The Under 20 World Cup‘s Most Promising Players

Some of the most talented players under the age of twenty are showcasing their talent at FIFA’s Under-20 World Cup taking place in Egypt. This Championship has brought soccer greats like Diego Maradona, Lionel Messi, Thierry Henry and Ronaldinho into the limelight. Here’s who to look out for this year:

• Soccer Shirt No. 18 Ransford Osei (Ghana)

Eighteen year old Osei is already an international player, with seven goals to his credit at the African Youth Championship. This deadly striker is known for his speed and is currently on loan to Twente in the Dutch league.

• Soccer Shirt No. 13 Douglas Costa (Brazil)

This left midfielder played a big role in Brazil’s success at the South American U-20 Championships. Already playing for Gremio, it is rumored that Man U and Real Madrid are both keeping an eye on him. As a free-kick specialist, it comes as no surprise that Douglas is being called the ‘new Ronaldinho’!

• Soccer Shirt No. 9 Richard Sukuta-Pasu (Germany)

Sukuta-Pasu, under contract with Bayer Leverkusen, got the world’s attention at the UEFA U-19 tournament in 2008. This quick paced striker runs with the ball and has his eyes focused on the goal. Standing tall at 6 feet 2 inches, Sukuta-Pasu plays for Bayer Leverkusen at present.

• Soccer Jersey No. 8 Hernan Perez (Paraguay)

Midfielder Perez was signed up by Villarreal until 2014 after playing s single game for his former team! He finished as joint top scorer at the South American U-20 Championships with five goals. Perez is central to Paraguay’s hopes of delivering a surprise at the Under-20 World Cup this year.

• Soccer Jersey No. 9 Krisztian Nemeth (Hungary)

Nemeth has already been signed up by Liverpool for his excellent striking skills. Though not too tall, Nemeth is good with the ball in the air and on the ground, and it’s just a matter of time before he is recognized as a class act.

• Soccer Shirt No. 17 Fran Merida (Spain)

As part of the talented Spanish team, Merida has already got a taste of action while playing for Arsenal. Having started with the youth team at Barcelona, Merida moved on to Arsenal where he has made his presence felt with his innovative passes.

• Soccer Shirt No. 11 Paolo Henrique (Brazil)

Attacking midfielder Paolo plays for the Brazilian club Santos, as well as, his country’s Under-20 team. You can expect to see him in action in Brazil’s senior national team after some years. Expectations are high that Paulo Henrique and Douglas Costa will form a deadly pair in the midfield, upping Brazil’s chance to secure its fifth title.

No matter which teams reach the finals, you can be sure these players with those soccer uniforms, will become household names before the Under-20 World Cup ends, so remember these names!

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Under-20 World Cup at Egypt

This year’s top youth soccer competition kicked off on 24 September in Egypt and we’re in the thick of the action, with teams in their youth soccer uniforms vying for the title and players looking out to impress. As of now, ten nations have made it to Round 16 – Brazil, Germany, Spain, Egypt, Venezuela, Ghana, Italy, Paraguay, Uruguay and UAE. Let’s take a look at the teams and the history of this tournament…

The FIFA Under-20 World Cup has been around in various forms since the year 1977. As we know it today, 24 teams with 21 players each, born on or after January 1, 1989, are eligible to compete. The Championship takes place every two years, with Argentina holding the record with six titles. Though, sadly enough, they failed to qualify this year. Brazil follows with four titles and Portugal with two titles. Spain, Germany, and the former Soviet Union and Yugoslavia have won one title each.

Without Argentina to defend its 2007 title, the title could belong to anyone, though bookmakers consider Brazil, Germany and Spain as favorites. But Egypt, who automatically qualify as hosts, Ghana and Italy cannot be ruled out to deliver a surprise! Spain, Venezuela, Ghana and Uruguay have six points each from two matches, so their place in one of the top two spots in their respective groups is secure. While Germany, Italy and Paraguay have four points each from their two matches. Now, the battle is on for the remaining places.

Here’s a look at the groups: In Group A, there’s Egypt, Paraguay, Italy and Trinidad and Tobago. Group B has Spain and Venezuela through to Round 16, with Nigeria beating Tahiti in a not so impressive game, though keeping their hopes alive. The situation in Group C seems tighter, as both Korea Republic and USA bounced back in style. The Koreans managed to draw against Germany, and the US crushed Cameroon 4-1. Group C sees Germany securing 4 points to make it to the knockouts, with the US, Cameroon and South Korea in need of victories to make it.

