should not be underestimated but it is difficult to get reliable information on their players.

The names that seem to get mentioned regularly are goalkeeper Ju Kwang-Min, midfielder Ri Chol-Myong and striker Kim ####-Il who scored four goals in Asian qualifying.
Panama has made great strides as football in Panama cuts into the traditional following for baseball. Leading the side is the legendary striker Julio Dely Valdes whose career took him to Italy, France and Spain. Although Panama lost 5-0 to the USA in qualifying and finished behind the Americans both teams had already guaranteed spots in the finals.  Striker Josue Jafeth Brown is the name most often mentioned as carrying an attacking threat.

Predicted finish – 1. Argentina, 2. North Korea, 3. Czech Republic and 4. Panama.

Team Notes
The USA has had to replace Bolton Wanderers’ Johann Smith after he suffered a bad ankle sprain in a closed door friendly against New Zealand earlier this week. Preston Zimmerman has been named to replace him.

Radio New Zealand reports on the game – “The New Zealand under 20 football side has lost its second warm up match ahead of the under 20 world cup, going down four nil to the United States in New Jersey.
New Zealand were without three first choice players who've come down with a virus and after losing three nil to Costa Rica in San Jose three days ago coach Stu Jacobs is desperate to arrange a training match against the reserve team from Major League Soccer newcomers Toronto to finally give his first eleven a run.
The side's opening match of tournament is in Toronto on Monday against two-time champions Portugal.”
New Zealand will play Toronto FC in a training game on Friday.

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.

A clear sign that things are quiet in the UK as the Times has Gabriele Marcotti picking his top 50 players.

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. 
 

In a little over a week the FIFA Under-20 World Cup will kick off in Canada. When you consider the impact that Toronto FC of MLS has already made it is turning out to be a banner – perhaps pivotal year – for the game in Canada.

This is the first in a series of Under-20 World Cup blogs that will run from now until the Final on July 22 in Toronto. Although watching all 52 matches might prove to be a couple of games too far my intention is to watch – and attend – as many as I can. 

To start off here are a few articles and some information on the tournament.

This is the link to the official FIFA Under-20 World Cup site.

You can find details of previous tournaments back to the inaugural event in 1977 in Tunisia along with the winners. You would not have to be overly perceptive to notice that Brazil and Argentina have dominated this competition while Portugal and Spain have also achieved some success. So why have Brazil and Argentina been successful? A seemly endless production line of talent definitely helps although a recent article in FourFourTwo that focused on how Brazilian clubs develop talent shows that their success is far from happenstance.

In a Champions Magazine interview with Claudio Borghi the legendary Argentine playmaker and now coach of Colo Colo provide his insight into why South American countries continue to produce such great players. Borghi believes that it is the upside of European teams continually raiding South American clubs. “It’s like having a fast-food concept. Players are being sold all the time, and you must be expert in gambling on the club’s youth system. In Europe, 17-year-olds wouldn’t be able to stand the pressure of playing finals as they do here.”

Over the next week or so I will be posting some pen-pixs of players who may arrive in Canada relatively unknown but who may leave as global superstars-in-waiting. 

A story about preparations in Victoria.

And the not unexpected speculation about the return of professional soccer to Victoria. You can expect this to be one in a long line of articles that will touch on the same subject. My guess is that someone will raise the issue of a new Canadian Soccer league well before the end of the first week of competition.

Ticket problems in Victoria. Far be it for me to point out that there were no such double-headers at last summer’s World Cup in Germany.

TV broadcast schedule in the USA.

In Canada all the games will be on either CBC or a digital cable channel Country Canada. For Canadian viewers FSR's Mitch Peacock will be working many of the matches for CBC.

This journalist reckons the Gambia Under-20 team will be playing in the cold white north when the tournament kicks-off.

Rank outsiders New Zealand prepare for the tournament.

An article on ticket sales. You too can cringe at the Edmonton spokesperson’s comment.

The USA squad was announced late last week.

