They will have to go something today in Egypt to match the drama of last week's quarterfinals in the FIFA World Youth Cup.
    Ghana faces Hungary in one semifinal (10:30 am Eastern) while it's Brazil against Costa Rica (2 p.m.) in the other. Only Ghana arrived at this point without playing extra time.
    On paper it should be a Ghana-Brazil final, but this is an Under-20 event where one night's form has had little to do with the next day's performance.
    Brazil, for example, could have been done and dusted in its quarterfinal, trailing Germany into the closing minutes before substitute Maicon scored to make it 1-1 and force extra time. The same player scored immediately after the extra time began so Brazil lives to chase its fifth U-20 title.
    The Brazilians last won in 2003 when the UAE was host, but South American teams have had a virtual stranglehold on this event. Argentina won in 2001, 2005 and 2007 so CONMEBOL owns every title in this century to date and has won 10 of the previous 16 championships.
    No African nation has ever won but Ghana is a previous finalist, losing to then-host Argentina in 2001. This is a strong Ghanaian side but it had to work hard to edge South Korea 3-2.
    Of course both favorites have to navigate today's semifinals.
    Two of the events top strikers, Ghana's Dominic Adiyiah and Brazil's Alex Texeira should be the focus of attention today. Addiyiah scored twice in the win over South Korea and while Texeira was kept off the sheet by the Germans his presence up front creates room for others to operate.
    Hungary has done well to get this far but even with a first minute lead from a penalty and eventually playing against nine men the Magyars were somewhat fortunate to eliminate Italy, 3-2 in their last start. There are some weaknesses in their defense that you would expect Ghana to exploit.
    Costa Rica should know plenty about Brazil since Texeira scored once and Alan Kardec, his partner in the attack tandem, had two back in the opening round when Brazil crushed the Ticos 5-0. Since then Costa Rica has showed plenty of resilience, advancing to the second round by scoring more goals than the United States, then stunning host Egypt and eliminating the UAE. In each case, the Ticos simply did a bit more than a rival which had plenty of backing from the home crowd in Cairo.
    Brazil, though stifled by Germany much of that match, has been the most attractive, impressive side in this event. It will take something special to derail them at this stage.
    The final and third place games will be played Friday.