Group D comprises of England, Uruguay, Ghana and Uzbekistan, out of which Ghana and Uruguay convincingly sealed their berths in the last sixteen. Ghana’s Black Satellites, who won the 2009 African Youth Championship, are in good playing form, so watch out for them! Both Ghana and Uruguay have secured six points and can no longer be dislodged. The defeated teams, England and Uzbekistan, will now meet in the final group match, with England hoping to salvage its pride and avoid elimination.

The action now shifts to Group E and F, with Brazil, Australia, Costa Rica and the Czech Republic in Group E. This Group remains open since Brazil failed to beat the Czechs, ending in a draw, resulting in both teams going through to the knockouts. Group F has South Africa, United Arab Emirates, Honduras and Hungary, with UAE going into the last Round 16 after defeating Honduras. Favourites Brazil are looking to claim their fifth title, and as usual, expectations are high. It remains to be seen which team takes centre stage wearing their national youth soccer uniforms with pride in the finals on October 16 at the Cairo International Stadium.

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World Cup 2010 – South Africa is Ready, Are You?

Keep your soccer shirts ready, South Africa is all set to give you an unconventional and truly memorable World Cup next year. Working full throttle, the country is ready to launch its first wildlife soccer venue, the Mbombela Stadium in the province of Mpumalanga. Besides the friendly local population, there’ll be giant, orange shaped giraffes to welcome you from the roof and black and white zebra print seats!

There’s wildlife strewn all around the Mbombela Stadium with traditional paintings in the foyer, and psychedelic colors in the corridors! With its vivid paints and flamboyance, this stadium is a dramatic and modern football venue that offers great views and 43,540 seating capacity. A freshly laid pitch only adds to the vibrant colors! The only thing missing are equally vibrant spectators in their world cup soccer jerseys, holding up their country’s flags. Guess that’ll have to wait until June next year!

The city’s mayor, Lassy Chiwayo, is thrilled with this achievement, “For us this is a story of commitment, resilience and hard work. There are many unsung heroes who have made this possible. I want to pay tribute to the construction workers and to the community, who threw their weight behind us. This new baby towering above us symbolizes hope. We’re hoping this tournament will act as a stimulus for economic and social development,” declared Chiwayo.

Even Durban seems almost ready to open its doors with its new multi-purpose 69,000 capacity Moses Mabhida Stadium. Scheduled to host seven World Cup matches, and a semifinal, the stadium is just weeks away from completion. And the excitement is palpable. Once ready, the finalists of a local school competition will be the first to walk onto the newly laid turf to mark its official opening along with Durban’s citizens. This will be followed by a Premier Soccer League match the next day. January to May 2010 will see a line-up of more PSL matches and concerts at the venue, ironing out any possible rough spots before soccer’s greatest competition in June 2010, the FIFA World Cup.

Durbanites are known to make the most of match days, be it soccer, rugby or cricket. They reach the stadium hours before and set up barbeques in adjacent fields as pre and post match festivities that go on into the wee hours of the morning. In keeping with this festive spirit, the authorities are planning on investing R250 million to upgrade the area and develop a people’s park near the stadium with training fields, a running and cycling track, playground and tea garden! An official explained, “For us as a city it was always very important that the stadium is financially viable after 2010… We have worked hard to ensure that the entire precinct becomes an area used by the residents of the city.”

The idea is to make it a well utilized asset that’s buzzing with activity before and after the World Cup. And, of course, it’s part of a promise to deliver a uniquely African World Cup!

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World Cup 2010 – Who’s In, Who’s Out?

Well, England, Netherlands, Spain, Brazil, Paraguay, Ghana, Australia, Japan, South Korea, and Korea DPR have qualified, so has host South Africa, for the 2010 World Cup. That’s 11 teams with dreams to win the title so far… What about Argentina? Does it have a chance or will it miss the soccer fiesta for the first time in 40 years? Let’s take a look…

Argentina’s coach, former legend Diego Maradona, who gave the soccer shirt 10 an iconic status back in the day, prayed for divine intervention hoping that his team reaches the 2010 World Cup at South Africa. After a 3-1 defeat against rival Brazil, that too, on home ground, things don’t look too good for the Argentineans. It was their first defeat at home after being defeated 5-0 by Colombia 16 years back. But Maradona stood his ground, repeating, “The bearded one (God) saved me many times before – and I hope he will do so this time.”

