U20 World Cup Chewing Gum #1 & #2: The Opening Weekend
And so the best young footballers on the planet have descended on New Zealand. Top prodigies from some of the biggest clubs in the world fighting valiantly against the torrential Wellington weather, trying desperately to stay warm in the dugouts in Dunedin, hoping the team bus will be able to beat the Auckland traffic and get to the game on time. Even hoping that the team bus still has its hubcaps after games in Hamilton and Whangarei… (joking of course, both are absolutely gorgeous cities).
There’s no messing about with this competition. Four games a day, just two days off in between games. The 36 group stage games will be over in nine days, two of those days already passed. But then there’s also a round of 16 to commence the knockouts, which means that only 8 of 24 teams are eliminated in the groups. So a loss now is hardly the end of the world, Ghana lost their first two in 2013 and went on to finish third, yet the value of a win in just as enormous as ever.
The first couple days gave us a delicious taste of what’s to come. Goals and saves, stunners and sitters, red cards, comebacks, upsets and clinics. These blokes are all professionals, some at local clubs and others at global ones. They have the innocence and vibrancy of youth that implores fast, exciting football and yet have the technical and tactical learnings to still play intelligent football. The standard is superb and the product is fantastic. You’ve just gotta love it.
New Zealand 0-0 Ukraine
The hosts got their account open with a grating 0-0 draw against Ukraine. Both sides were set up to defend firm and capitalise on mistakes, and cancelled each other out at first, however the game opened up as it went along and by the end of it both had spurned a number of opportunities to win. Poor finishing and desperate defence the tale of this one, they’ll each be satisfied with a point.
Argentina 2-2 Panama
The Argies showed everyone exactly why they are one of the favourites for this tournament with a performance full of all the flair, technical brilliance and gritty determination that we’ve come to expect from football in that country. Led by the enigmatic Angel Correa (who scored twice), they’ll be one of the teams to watch, however this one didn’t quite go as planned. Twice they took the lead, and twice a plucky and impressive Panamanian side pegged them back with a stunning equaliser. Jhamal Rodriguez with the first, Fidel Escobar with the second.
USA 2-1 Myanmar
America don’t actually have the best of records at age group level, which is a bit weird given what a rapidly rising sport it is over there among the young’uns. Nonetheless, they have some high expectations, and those certainly didn’t include falling behind to a scrappy goal from battlers Myanmar. They equalised soon after from a Maki Tall volley at the far post from a corner, though the winner wouldn’t come until the second half, a clinical finish from Fulham midfielder Emerson Hyndman. A bit of a scare, although they still bossed the game in sunny Whangarei.
Ghana 1-1 Austria
The Black Satellites of Ghana spent the week smiling, laughing and talking up their chances at NZ 2015. Maybe they just didn’t account for the autumnal caresses of Windy Wellington, where the rain fell harder than a winger in the penalty box. Austria had no problem with the weather, they put in a fine performance that arguably deserved more than the point they ended up with. Bernd Gschweidl gave them a 1-0 lead soon after half-time, but Manchester City youngster Yaw Yeboah equalised from the penalty spot in stoppage time. Right call from the ref, Austria will be devastated while Ghana will need more than this to overcome Argentina next time out.
Qatar 0-1 Colombia
The bulk of this Qatar team will be the folks expected to fill their nation’s heart with glory at the 2022 World Cup that they’re still officially hosting as things stand. They’re 18-20 now, they’ll be 25-27 then and in their primes. There wasn’t too much here to suggest they’ll be competing for the U20 title but they played their part in an entertaining game. Colombia took the lead through the dangerous Joao Rodriguez early and the South Americans played the first half in a different stratosphere. Yet they didn’t kill it off, and were forced to work incredibly hard just to hold on as Qatar came on strong in the back 45. Jassim Al Jalabi missed a couple chances that could have definitely changed the outcome.
Mexico 0-2 Mali
Crazy scenes in this one. Mexico’s pace looked like it might be too much for Mali to handle, but keeper Djigui Diarra was up to the task. It was a game where the sound of the referee’s whistle was far from rare, and El Tri got a huge boost when Mali’s Hamidou Maiga was sent off after 56 minutes for a second yellow. Mexico should’ve had it in the bag from there, but like a Christchurch police station they imploded. Two red cards of their own in the space of three minutes (65-67 mins), then two goals leaked in the space of three more minutes (77-79 mins) and Mali claimed an unexpected win.
Portugal 3-0 Senegal
For 89 minutes, Senegal held strong against a rampant Portugal side. Unfortunately they capitulated on either side of that stretch, conceding the first goal after only 26 seconds and then twice more in the last few minutes of the game. Andre Silva of Portugal is a man to keep an eye on, he set up the first goal with a visionary ball, before killing it off with a fine header. Granted, he missed a pretty simple in between. Senegal held their own in the midfield but Portugal had all the chance and deservedly ran out to victory.
Uruguay 1-0 Serbia
One lapse was all it took to doom Serbia. Mijat Gacinovic playing Gaston Pereiro onside, and keeper Predrag Rajkovic (who had a pretty good game aside) beaten to the ball, Pereiro with a clever first-time finish. Serbia attacked hard for a late equaliser but came up short. Kind of sleepy from the South Americans and unlucky for Serbia, who were the more inventive team, they just couldn’t score. There’s talent abound in this Uruguay squad though, they have plenty more to offer.
The Main Men
Angel Correa (Argentina) – No player was better than Correa on opening weekend. No player even came close. He looked like a superstar in waiting as he ghosted in and around the Panamanian defensive line, spotting gap before they’d even opened and threading passes through the eye of a needle. The black boots are a classy touch too.
Taras Kacharaba (Ukraine) – Very imposing from this lad, a good old fashioned centre back who’ll dominate in the air and doesn’t hold back in a challenge. This is PTSD-inducing defence.
Nuno Santos (Portugal) – An 89th minute sub who scored one and set up another. Talk about having an impact off the bench.
Djigui Diarra (Mali) – Top stuff in denying Mexico for 90 minutes. Diarra missed qualifying thorugh injury and it was a slight shock to see him starting, however he soon reminded everyone quite why. There hasn’t a better goalkeeping performance yet and there might not be one.
Andrija Živković (Serbia) – It didn’t come to anything in terms of the scoreboard, but Živković was full of skill and enterprise all game. He’s Serbia’s youngest ever full international for a reason, you know.
Ibou Sy (Senegal) – Ok, he’s not the best keeper in the tournament, not by a long stretch (the Argentinian goalie had a good game, and fine things have been said about Ukraine’s gloveman) but he may be the most revolutionary. Check out the tuck and roll he employs with his throws.
