U20 World Cup Chewing Gum #6: The Day The Minnows Triumphed
Every major tournament there’s always at least one smaller nation that punches well above their weight. Remember Turkey and South Korea emerging as challengers at the 2002 World Cup, taking it all the way to the semi-finals? Magical.
Never before had Fiji won a match at a FIFA tournament. Not at any level. Heck, they’d never every played in a FIFA tournament before! In beating Honduras they’ve caused the biggest upset of the tournament and one of the biggest ever seen, given that this is a country with a population of less than a million people (up against one with 8 million citizens). They have zero professionals in their side, and just one professional at any level (Wellington Phoenix’s Roy Krishna). Oh, and their last game? They lost 8-1. Nobody saw this coming, and that’s why it’s so special.
Imagine what this could do for Oceania football, especially in the wake of Auckland City’s run at the last Club World Cup. Oceania’s always been the forgotten confederation. They understandably don’t have any automatic World Cup places, nor are they likely to get one any time in the near future. But you need to crawl before you can walk and for Oceania to begin competing globally, they need to start getting results when they get their rare chances. Fiji have, amazingly, done just that.
Hopefully New Zealand takes a some inspiration, we play Myanmar tonight, both team’s needing a win for a chance to make the next round.
Honduras 0-3 Fiji
Incredible stuff. Though in truth, more than a little blame needs to be placed at the feet of the Hondurans. More than a little? More than a lot. All three of Fiji’s goals were the product of some abysmal defending, and that’s no exaggeration. Clumsily giving the ball away in their own penalty area for the first goal, which was hit hard but straight at the keeper who palmed it over his own shoulder. Then a pass-back giving the Fijians and indirect free kick in the box. Iosefo Verevou’s shot came back off the crossbar, however Saula Waqa was allowed to attempts at the follow-up shot – which eventually looped into the side of the goal as every Honduran defender in sight stood stagnant. It got even better right before half time when Atonio Tuivuna headed the ball (free header at the far post from a corner, tsk tsk) into Kevin Alvarez’s back and it rebounded into the net. Honduras were shellshocked. But even still, they bossed this game in terms of possession and shots (31 total shots! How can you lose 3-0 with 31 shots!). As the game progressed, it always felt like Honduras would score and once they did they may well grab three or four… but that never happened. Fiji defended bravely and they withstood all that was offered for a famous victory.
Nigeria 4-0 Korea DPR
No upset here, though North Korea battled hard to hold Nigeria (who’d given Brazil a fair run in their first game) scoreless until the second half, though once they conceded it was floodgates. In truth, Nigeria hammered them from the start even despite resting a couple of key guys. 10 shots on target in total, Saviour Godwin scored twice after half time and then Kingsley Sokari and Saviour Godwin scored a couple of lovely goals as icing. North Korea worked hard but were let down by their own mistakes, they’ve lost 5-1 and 4-0 so far and need to beat Brazil to advance. So… good luck with that.
Germany 3-0 Uzbekistan
Some people probably said this going all the way back to the draw itself, but Germany are definitely the odd ones out in this group based on what we’ve seen so far. They’ll be huge favourite in every game they play, expected to win them all with ease. So far so good. Mark Stendera scored a couple goals as Germany did the business over Uzbekistan. The central Asian side defended compactly and in numbers, sacrificing any shot at the unlikely upset in favour of damage limitation and that’s basically how it happened. The Germans waiting patiently for space and opportunities and eventually getting what they deserved. Stendera’s first was a curling free kick, his second a late one-on-one after a lovely change of direction from Hany Mukthar. Captain Kevin Akpoguma scored the other after dispossessing the UZB fullback and driving in from the edge of the box. All comfortable stuff.
Brazil 2-1 Hungary
The Hungarians are a very good team, as they proved in demolishing North Korea in their first game, but nobody quite expected to see them take the early lead against Brazil. Granted, it was a little controversial. Hat-trick hero in the first game Bence Mervo lobbed a speckie towards the goal after picking off his defender, which the keeper Jean badly misjudged and fumbled over the line before recovering. Goal-line tech mighta had something to say about it, the eye test suggested he’d saved it but the slo-mo raised doubts (see below). Anyway, the ref said bingo and the score was 1-0 Hungary after 8 minutes. But Krisztian Tamas was a very silly boy and picked up two yellows in 16 minutes, getting an early shower for his troubles and leaving his team in the lurch. Hungary were fantastic with 10-men, supremely well organised, and they held out until the second half. But Brazil were relentless (69% possession they finished with). Danilo scored a powerful header to equalise and just as it looked like Hungary really would steal a point, Gabriel Jesus earned a penalty and Andreas Pereira stepped up to brush it home, the keeper diving the right way but unable to fish it out.
The Main Men
The Entire Fiji Team (Fiji) – Well, who would you single out from a crowd of history makers?
Saviour Godwin (Nigeria) – Saviour indeed. A three minute brace just after half time avoided the Nigerians from having to get all antsy about not converting their dominance into goal. Probably won’t be enough to keep Success Isaac, Musa Yahaya or Kelechi Iheanacho out of the side next game but he certainly took the chance he got.
Mark Stendera (Germany) – Overshadowed by strike partner Hany Mukthar against Fiji (though Stendera did score a penalty), this was his turn to shine. Two goals and a whole lotta class. To be honest, both German strikers are outstanding.
Gabriel Jesus (Brazil) – He’s a handful, that’s for sure. A wizard with the ball as most Brazilian international strikers are, he won the decisive penalty, though an injury time booking means he’ll miss their final group game. Luckily Judivan is a more than handy player himself.