A regular blog reader and poster Miro has forwarded the following information about the Czech Republic team. “The Czech Coach,Miroslav Soukup,named his 21 men roster for the U-20 WC.The players and coaching staff are pretty much the same group from the U-19 Euro,last July, where they ended up Bronze.
He is missing 2 players ,who are with the U-21's at the Euro in Holland, one that got injured in the friendly vs Congo, last week and one wasn't released by the Club (because of injuries during season).He says that because they had a large pool to pick from, they have pretty much a complete squad.
The Head of The Delegation is Rudolf Bata, the Honorary Chairman of the Czech Football Association, son of Tomas Bata, the shoe magnate, who are all back operating their 'empire" in the Czech Rep, after being forced to move to Canada, after the 2nd WW.
They will fly to Edmonton on the 16th on Saturday, play a friendly vs the home team of Canada on Monday (the game was abandoned at 0-0 due to bad weather) and another one vs Korea in Toronto on the 23rd of June.

They will play the first WC game vs. favorite Argentina on the 30th of June in Ottawa.”

You can send any information (fsr@mts.net) that think might be of interest about the 24 countries and I will post a selection regularly. However, I’m not holding my breath thinking I’m going to get much on North Korea. If you have a blog and you have information on the tournament please post your link under comments.

atleti_female - I've been thinking about going to the FIFA U-20 World Cup in Canada this summer. The thought of seeing some of the sport's upcoming stars would definitely make it worth the trek up from NYC. I imagine that U-20 version will be less crowded than the regular World Cup-- is this a correct assumption? (Mind you, I don't see this as a negative, but as a possibility of getting good seats in the games.)

Also, at this stage of the competition, are there any youngsters that have caught your eye-- or, that have been talked about by other analysts?

Bobby - I think that the FIFA Under-20 World Cup in Canada this summer is going to be a terrific tournament.  The last announced ticket sales for the six host cities was around 300,000, but many of the sales so far have been cut-price deals to youth players and the soccer fraternity. The 24 team tournament will be held in Ottawa, Toronto, Montréal, (east) and Edmonton, Vancouver, and Victoria (west) in July. The final will be in Toronto.

The draw for the tournament will be made in Toronto, on March 3 and is being televised live in Canada, on CBC television (the rights holder in Canada). The teams to watch - no great insight here - will be Brazil, Argentina, and Spain. As for other teams to look out for I would pick Mexico (they won the under 17 World Cup two years ago), and the Czech Republic (they have produced some very good age-group teams in the last decade). Nigeria has done well at age-group level as well and they are joined by three other African countries Congo, Gambia and Zambia who would be regarded as more unknowns, but potentially very entertaining and exciting.

I don't see the European teams being particularly strong given that they have a “competing” format for the under 21’s. Germany, France, Italy, none of these countries have qualified which I think will be a shock to some people who might be interested in buying tickets but do not necessarily follow the game closely.

The USA should be competitive as it normally is at this level and Canada should definitely make it into the last 16 with a top eight spot a realistic expectation.  It is difficult to say who the players are to watch out for because there is no guarantee that they will be “available”.

He can only hope that the likes of Lionel Messi, Cesc Fabregas and Carlos Vela (Mexico and Arsenal) Giovanni Dos Santos (Mexico and Barcelona) make appearances. There is also a kid Bojan Krkic (still only 16) who may make the Spanish squad - another Barcelona player.

Just as an aside, North Korea and South Korea have both qualified and will be separated at the group stage.  But what are the odds that North Korea will be drawn together with the USA?

Henry14 – I have to say l do not see Mascherano taking Sissoko's place he will be used as a squad player and the size of his contract appears to me to be more of Benitez accepting that he has taken a gamble. l have to make a brief comment on Tottenham. Martin Jol spend $82m in the transfer window on Zokora, Berbatov, Ghaly, Mido, Ekkoto, and Malbranque and it teams like this that make me appreciate Mourinho, because clearly they are underperforming. Martin Jol seems not to know his first choice midfield paring.

