The competition will be held in the Netherlands from June 10-July 2. The top two teams in each of the six groups will advance to the second round, along with the top four third-place finishers.
Wasn't Benin the team who had their goalkeeper murdered during the African qualifiers? They still managed to pull through and it would be nice to see them advance, but I doubt it.
Holland, Australia, Japan.
Group B> Turkey> China> Ukraine> Panama
Turkey apparently have a very strong team. I don't know how good the latest batch of Chinese youngsters is, but this isn't a very strong group...
Turkey and Ukraine.
Group C> Spain> Morocco> Chile> Honduras
Not too difficult a group for the top seeds. Looks like another fairly weak group but any of the other three could advance.
Spain and Morocco.
Group D> Argentina> Egypt> Germany> USA
D = Death. Argentina/Germany should be quite a treat and Egypt has a pretty good record on the youth stage, no? I would tip them over the States, but that'll all depend on their matchup.
Argentina, Germany, Egypt.
Group E> Colombia> Italy> Syria> Canada
This isn't the worst draw Canada could have gotten, actually. Syria was a team I hoped we'd get - on paper, we should get three points from that match. Colombia is apparently quite strong so I'd just hope that Italy fails to impress - at a glance, they haven't qualified for the tournament since 1987!
Colombia, Canada, Italy. Yes, I'm an optimist.
Group F> Brazil> Nigeria> South Korea> Switzerland
I think the South Koreans are the odd ones out here, sadly - but this isn't a weak group by any means. Three top teams in their respective regions; Brazil, Nigeria and the surprising (yet apparently quite capable) Swiss. Bright future for them?
On Mon, 07 Mar 2005 21:52:37 -0500, Colin <niloc1@_nospam_.sympatico.ca> wrote:
Youth tournaments are pretty tough to predict, so I'll just make some comments.
Group A>> Netherlands>> Japan>> Benin>> Australia>
Wasn't Benin the team who had their goalkeeper murdered during the >African qualifiers?
Yes, he was stabbed the day after they lost the opener 3-0 to Nigeria. Benin had a pretty easy qualifying route--they got a bye to the African finals as hosts and then won just one of five matches once they got there (in fairness, they only lost one as well). Still, you can't count out the African teams in youth tournaments
Holland, Australia, Japan.>
Group B>> Turkey>> China>> Ukraine>> Panama>
Turkey apparently have a very strong team. I don't know how good the >latest batch of Chinese youngsters is, but this isn't a very strong group...
Turkey and Ukraine both made the semis at the European Championship, with Turkey reaching the final before losing to Spain on a last-minute goal. China lost to South Korea in the Asian final. Panama gave the US a decent game in qualifying before losing 2-0...they only allowed four goals in seven qualifying matches overall. Captain Armando Gun started for the senior team in the Copa UNCAF.
Turkey and Ukraine.>
Group C>> Spain>> Morocco>> Chile>> Honduras>
Not too difficult a group for the top seeds. Looks like another fairly >weak group but any of the other three could advance.
Definitely...Morocco and Chile were the last qualifiers in their regions, and Honduras finished second in their CONCACAF group.
Spain and Morocco.>
Group D>> Argentina>> Egypt>> Germany>> USA>
D = Death. Argentina/Germany should be quite a treat and Egypt has a >pretty good record on the youth stage, no? I would tip them over the >States, but that'll all depend on their matchup.
The US will be looking for revenge against all three teams:
--Argentina beat the US 2-1 in extra time in the quarterfinals last time, after scoring an injury-time equalizer. --Germany beat the US 3-1 in group play last time...but failed to advance to the next stage. --Egypt beat the US 2-0 in the second round in 2001.
I'm not sure what will happen with this group, all the teams are pretty good. Germany has not done that well at these tournaments but they're still Germany.
Group E>> Colombia>> Italy>> Syria>> Canada>
This isn't the worst draw Canada could have gotten, actually.
Not a bad draw at all...Syria and Italy don't seem to have been very impressive in qualifying. And when has Colombia actually lived up to expectations at a world tournament?
Group F>> Brazil>> Nigeria>> South Korea>> Switzerland
Looks like a very tough group...Nigeria and South Korea won the African and Asian championships respectively, Brazil is Brazil, and Switzerland appears to have been pretty solid at the Euro Championships, although they were the hosts. Judging from their lineup against Turkey in the Euro semifinal, they don't appear to be your father's Swiss:
Not a bad draw at all...Syria and Italy don't seem to have been very> impressive in qualifying. And when has Colombia actually lived up to> expectations at a world tournament?
Well, I certainly remember Gold Cup 2000 very well. Colombia did win South American qualifying rather easily - drew Argentina, beat Brazil and finished 4-1-0. So I'm going to assume that they have a good crop of young talent.
Italy hasn't been in for 18 years so I don't have an idea what's going on there. Maybe someone could shed some light on how their youth NT system works.
Looks like a very tough group...Nigeria and South Korea won the> African and Asian championships respectively, Brazil is Brazil, and> Switzerland appears to have been pretty solid at the Euro> Championships, although they were the hosts. Judging from their lineup> against Turkey in the Euro semifinal, they don't appear to be your> father's Swiss:>
...OY. Ziegler could be Swiss... Bühler... Diethelm... this is an odd bunch. Obviously a very talented bunch, but I think I need to do some research tomorrow to see how multicultural they are.
