The Hindu : Sport / Football : U-20 World Cup heats up

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Thursday, Jul 12, 2007
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U-20 World Cup heats up

Toronto: It’s win or go home time at the Under-20 World Cup.

And no team is feeling the heat more than superpower Brazil, which limped out of the first round as the third-place team in Group D and now goes into the Round of 16 against the toughest European side in the tournament — Spain.

Brazil and Spain meet in Burnaby, British Columbia, on Wednesday, while Austria plays Gambia in Edmonton, the United States meets Uruguay in Toronto and Japan plays the Czech Republic in Victoria.

On Thursday, it is Chile vs. Portugal in Edmonton, Zambia vs. Nigeria in Ottawa, Argentina vs. Poland in Toronto,; and Mexico vs. Congo in Montreal.

Brazil’s Alexandre Pato and his teammates have dazzled on attack at times, particularly in their 3-2 win over South Korea, but have been betrayed by defensive lapses. They now have travel and time zones to deal with after playing in Montreal and Ottawa, while Spain played its group matches in the Vancouver suburb.

Spain had two wins and a draw and striker Adrian Lopez leads the tournament with four goals.

USA on target

USA had a tournament first-round record three players with three goals each — Freddy Adu, Danny Szetela and Josy Altidore — while winning its group easily.

Uruguay was not impressive after holding Spain to a 2-2 draw and is without goalkeeper Mauro Giocoechea, who was sent off for hauling down a Zambian attacker in a 2-0 loss on Saturday.

The top scorers are not the only stars, although Argentina’s Sergio Aguera also has three goals and has been a standout.

As teams go, Mexico, the United States, Chile and Argentina have been most eye-catching, and there is the promise of an Argentina-Mexico quarterfinal if both go through.

All four African teams reached the round-of-16 and two of them, Nigeria and Zambia, face one another in Ottawa. Zambia is flying after its 2-0 win over Uruguay, but Nigeria has yet to lose a match. — AP

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