Managers are usually fined when they bad mouth referees do you know what happens to referees when they make bad calls like the Ronaldo and Yakubu tumbles, because l just feel the referees are inconsistent, the next minute they follow the book the other they are trying to use their head, like the Viduka case. And lastly what did you make of the La Liga round this week; in my opinion l just feel La Liga is not cutting it this year.

Bobby - A fully fit and fully functioning Javier Mascherano is a far better player than Mohamed Sisokko, in my opinion. Did Martin Jol spend the money or was it Damien Comolli (Arsenal’s former European scout) the Spurs Sporting Director?

I can't question Berbatov's performances this year, as I think he's been outstanding. I would agree that Spurs have not got their midfield figured out and they still lack balance and need somebody who is naturally left footed.  Lennon and Malbranque played far too wide against Manchester United and left Huddleston and Zokora exposed. It didn't help either that the Spurs defense played very deep.
The defense really misses Ledley King.

As for referees making bad calls - we can expect the perfect referee about the same time that the perfect player is created. Referees are held accountable for their performances probably to a greater extent than players are. It is interesting that you are criticizing the referee for the Ronaldo incident, but make no mention of Ronaldo's contribution. How can you criticize referees when some players go out with the full intention of cheating?

As for the comment about La Liga - I do not understand what you mean by “not cutting it”.  There are 5 or 6 teams in contention for the league title, apart from the bottom two it looks like its going be a real fight for the last relegation spot and they have three teams in the last 16 of the champions league. What in your opinion would constitute cutting it?

Djnima - My first question for you is about Real Madrid. What do you think is their problem this year? They have the talent, they have a good coach. Do they just need time to gel together and hit form?

Also, would you see Wenger cashing in on Henry? I'm sure he could command a huge chunk of change. Isn't that was Wenger likes to do . . . (buy low sell high)

And my final question is about Scolari this week coming out and recommending that Ronaldo leave united for Barca. Do you consider that an irresponsible comment for a national coach to make about the player's current club? It is sure to sour relations between the national team and the club team.

Bobby – I think that Real Madrid is still suffering from the chaos of previous years and the culture shock of being managed by Fabio Capello. Capello is not an adventurous coach, and that's clearly seen by the lack of goals from Real Madrid. Not only is a team losing, but they are losing ugly! The problem is if they get rid of Capello who do they replace him with and if they do the chaos just continues.

Arsene Wenger is not going to be selling Thierry Henry in the near future.

Sometimes in newspapers we see the answer, but we never see the question. I am guessing that that's the case with Scolari.

Gunner44 - I'm also going to ask about Ronaldo on whether you think he should leave Man U? I don't see why he should move because he is been amazing this season and the Man U team has kind of revolved around him this season and he is having a fantastic season. The only reason that he might want to leave is because of social and environmental reasons like the weather just like Reyes did. It's really going to be a big loss for the EPL because as much as I hate Ronaldo, I do think he has been the most entertaining player this season.

Bobby – The Premiership cannot afford to lose players like Ronaldo even though gravity often gets the better of him. To substantiate the television rights fees, not just in England, but around the world the premiership has to be seen as the league that stars come to, rather than the league that they leave.

Foxcube – Man Utd this season have suffered very few injuries whereas other teams such as Arsenal, Newcastle had a team in the medic room at certain points. Could you shed some light on this issue? Another question regards Lippi's interview a short while ago about his possible move the Chelsea. Do you still think Mourinho is on the way despite their recent "revival"? Thanks!

Bobby – There have been seasons when Manchester United has had injuries piling up as well.  Teams do need a bit of luck; it isn't just down to having the best players.
Injuries tend to come and go in cycles but Newcastle seem to be in a perpetual state of injury crisis.  There was some discussion about the quality of their training field a while back but I have no idea whether that was rectified or not. When you consider the amount of money that the top teams spend on players and pay them, you would think that they would be making sure that they train only on the best surfaces. Making sure that players cool down properly and prepare themselves properly is also key.

ulsterson - Do you see any validity to the idea that different skills or talents can be learned in different leagues? The EPL certainly has a different style of play than those on the continent and in South America. Some players have a very difficult time adjusting to the pace and physical nature and some English born players have difficulty outside of the EPL (Just recently read about forwards from the EPL having to be told not to track back as much in Spain or Italy) How do the different leagues around the world affect players development and do you feel the EPL style has in some way hindered the success of the English national team? Thank you and thanks from all of us for all the time you put in on this blog.

