World Cup U20 diary

[REDSCOUSER]

Redscouser, let me be the guest to report the Jordan vs Zambia match

Well firstly i think the result was fair for both sides considering the ref made some utter farical dubious decisions.

Zambia led in the 5th minute through a penalty which in my opinion wasnt and the Jordanian player got sent off, it was a controversial decision.

Jordan scored just before half time out of nowhere the Zambian defence made a comical erorr and were rightly punished for it and a Zambian player got sent off, for of the ball inicident which the ref didnt see it so off he goes to the lines man after a quick word he goes to the other side of the picth and consults with the lines man but no decision then apparently the 4th official from the touch line passed his verdict and for the Zambian player sent off.

Each player that got sent off, John Helm the match commentator said was very controversial and didnt deserve to be sent off. Anyway the ref was a yank so there had to be controversies.

Well i guess a draw was a fair result.

agree, I saw the hilights and could not believe the 2 red cards, the ref was ****e

[loco_law]

I was at both of the Victoria matches yesterday, and both were good in their own right.

Scotland = Big, tall team with not a lot of pace and not overly great at knocking the ball around.

Japan = Smaller, faster team that is very disciplined in their attack and one touch. Look to be the team that could come out of this group easily. They also have the best goal celebrations so far.

Costa Rica = Large amounts of pretty boys trying to emulate Ronaldo's hairstyle, but no substance to back it up.

Nigeria = Pacey team that has no problems getting stuck in with their tackles, and although they lost their starting keeper to an injury, the backup keeper stepped up and made a couple of clean sheet saving stops. They also changed from a 4-4-2 in the first half to a 4-3-3 in the second half, which really made the CR's fumble around their marking.

All in all, a good day of footie. (yes, that's how you spell it. )

[REDSCOUSER]

day 3

Mexico showed their metal today with an impressive 3-0 win over Gambia. They dominated the match from the begining. Gambia were decent but could not contain the Mexicans. Two players stood out for me & both were Mexicans.
1-Dos Santos who is in the Barcelona squad is a very promising young player. Fast, direct and knows where the goal is. His goal was a lovely volley from just inside the left hand side of the box. It was precise & powerful. He will be some player for Barca.
The other one was Vela. A player similar in style to Messi. He orchestrated most of the attacks today for Mexico. Apparently Arsenal signed him but loaned him out to Celta Vigo & now Salamanca in LA LIGA 2.
The second match saw Portugal nudge over New Zealand 2-0 thanks to a brace from star man Bruno Gama. The first was a peach of a free kick from all of 30 yards. The ball flew into the top corner giving the keeper no chance. The second goal was a peno that he had to take twice but still finished.
He is a Beardsley sort of player. Plays right behind the main striker. He's pacey, has a poweful shot and loadsa skill. At 19 he's got plenty more to come. The Kiwis were ok, too defensive for my liking. All heart & effort but hardly any threat.
The third match saw Austria & Congo share the spoils at 1-1. It was a game of 2 halves. While Austria dominated the first, Congo came fighting back in the second to earn a creditable point. Noone stood for me in this match. Don't think they both will go far in the tourney.

Having watched all the teams I can say that its gonna be a wide open tourney with a few surprises. But maybe the cream will rise to the top in the shape of Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, Portugal, Spain.
Watch out for Uruguay, Japan & Poland they can spring a surprise or two again.

[RedReet]

Any updates for yesterdays matches Red? Wish I had of made the effort and stayed up to watch them, alot of goals scored. Can't even check the highlights in work.

Cheers

[Neil Young]

Is it still "day 1"? Are they playing this tournament on Pluto?

[REDSCOUSER]

day 4

Went to watch USA V POLAND, good game with the Americans winning 6-1. The game started well with Poland scoring after 5 minutes but then USA scored in the 9th and never looked back.
Freddie Edu was fantastic, scored a hatrick and created havoc in the Polish defence. Another player caught my eyes is the right winger Zouzu for America. A direct, old style, dribbling winger ala the 60's. Everytime USA attacked on the righ wing he took on a man or two and managed a good cross. The US had another good player by the name of Szetla who wore #7(Polish origin how ironic). He has 3 goals already, 2 of whom were headers. He reminds me of Houghton. Always buzzing, good passer and headerer despite his small frame. Good little player.
The second game was by far the best one of the tourney so far. Brazil barely edged past South Korea 3-2. Brazil led 3-0 till the 80th minute then Korea made it close.
Pato was the star man with 2 goals but his all round display was impressive.
This game had everything, passion, skill, chances and goal mouth action. Great night in Montreal for me.
The other games was Czech Rep v North Korea which ended 2-2. It was on the telly last night so I could not miss it. Good game with many chances and good goals. Two from long distance, one indvidual skill & one grat build up.
Finally, Argentina showed their metal by thrashing Panama 6-0. Aguero bossed the game with 2 goals & 2 assists.
One note on this game, 4 of the goals came from tap ins, 1 from a semi-vollyed tap in & the 6th was a beautiful 1-2 between Aguero & other who delicately chipped the keeper one on one.
Our kid Insua had another solid match as a left back, nothing went past. Would have liked to see him attack more since the opposition were poor but he did not do it that much in the second half. That's all folks.

[REDSCOUSER]

Is it still "day 1"? Are they playing this tournament on Pluto?

Jupitar.

[Neil Young]

Jupitar.

But, as you know, days there only last about ten hours.

[REDSCOUSER]

day 5

Yesterday was the most boring of all days quality wise.

Japan beat Costa Rica 1-0 in a dull match.
In the same group Nigeria beat McHaggis 2-0 easily..zzzzzzzzzzzzz

Uruguay beat Jordan 1-0 in Vancouver in a decent match. Jordan hit the post in the 1st half and the crossbar in the second. Uruguay dodged it a bit.
Best match of the day was Spain v Zambia 2-1. Zambia were unclucky to concede a peno in the 1st half in what seemed to be a 50-50 challange but the Mexican ref(whos the knobjockey that appointed him to ref a Spansih speaking country) gave the peno. Spain went 2-0 up before the end of the half but Zambia came back in the 2nd half and made a game out of it but could not get that elusive points.
Barragan impressed me again, he ws strong in the tackle, good positional sense and good going forward. Maybe RAFA can bring him back.

HASTA LUEGO AMIGOS

[RedReet]

Cheers for the update again Red. Any other Spanish aces Rafa might be casting an eye over? I really hope if we don't activate Barragan's release clause that it doesn't come back to haunt us at a future date.

[REDSCOUSER]

Cheers for the update again Red. Any other Spanish aces Rafa might be casting an eye over? I really hope if we don't activate Barragan's release clause that it doesn't come back to haunt us at a future date.

yeh two of them played well again. Mata & Capel(a bit of a diver, and only uses right foot to stand on). Doubt if we will go for them though. Very good players.

[Neil Young]

Face it RS, calling this thread "Day 1" was a mistake.

Frankly I'm disappointed that someone of your experience could make such an error.

[REDSCOUSER]

Face it RS, calling this thread "Day 1" was a mistake.

Frankly I'm disappointed that someone of your experience could make such an error.

aint biting

[loco_law]

aint biting

That's what I like about you Red, you never use your teeth.

[Zambian_Red]

I was gutted that Zambia lost and are virtually out of the tournament well at least they played well in both games and i can see one or two players who could end up in Europe and some of them could even go on to the Under-23/Senior side