U17 World Cup
Group1 (Sep 14, 16, 19):
Trinidad and Tobago - Croatia 1:2
Australia - Brazil 0:1
Brazil left a strong impression but needed 75 minutes
to break the resilience of the Aussies
Trinidad and Tobago - Australia 0:1
Croatia - Brazil 1:3
Croatia left a very good 1st half impression but were
outscored in the second half by the Brazilians.
Brazil are qualified for the quarterfinals while Australia
and Croatia will batlle out the second place in the direct encounter on
Wednesday. The hosts are already without any chance to reach the quarter
finals.
It has to be hoped that this will do no damage to the
very good atmosphere of the competition.
Brazil - Trinidad/Tobago 6:1
In a match without impact on who would advance Brazil
entertained the 26,000 crowd with some showtime. #7 scored three goals
in which all of the 7 substitutes of the last match were in the starting
line-up. (The squads for this U17 World Cup consist of 18 players each)
Croatia - Australia 0:4
Another strong match by the Aussies and a surprisingly
clear result. After a balanced midflield duel the match suddenly slanted
in favour of the Australians in the final 8 minutes before halftime when
Australia scored twice.
1. Brazil 10:2 goals, 9 pts.
2. Australia 5:1 goals, 6 pts.
3. Croatia 2:7 goals, 3 pts.
4. Trinidad/Tobago 1:8 goals, 0 pts.
Group2 (Sep 14, 16, 19):
Nigeria - France 2:1
Impressing attacking football helped Nigeria to a 2:1
success over France in their first match of the U17 World Cup which has
kicked of at Trinidad Tobago. Karimu Shaibu in first half and Victor Okechukwu
Brown in second half scored the goals for the Africans before Pongolle
scored the French goals 4 minutes from time.
Japan - USA 1:0
Nigeria - Japan 4:0
Nigeria qualified for quarter-finals and are now among
the tournament favorites.
France - USA 5:3
Three goals scored by France #9 Pongolle. USA, who took
a first half lead, but with the match drawn 2:2 at halftime, fell behind
in the second half against aflamboyant French side. The Americans are already
without any possibility left to advance. France and Japan will determine
the second qualificant for the quarter-finals in the direct encounter on
Sept 19th.
France - Japan 5:1
After 15 minutes the match was virtually over. France
took a 3:0 lead and qualified easily against a Japanese side who tried
to attack themselves but did not convert their chances. Florent Sinama
Pongolle scored three goals in the second consecutive match.
Nigeria - USA 2:0
Nigeria already qualified and USA already out of it before
the match. In contrary to Brazil Nigeria fielded the same line up as in
the second match. Karimu Shaibu scored the first half goal. Moses Ayuba
added a second half score and Nigeria had numerous further attempts.
1. Nigeria, 8:1 goals, 9 pts.
2. France, 11:6 goals, 6 pts.
3. Japan, 2:9 goals, 3 pts.
4. USA 3:8 goals, 0 pts.
Group3 (Sep 15, 17, 20):
Oman - Spain 1:2
An injury time goal helped the European favorites beat
the outsiders late
Argentina - Burkina Faso 2:2
A controversial injury time penalty saved Argentina from
a defeat against the strong West Africans
Burkina Faso - Spain 1:0
Burkina Faso will be one of the teams to beat in this
U17 World Cup. After exploiting 4 points from matches against two of the
tournament favorites they now face a critical match against Oman in which
they have to avoid complacency. Quite often have African teams failed aginst
Middle East outfits.
Argentina - Oman 3:0
Oman had a good start but only for a few minutes. Argentina
converted their first opportunity which seemed to throw the Arabians into
some confusion even over who and how to execute corner and free kicks.
Oman had more posession but Argentina was clearly more professional.
Burkina Faso - Oman 1:1
Burkina Faso were lucky to escape with a draw in a match
in which Oman were growing stronger towards the end while Burkina Faso
got more nervous. The West Africans game was too fragmented and bugged
by inaccurate passing, considering the obvious indivdual skills. Oman had
a better team coordination but still some conspicious players, especially
goalscorer Al Hinai. For Burkina Faso left winger Madi was impressing.
Something like a record number of attempts were made off target but considered
that those are talents in a development process they were shooting in good
moments and might hit more precisely in a few years.
