International Friendly Roundup

Various Latin American teams were involved in friendly matches over the weekend.

Marcelo Bielsa's reign as Chile boss endured a disappointing start as they lost 2-1 to Switzerland. A solitary strike from Alexis Sanchez not enough to get a result against the Euro 2008 co-hosts.

Brazil overcame a valiant effort from the USA to win 4-2. The Americans took the lead before an own goal from Onyewu and a Lucio strike gave them a 2-1 lead. The game wasn't over though, as the USA equalised with seventeen minutes remaining, before Ronaldinho and Elano finally settled the match in Brazil's favour with two goals in the last thirteen minutes.

Ecuador thrashed El Salvador 5-1, Venezuela beat Paraguay 3-2, Peru drew 2-2 with Colombia, and Costa Rica and Honduras played out a 0-0 draw in the remaining games.

U-17 World Cup: Argentina, Peru through; Brazil, Costa Rica, Colombia out

With the round of 16 games complete, only two Latin American teams remain in the U-17 World Cup.

Ghana pulled off the shock of the round, defeating the highly-fancied Brazilians 1-0, despite going down to ten men midway through the first half. Brazil played well, but lacked a cutting edge up front, consigning them to an early exit from the competition.

Peru squeezed past Tajikistan on penalties after tying 1-1 at the end of extra time. Reimand Marco have given them the lead after thirteen minutes, only for Tajikistan to hit back two minutes later. Peru goalkeeper Eder Hermoza saved Tajikstan's first penalty of the shoot-out, and his team-mates did the rest, converting all of their five penalties to book a quarter final berth.

Argentina comfortably disposed of fellow Latin American's Costa Rica 2-0 thanks to a double strike from Gaston Sauro.

Colombia conceded two late goals to lose 2-1 to Nigeria. Santiago Trellez had given the Colombian's the lead after sixty-two minutes but two goals in the last twelve minutes gave the Nigerians victory.

The quarter finals kick off on the 1st September, with the fixtures involving the remaining Latin American teams noted below:

01 September Ghana vs Peru
02 September Argentina vs Nigeria

Both Latin American sides will face tough games in two clashes of footballing culture, pitting technically gifted, short passing sides against strong and pacey African opposition.

If Argentina can progress, they will be starting to wonder whether they can complete the double of winning both the U-17 and U-20 World Cups in the same year.

U-17 World Cup Group Stage Complete

The final matches of the group stages of the U-17 World Cup were played out over the bank holiday weekend.

Argentina drew 1-1 with Spain to secure a second place finish in Group C thanks to a Carlos Benitez strike in the first half.

In the same group, Honduras went home pointless, after losing 2-0 to Syria in their final game.

Haiti were also knocked out, losing 4-1 to Nigeria. Peterson Joseph was their solitary scorer. The result saw them finish bottom of Group D with one point.

In the final group, Trindad and Tobago's leaky defence didn't disappoint, as they conceded another five goals, losing 5-0 to Germany, to give them a record of one scored and fourteen conceded over their three games.

Colombia also lost their final group game, 2-1 to Ghana, but will still progress to the knockout stages as one of the four best third place finishers.

The fixtures for the remaining Latin American teams in the knockout stages are as follows:

29 August - Peru vs Tajikistan
29 August - Ghana vs Brazil
30 August - Argentina vs Costa Rica
30 August - Nigeria vs Colombia

Coverage continues sporadically on Eurosport and always on FIFA.com TV.

Brazil, Peru and Costa Rica all through to last sixteen in U-17 World Cup

It has been a successful day for the Latin American teams in action today, as all three made their way into the last sixteen.

Peru edged out Costa Rica at the top of Group A thanks to a eighty-ninth minute strike from Carlos Balazar which gave them a 1-0 victory.

Brazil finished second in Group B after losing 2-1 to England despite taking the lead through Tales after nineteen minutes. England's winner came in stoppage time at the end of the game.

