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.

Argentina and Brazil spring to life in Canada

After a draw and a defeat in their first games respectively, Argentina and Brazil were both able to pick up three points in yesterday's U-20 World Cup games.

Argentina comprehensively defeated Panama 6-0 thanks to Mauro Zarate, Angel Di Maria and double strikes from both Maximiliano Moralez and Atletico Madrid forward Sergio Aguero. The Argentines were simply unstoppable at times, with Ever Banega and Moralez linking impressively in midfield and Aguero just too much for the Panama defenders up front.

Brazil held off a late rally from the Korea Republic to win 3-2 and secure their first points of the tournament. Alexandre Pato finally lived up to his pre-tournament billing with a double strike after Amaral had opened the scoring with a mazy run through the Korean defense. Cruzerio centre-back Luizao and Atletico Paranaense defensive midfielder Roberto also stood out with accomplished performances that will surely have European scouts reaching for their notebooks.

Uruguay and Costa Rica will both be in action tonight, although not on Eurosport.

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.