Burkina Faso have qualified for quarter finals by this.
It is already sure they finish as group second.
This result saves the group also from a possible 'agreement'
match between Argentina and Spain.
(Because all teams stay at one venue the final group
matches are not played simultaniously)
Argentina - Spain 4:2
After Burkina Faso has collected the necessary point
to advance, Spain had to beat Argentina to advance in a direct encounter
to determine the team to advance.
And in a brilliant first half, featuring a luminating
Fernando Torres, a very far developed player for this age and a possible
future star, Spain took a 2:1 lead and looked like they could shake off
the Argentinians by their physical presence.
But after the prognosted future star on the other side
Maximiliano Lopez had equalized, a Spanish player was sent off for his
second yellow card and others had to hold back, already being booked. Argentina
added two more in a huge game which saw a possible title candidate going
home.
1. Argentina 9:4 goals, 7 pts.
2. Burkina Faso 4:3 goals, 5 pts.
3. Spain 4:6 goals, 3 pts.
4. Oman 2:6 goals, 3 pts.
Group 4 (Sep 15, 17, 20):
Mali - Paraguay 1:2
Paraguay won the match thanks to a penalty 4 minutes
to the end
Iran - Costa Rica 0:2
Costa Rica is reported to have secured a comfortable
win
Paraguay - Costa Rica 0:3
3 second half goals confirmed the excellent form that
Costa Rican national teams have displayed on various levels this year.
Costa Rica because of the good goal difference is quite close to the quarter
finals but not safe yet: it is still possible three teams end up with 6
points. If they win, draw, or lose by less than three goals they will be
through.
Mali - Iran 1:0
Pressing forced the decisive error which set up the first
half goal that decided the encounter. In theory scenarios for both to advance
are still possible (three teams could end upwith 6 points or three teams
could end up with three points). Iran need to beat Paraguay in the last
match and hope for Costa Rica to beat Mali. On the other hand Mali has
to beat Costa Rica by three goals to be absolutely sur - or, if scoring
less, they will have to hope for a little help by Iran.
Mali - Costa Rica 2:0
Mali, who needed to beat Costa Rica by three goals to
pass by the Central Americans in the table were leading 2:0 already at
halftime. But Costa Rica managed to contain the scoreline with the help
of the crossbar and the goalpost and qualified for the quarter finals.
Mali now has to hope for some help by Iran who have been
eliminated by this earlier result.
Paraguay - Iran 3:2
Paraguay needed to win by four goals to qualify for the
quarter-finals and were on course after 66 minutes, leading 3:0. But after
being saved by the goalpost, Iran scored their first goals of the tournament
in the final 10 minutes through #11 Mansour Ahmadzadeh and frustrated the
South Americans who now have to travel home despite having gained six points.
#10 Andres Perez had scored twice for them. Like the Under20 outfit earlier
this year, Iran has to return home without a point.
1. Costa Rica 5:2 goals, 6 pts.
2. Mali 4:2 goals 6 pts.
3. Paraguay 5:6 goals, 6 pts.
4. Iran 2:6 goals, 0 pts.
quarter finals:
Nigeria - Australia 5:1
Outstanding Australian goalkeeper Nathan Coe had only
conceded one goal in three matches and it was him who denied the flamboyant
Nigerians a score in the first 25 minutes. The Australian compactness could
not stop the Africans and eventually a penalty beat the Australian Number
1 for the Nigerian lead.
But after the goal the picture suddenly changed. The
Australians proved great attacking skills and worked out one chance after
the other what gave the Nigerian goalkeeper Akpan Bassey opportunities
to prove his quality, too.
Towards the end of the half the momentum shifted back
in favour of Nigeria who at times displayed an almost perfect combination
of individual skills and cooperative approach when in ball possession.
Remarkable the usage of the width of the field in the build up of their
attempts.
The second half saw a loss of precision in the Nigerian
game. Substitute Victor Brown entertained the Australian defence on some
occasions but all in all Nigeria played more drawn back, preventing from
successful Australian attacks. So for 25 minutes only half chances culd
be seen on either side until Victor Brown drew several defenders by his
solorun and side passed to the now unmarked #11 Femi Opabunmi who scored
his second goal.
Australia had their first real second half chance then,
following a defenders slip, but the shot rolled wide.