The final games in Groups C and D will be played tomorrow, with Argentina, Honduras and Haiti all mathematically able to qualify for the last sixteen.

Brazil run riot again in U-17 World Cup

Brazil turned on the style again; following their 7-0 win over New Zealand in their opening group game with a 6-1 demolition of Korea DPR to book their place in the second round.

Brazil were three up within the opening ten minutes, as a strike from Alex, along with a double for Fabio gave them the perfect start to the game. Maicon added a fourth after twenty-two minutes, with Giuliano and Choco adding a further two goals in the second half to secure victory.

Peru and Costa Rica now hold the joint lead of Group A after this morning's games. Peru drew 0-0 with Togo, before Costa Rica beat the hosts Korea Republic two nil, thanks to goals from Marcos Urena and Jessy Peralta.

In yesterday's final game, Trindad and Tobago were thrashed 4-1 by Ghana in Cheonan. Ghana were three nil up by half time, with Tobago never really threatening until Stephan Campbell pulled one back with ten minutes remaining. The fightback never materliased, with Ghana putting the game to rest with a fourth goal five minutes from time.

Tomorrow's fixtures see Haiti take on France in the early kick off, with Argentina facing Honduras in the evening game.

U-17 World Cup Begins

The U-17 World Cup kicked off on Saturday, with the first round of group games ending this afternoon.

It has been a mixed start for the Latin American teams involved thus far.

Costa Rica started their campaign with a 1-1 draw with Togo, after Josue Martinez equalised nine minutes from time.

Peru shocked the host nation Korea Republic by defeating them 1-0 thanks to a first half strike from Carlos Bazalar.

Brazil lived up to their billing as one of the pre-tournament favourites as they thrashed New Zealand 7-0. Seven different players were on the scoresheet for Brazil; first half goals from Fabinho, Lazaro and Giuliano added to in the second half by Fabio, Alex, Lulinha and Junior.

Honduras put up a valiant effort against European Champions Spain, but it wasn't quite enough as they went down 4-2, despite strikes from Christian Martinez and Roger Rojas.

Argentina limped to a disappointing goalless draw with Syria in their opening game; a fine display by the Syrian goalkeeper enough to keep the Argentines at bay.

Haiti were defeated 3-1 by Japan in their first ever U-17 World Cup game. Joseph Guemsly Junior equalised to make it 1-1 with twenty minutes to go, but the Japanese proved too strong with two goals in the last ten minutes enough to secure them victory.

Colombia came back from 3-1 down to draw 3-3 with Germany this morning. A Miguel Julio strike had given Colombia the lead early on, before Germany raced into a 3-1 lead. Two second half goals from Cristian Nazarith - the second coming two minutes from time - were sufficent to give the Colombians a well earned point.

Trindad and Tobago are the last Latin American team to play their first round match as they take on Ghana early this afternoon. The game is being shown on British Eurosport from 12:30pm, or is availiable on FIFA.com TV if you cannot get Eurosport.

FIFA U-17 World Cup 2007

The FIFA U-17 World Cup 2007 kicks off on the 18 August in Suwon, as the best young players from all over the world gather in Korea for the tournament.

Eight Latin American teams are in action in Korea, with Brazil among the favourites to go home victorious.

Eurosport are expected to provide coverage in the UK, although if the U-20 World Cup is anything to go by there will probably not be showing every game.

FIFA.com TV is probably going to be the best place to catch coverage of all the games, but I will post up confirmation of the Eurosport/FIFA TV schedules as and when they become available.

As you can imagine, almost all of the players on show still play for teams within their own countries, although there are a few exceptions, such as Brazilian full-back Fabio, who is owned by Manchester United.

Here are links to the squad lists for each of Latin American teams involved in the competition.

Argentina
Brazil
Colombia
Costa Rica
Haiti
Honduras
Peru
Trindad and Tobago

Stay tuned for more coverage once the event kicks off next week.

u-20 World Cup Group Phase Completion Roundup

Five Latin American teams progressed to the knockout stages of the U-20 World Cup as the group games concluded last night.

