U-20 World Cup update

Saturday June 30, 07
Poland U20 1 - 0 Brazil U20
Korea Rep. U20 1 - 1 USA U20
Argentina U20 0 - 0 Czechia U20
Korea DPR U20 0 - 0 Panama U20

Saw almost all of USA's 1-1 draw with South Korea. I'll pass on lamenting on the commentator's clear favoring of South Korea because they are a pretty lovable bunch of underdogs and their fans are pretty cool. But the ref favoring the Koreans over the Americans was by the end egregious (dude, Altidore was taken down in the box right at the end, an easy call). That said, the Koreans controlled the pace, pushed the ball forward well and the Americans never seemed to have defenders in place--if there were so many guys forward then why couldn't we maintain possession? USA's junior team is traditionally a sluggish bunch (ever watched NCAA soccer? Not a pretty thing) Hopefully, USA figures out how to use its size and athleticism before this Cup is over.

I also caught Argentina's 0-0 draw with the Czech Republic. Predictably, Argentina had the dominant offense, Czech had the dominant defense. In soccer I say take the O over the D but the Argentines didn't make the necessary adjustments in the second half. The Czechs sagged on D, made virtually no effort to score and Argentina just didn't make the most of their scoring chances when they were clearly the more skillful and exciting squad. Argentina is probably still the favorites as they should blast through Panama and North Korea.

Sunday July 1, 07
Canada U20 01 : 45 Chile U20
Spain U20 02 : 00 Uruguay U20
Nigeria U20 02 : 00 Costa Rica U20
Japan U20 23 : 15 Scotland U20
Jordan U20 23 : 15 Zambia U20