A fine drawing board attack was finished through Femi
Opabunmi by a header for his third goal in the 81st minute and decided
the match before captain Suleiman Mohammed added a fourth spectacular goal
by a solorun and a sharp shot into the corner.
The Australian resistance had broken and Nigeria added
another in style in the 85th when #16 Temile shot a cross directly under
the bar from 15 meters.
The Nigerian keeper missed a cross then to allow Australia
a consolation goal by a header (88th).
Brazil - France 1:2
Despite the fact that France had conceded 6 goals in
the group matchjes, Brazil stuck to their controlled and careful approach
of unspectacular football of their fiirst two matches.
This proved to be no good idea because neither did Brazil
threaten the French goal much nor could the Brazilian defence entirely
contain the spectacular Le Havre and future Liverpool duo Le Tellec and
Semina Pingolle. And it were those two, Florent Simana Pingolle with his
8th goal and Le Tellec, who provided for the 2:0 halftime lead within a
few minutes late in the first half.
Before and after the intermission the frustrated Brazilians
made some nasty looking late challenges. It took until the 57th minute
before Brazils idea of long through ball counter-attacking exposed a first
big hole in the French defence but Bruno missed the goal close. A similar
situattion led to Alberonis 1:2 after 70 minutes. France became nervous
but until the last minutes Brazil stuck to their gameplan and had only
a big opportunity through Anderson after 86 minutes, again a counter situation.
The remaining time provided total excitement for the
crowd. Now Brazil pressured and immediately chaos ruled the French defence.
Huge opportunities on both sides as Brazil now had exposed their defence
to the French counters.
But somehow no team scored and France advanced to the
semis.
Costa Rica - Burkina Faso 0:2
In front of an again very positive and enjoying crowd
a match of much less quality than the encounter before.
(matches are played as doubleheaders - two games in succession
in the same stadium) Disappointing Costa Ricans hardly came close to the
Burkinabé penalty area. On the other side the relatively unsinspied
Africans improved from their last match but despite two thirds possession
did not work out any clearcut chances.
Nevertheless it was a success of the Costa Rican tactics,
which allowed no spaces for the Africans to penetrate into on the expense
of an abandoned own attacking approach. The Burkina Faso individuals like
Madi who had impressed in the match(es) before had no impact.
But somebody had to have an opportunity sooner or later
and it more or less could only be Burkina Faso who scored after 55 minutes.
A rather bad clearance by the Costa Rican defence rolled
to the feet of #17 Landry who was unmarked at the edge of the penalty area
and slotted the ball home. - 0:1
It took until 15 minutes before the end until Costa Rica
gave up their strategy and started to attack. The game now broke open.
#11 Wilfried Sanou then scored the second Burkinabé goal in the
84th minute.
Only in the 89th minute Costa Rica came really close
to scoring but was denied twice by the Burkinabé keeper.
A fair game without any yellow cards.
Burkina Faso will now play heavy favorites Nigeria in
the semis on Thursday.
(An opportunity to recall that of Burkina Faso and
Mali only one team would have been here if Guinea had not been disqualified
by FIFA from all competitions because of government inteference with FA
affairs at the very time the African U17 Championship had taken place.
Burkina Faso then had slipped into the African final as replacement for
Guinea against whom the team just had lost in the semi-finals. In the final
they clearly went down to that Nigerian team 0:3).
Argentina - Mali 2:1 after golden goal extra-time
Excitement that you can get only (?) in such a tournament
when great talents meet the weak spots in unperfect defences.
Mali taking apart the Argentinian defence and Argentina
expoiting the Malian offside trap - it could have been 3:3 early. But talents
are no machines.
After 30 minutes Argentinian big hope Maximiliano Lopez
cleverly crossed the path of a defender and got a foul on him for a penalty.
He send the keeper into the wrong corner but only hit the goalpost.
Mali enthusiastically answered with a handful of attacks
and a fine goal when #17 Drissa Diarra was played free to score by a header
after 34 minutes - 0:1.
Diarra is under contract at Lecce (Italy), the only notz
homebased player of the Africans.
Mali, unconcentrated, allowed Argentina to equualize
only 4 minutes later from a set play: a free kick cross from the right
found the unmarked #4 Rodriguez to head into the goal easily. - 1:1
One of the most conspicious Malian players #7 Lassana
Diallo was lucky to get away with yellow for what looked like a retaliation
and Argentina had the better of the rest of the half.