Bobby – I think you have to except that different skills and talents can be taught and learned by players in different leagues. The different leagues around the world still have their own characteristics and still represent each country's culture. Glenn Hoddle and John Collins are two players who've often commented on the difference it made to their game when they went to France to play. Sometimes it's not just the on field performance either, but things like lifestyle.  Much has been made of the influence of Arsene Wenger and foreign players on home-grown player’s diets.

The EPL style does “hurt” English national team because at the international level ball possession becomes even more critical.  In the premiership the ball is given away with more abandon and the emphasis is placed on winning it back.

Only1cab - I know that signing a player can be an arduous process but when there is so much money involved it seems a bit unprofessional signing players five minutes before the window closes. I mean they've had a whole month.
Also Tottenham are in trouble with the FA for showing the replay of Ronaldo's (alleged) dive over and over again on their big screens at half time on Sunday. I believe it was a bit irresponsible of them after the events in Italy.

Bobby – Panic buying is never a positive thing although I think you have to separate the last moment decision to try and sign a player, versus pursuing a player over a long period of time but running into roadblocks and tough negotiators.
I really don't know what Tottenham did in respect to the video replays, but if they did continually replay the Ronaldo “incident” at half-time then it shows a lack of common sense in my opinion.  Replaying the incident on a video board isn't going to fix anything.

On the subject of video replay - sort of - Matt Dickinson had an article in The Times about how it was a bad weekend in England for video replay enthusiasts.

Verbal97 - I'm a little confused about what's going on in Italy in terms of repercussions. This should be the straw that breaks the camel's back and if it happened in England, the UEFA and FIFA powers that be would be going nuts. A small set of English fans (ok, Liverpool fans) inadvertently caused the deaths of 39* (mostly) Juventus supporters by rushing them and causing a wall to fall down in response to the Italians throwing stuff at them. The resulting punishment was that ALL English teams were banned from Europe for 5 years and Liverpool banned an extra year. In 04/05, Roma fans threw things at the referee during a Champions' League game. Resulting punishment was 3 games in front of an empty stadium. That same season, Inter fans threw flares onto the field during the CL quarterfinal against Milan, even striking a player (Dida). The resulting punishment was 3 games in front of an empty stadium. It seems that the punishment now that a policeman has died should be extreme and severe, but from the conflicting reports I've been reading, it doesn't seem that it will be likely. So, I really have two questions. First, what, in reality, is going on? And second, why is there a double standard depending on what country these things happen in (or am I mis-perceiving this)?

Post-script I stand corrected on the numbers (I've edited my comment to reflect this)...However, it seems to me that Italy is descending down a slippery slope and it needs to be stopped, using things like Heysel as a history lesson as to what can happen down the line. That said, I stand by my double standard comment, in that if something like this happened in England today, a swift, severe punishment from UEFA would likely follow, even though the English game has been cleaned up considerably whereas Italy now is a complete disaster and not likely going to get severe penalties.

Bobby – I don't think the Italian situation at the moment comes close to what was happening in England, and in Europe in the 70s and 80s. During that time, it was week after week, year after year, it was never ending. I don't agree that if there was a similar incident in England, that UEFA would issue a severe punishment.  Domestically, it doesn't fall within their jurisdiction. UEFA get involved when European club or international competition is involved.

As a postscript - my memory might be failing me on this one - but my recollection was that the FA together with the British government of the time withdrew English teams from European competition immediately after the Heysel disaster. The suspensions from the UEFA only came after. I think that is an indication of how bad the situation actually was. 

You also have to consider that it was not until after the Hillsborough disaster - not caused by fans but by incompetent policing – and to some extent the Bradford fire that there was a real commitment to fixing things.  The issuing of the Taylor Report was critical, and only after the report were English football grounds brought up to a modern standard.