Having lost to Paraguay as well, Argentina now stand fifth in the continental group, a place below the final qualifying berth. Ready to take on Peru on home ground, plus a make or break match against Uruguay, Argentinean fans are keeping their fingers crossed, as is their coach. “We have to get it into our heads that these two games are crucial to our hopes and we can’t keep giving things away such as we did against Brazil,” said Maradona. Recently, while on a slimming course in Italy, fans surrounded him, complaining that a World Cup without Argentina just wouldn’t be the same… He is said to have responded, “Don’t worry, Argentina will be there.” So, it’s a match against the Peruvians and another crucial game against arch rivals Uruguay that’ll decide Argentina’s fate. Both Argentina and Uruguay could be vying for fifth place in the South American qualifying group, making it a critical match.

Meanwhile, Brazilian coach Dunga has earmarked a 24 man team before the South American group’s final two games, hoping to give more players experience. Brazil will soon play Bolivia, followed by Venezuela. Dunga explained, “We have two games ahead and the first one is very wearing, but we’ll try to do our best in Bolivia… Despite we have already qualified, we’re Brazil and we have to win always. We try to keep the group and give chances to some new players.”

Spain’s soccer uniform number 6, Xavi Hernandez, feels that England is a strong candidate that can come in the way of Spain’s World Cup dreams. Backing England as one of his favorites to win the 2010 World Cup, the midfielder feels that, “England were the big absence from Euro 2008 and I expect they are itching to show they can win the World Cup. They will be among our biggest rivals along with Brazil, Italy and Germany. And we might see a surprise this time from an African country like Ivory Coast. They look very strong to me right now.” Let’s see how the cookie crumbles… Only time will tell.

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Soccer Fathers & Sons!

Soccer fever runs high among fans from different countries, it also runs among siblings and friends. But did you know it also runs in the genes, with fathers and sons both taking the pitch? Here’s a look at some famous father and son duos taking centre stage on the pitch, though separated by a decade or more…

Cha Bum-Kun and Cha Doo-Ri
Cha Bum-Kun is regarded as the greatest South Korean player ever and one of the best soccer talents to be imported into the German Bundesliga. Awarded the title ‘Asia’s Player of the Century’, he first played for Frankfurt before moving on to Bayer Leverkusen in the Bundesliga. Having played more than 100 games for Korea Republic during his career, including the 1986 World Cup, Cha Bum-Kun is now the manager of the Suwon Bluewings. While playing for Bayer Leverkusen, he scored 52 goals and played an important role in Leverkusen winning the UEFA Cup in 1988.

His son, Cha Doo-Ri has large shoes to fill. Born in Germany while his father played for Frankfurt, Doo-Ri spent his growing years in Germany, and currently plays for Freiburg. Doo-Ri has huge expectations from himself and hopes to follow his famous and gifted father’s footsteps. Learning from Bum-Kun’s experience as a seasoned soccer player, Doo-Ri feels his father’s insights have helped him make the transition as a professional player. Known for his killer instinct in front of the goal, Leverkusen’s manager Ilja Kaenzig is waiting for Doo-Ri to acclimate himself to the rigors of the Bundesliga and join the team in the near future. Doo-Ri is equally eager to wear the Leverkusen soccer shirt, just like his father once did…

Cesare and Paolo Maldini
Which soccer fan doesn’t know the Italian Maldini’s? Father Cesare, and son Paolo, have had the honor of lifting the European Cup as AC Milan’s captain. Cesare, who wore the number 25 soccer shirt, represented his country during the 1962 and 1966 World Cups, and went on to become coach after retirement. His son, Paolo, ended his 25 year long career after winning numerous club and international honors, including the Champions League title in 2003. The same title was won by his father 40 years ago. Today, Cesare’s grandson, Christian, carries on the family tradition of playing for AC Milan, though he’s still in the youth team.

Johan and Jordi Cruyff
If you’re not familiar with the name Johan Cruyff, you don’t know your soccer! That’s the legendary status of this Dutch soccer star. Recognized as the greatest footballer from Netherlands, and one of the best in the world, Johan sadly couldn’t win a World Cup though he enjoyed great success at clubs like Barcelona, Ajax and Feyenord. His son Jordi, had a fairly successful career as attacking midfielder at Barca and Man U, and is now at Valletta, a Maltese club. As for his father, the thrice named ‘European Footballer of the Year’ went on to manage Ajax and Barca. Johan Cruyff is remember for introducing Total Football to the Dutch team. In 2007, Ajax retired the number 14 soccer uniforms in honor of Johan Cruyff…

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