Around the 60th minute Mali created several chances,
featuring the already mentioned Diarra and Diallo. Despite that domination
Argentina always seemed capable to become dangerous themselves again at
some moment. And Mali started to look a little tired in the course of the
second half, losing one to one challenges they had won before. #7 Diallo,
obviously exhausted, committed a holding far away of the own goal and received
a harsh second yellow card to leave the pitch in tears.
Now Argentina dictated the pace and worked out opportunities.
Lopez was well contained by the Malian defence but the Argentinian pressure
mounted as Mali played more and more drawn back.
Mali only with few counters had a good looking free kick
opportunity in injury time which they executed terribly like many corners
before.
In the extra-time necessary Argentina scored the golden
goal when the Malian keeper had left his goal in bad timing and a cross
from the wing where he had run out to was sent into a crowd before the
empty goal. The ball bounced back to substitute #11 Fanari who fired it
under the roof of the goal from about 10 meters distance - 2:1
semi-finals
Sep 27
France - Argentina 2030 GMT
Nigeria - Burkina Faso 2330 GMT
| 2001 |
Africa |
Asia |
Europe |
South-America |
Nth/Ctl/America* |
Oceania |
| starters |
3 |
3 |
3 |
3 |
3 |
1 |
| qualified for quarter-finals |
3 |
- |
1 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
*=hosting confederation
don't take this stats too seriously - the decisions in
group C and D have been too close to read too much tendency into the records.
The Asians, who weren't too far behind in suffered a disappointment,
maybe
a
sign of growing professionalism in the education of young players in the
rest of the world, maybe only an accident.
Oman, a youth football power since years ago, had reached
semi-finals in 95 and quarter-finals in 97. Qatar had reached semi-finals
in 91 and quarter-finals in 99, Japan had reached quarter-finals in 93.
| 1999 |
Africa |
Asia |
Europe |
South-America |
Nth/Ctl/America |
Oceania* |
| starters |
3 |
2 |
3 |
3 |
3 |
2 |
| qualified for quarter-finals |
1 |
1 |
- |
3 |
2 |
1 |
*=hosting confederation
| 1997 |
Africa* |
Asia |
Europe |
South-America |
Nth/Ctl/America |
Oceania |
| starters |
3 |
3 |
3 |
3 |
3 |
1 |
| qualified for quarter-finals |
3 |
1 |
2 |
2 |
- |
- |
*=hosting confederation
| 1995 |
Africa |
Asia |
Europe |
South-America* |
Nth/Ctl/America |
Oceania |
| starters |
3 |
3 |
3 |
3 |
3 |
1 |
| qualified for quarter-finals |
2 |
1 |
1 |
3 |
- |
1 |
*=hosting confederation
| 1993 |
Africa |
Asia* |
Europe |
South-America |
Nth/Ctl/America |
Oceania |
| starters |
3 |
3 |
3 |
3 |
3 |
1 |
| qualified for quarter-finals |
2 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
*=hosting confederation
| 1991 |
Africa |
Asia |
Europe* |
South-America |
Nth/Ctl/America |
Oceania |
| starters |
3 |
3 |
3 |
3 |
3 |
1 |
| qualified for quarter-finals |
1 |
1 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
*=hosting confederation
| 1991-2001 |
Africa* |
Asia* |
Europe* |
South-America* |
Nth/Ctl/America* |
Oceania* |
| starters |
18 |
17 |
18 |
18 |
18 |
7 |
| qualified for quarter-finals |
12 |
5 |
8 |
13 |
5 |
5 |
| pct. |
67% |
29% |
44% |
72% |
28% |
71% |
| tendency |
solid |
solid or down?(too early to say) |
a little bit down |
solid |
solid or up? |
solid** |
(1991 the U17 World Championship replaced the former U16
World Championship)
*=each confederation hosted one tournament
**A good example that you cannot directly attach such
percentages to the strength of the Confederations, because they have different
structures:
Australia qualified for quarter finals each time when
at start, New Zealand, the only other team, never, not even as hosts.
On the other hand European and African associations cannot
gather experiences - because of the huge number of strong teams there are
new faces each tournament
|
