FIFA World Youth Champions 2005

Last Saturday, the final of the FIFA World Youth Championship was played in the Netherlands. I did not have the fortune to watch the match, because I was rocking and drinking at the Roskilde Festival. However, I was glad to hear that Argentina won a tight match 2-1 against a well-playing Nigeria team. Both Argentinean goals were scored on penalty by Lionel Messi - a rising 19-year old Argentinean star, who plays for Barcelona. I do not think this is the last time I will be writing about Mr. Messi.
This was the 15th final of a tournament which started in 1977, and was won by the USSR. The tournament has largely been led by the two South American giants, Brazil and Argentina. Brazil has won four times, and with this year's victory, Argentina has won five. The following table gives a full overview of the tournament:

Tunisia 1977	USSR	Mexico	Brazil	Uruguay
Japan 1979	Argentina	USSR	Uruguay	Poland
Australia 1981	West Germany	Qatar	Romania	England
Mexico 1983	Brazil	Argentina	Poland	South Corea
USSR 1985	Brazil	Spain	Nigeria	USSR
Chile 1987	Yugoslavia	West Germany	East Germany	Chile
Saudi Arabia 1989	Portugal	Nigeria	Brazil	USA
Portugal 1991	Portugal	Brazil	USSR	Australia
Australia 1993	Brazil	Ghana	England	Australia
Qatar 1995	Argentina	Brazil	Portugal	Spain
Malaysia 1997	Argentina	Uruguay	Ireland	Ghana
Nigeria 1999	Spain	Japan	Mali	Uruguay
Argentina 2001	Argentina	Ghana	Egypt	Paraguay
UAE 2003	Brazil	Spain	Colombia	Argentina
Netherlands 2005	Argentina	Nigeria	Brazil	Morocco

The next tournament in 2007, will be hosted by Canada. It will again be a good opportunity to see the rising stars of international football. The matches are usually very entertaining, and the tournament is beginning to attract much greater attention! And surely, we might already see some of the players in next years World Cup in Germany!

Upcoming Argentina and Brazil clashes

With Argentina's victory against Mexico in the semifinal of the FIFA Confederations Cup, we are on our way to witness another classic encounter between the football giants Brazil and Argentina. Last time they met was in a World Cup qualifier in Buenos Aires only a few weeks ago. Then, Argentina won 3-1, and Brazil should now be ready for an entertaining and intense rematch. There is no doubt that the rivalry between these two teams is so great, that on next Wednesday, they will play their best to take the Confederations Cup title. In any case, and as I had predicted earlier, the title will go to Latin America.

These days seem to be abounding with encounters between these two nations. On the day before the Confederations Cup final, Brazil and Argentina will also face each other in the semifinal of the FIFA World Youth Championship in the Netherlands. Thus, these teams are showing that while their senior players are among the best in the world, the youngsters are ready to continue their dominance.
The other semifinal in the Youth World Championship is between Nigeria and Morocco. Nigeria defeated hosts the Netherlands, while Morocco upset the Italians for their spots in the semifinals. This also shows the great talent coming from Africa these days. No matter who we will see in the final, it promises to be a great South American-African Youth clash!

World Youth Championship 2005

The World Youth Championship (U-20) is presently being played in the Netherlands. This kind of tournament always gives a good insight to some of the football stars of the future. This year seems no exception, and we are both seeing some of the old teams performing well as well as witnessing some surprises:

• In Group A the hosts Netherlands are looking a strong contender for the title, having won their first two matches.
• In Group B China is showing that the future of Chinese football is coming with storm, having won their first two matches against Turkey and Ukraine, and only having Panama left to play.
• In Group C Spain is trashing all, with a score of 10-1 after two only matches.
• Group D is very exciting, with three very strong teams. Germany is ahead with 4 points, equal to the USA, having played excellently with their 16-year old Eric Adu, who is already playing his second World Cup. Argentina is just behind on the 3rd spot.
• Colombia is leading Group E, having won their first two matches. More surprising is that Italy is last, having lost their last match to Syria, who is trailing Colombia on 2nd spot.
• Brazil leads Group F, although closely followed by Korea and Switzerland.

The tournament will surely have some more exciting matches!