Chile drew 0-0 with Austria in their final group game to setup a second round clash with Portugal.

Uruguay lost 2-0 to Zambia, but still progressed to face the USA in the second round.

Mexico finished their group with a 100% record after defeating New Zealand 2-1 thanks to goals from Christian Bermudez and Osmar Mares. They will play Congo in the second round.

Brazil were left hanging after losing 2-1 to the USA in their final group game. They were dependent on the results in other groups to gain one of the four best third place team spots. Fortunately for them, Costa Rica could only defeat Scotland 2-1 in their final group game, which meant Brazil progressed on goal difference. They will square up against the highely fancied Spainiards in the second round.

Argentina booked their place in the knockout stages with a 1-0 victory over Korea DPR, due to a spectacular freekick goal from Sergio Aguero. They will face Poland in the second round. Panama were not able to make it out of the same group after losing 2-1 to the Czech Republic.

The second round kicks off on the 11 July, fixtures can be found on the FIFA website here, with Eurosport coverage listed (strangly as Quarter Finals rather than Second Round) here.

Uruguay win, Costa Rica lose in Canada

Mixed fortunes for the two Latin American sides involved in last nights U-20 World Cup games.

Uruguay defeated Jordan 1-0 thanks to Edinson Cavani's second goal of the tournament. The win leaves them only requiring a draw from their last group game against Zambia to qualify for the knockout stages.

Costa Rica were not so successful, going down 1-0 to Japan in Victoria. They will need an excellent result against Scotland in their final group game, as well as hoping for other results to go their way, if they are to go through as one of the four best third place finishers.

Both Mexico and Chile are in action tonight, looking to cement their places in the second round after impressive victories in their opening games.

U-20 World Cup Roundup

The U-20 World Cup (formerly known as the World Youth Championship), kicked off in Canada on Saturday. The tournament is always heavily watched by scouts from European clubs looking for the next young talent to emerge on the World stage.

There are seven Latin American teams taking part in the tournament, with Argentina, Brazil and Mexico among the favourites to win the competition. However, the results so far have been average for the Latin American contigent.

Argentina kicked off the tournament with a goalless draw against the Czech Republic. Despite dominating for large periods of the game, Argentina just couldn't force a goal and could easily have lost the game but for a goal line clearance in the closing minutes. With Boca's young schemer Ever Banega in midfield and Mauro Zarate and Sergio Aguero up front, the Argentines will surely pick up form as the tournament progresses.

The other game in Argentina's group also ended in a goalless draw, with Panama surviving an almost constant onslaught from DPR Korea thanks to a heroic goalkeeping performance from Luis Mejia.

Brazil opened their campaign with a disappointing 1-0 loss to the ten men of Poland. They will be thankful that the other game in their group ended in a draw, which still leaves them with a good opportunity to progress to the knockout stages if they can improve in time for their next game tomorrow.

Chile are currently the Latin American top dogs, defeating Canada 3-0 in their opening game thanks to goals from Nicolas Medina, Carlos Carmona and Jaime Grondona. They were never really troubled by the hosts and look like they could be a good outside bet for the tournament.

Uruguay drew 2-2 with Spain despite goals from Palermo striker Edinson Cavani and Luis Suarez giving them a 2-0 lead in the second half.

Costa Rica lost 1-0 to Nigeria in an end to end game where either side could have been victorious.

Finally, Mexico start their campaign tonight against Gambia in Toronto. With start players Carlos Vela of Arsenal and Giovanni Dos Santos of Barcelona, Mexico are heavily fancied for the tournament and will be looking to get off to a winning start.

If you want to watch the U-20 World Cup, Eurosport are covering the tournament, with most games being shown live. Live Sport On TV offers a schedule of upcoming games here, which is useful to find start times, etc.