FIFA U-20 The Glory and the Horror

Posted on | July 3, 2007 | Comments Off

What a weekend! It was great. First off I have to thank my friend Chris for getting me the tickets.
Thanks Chris!

Secondly – all the best coaches and players are always in the stands.

As I said in my first post on the games “Oh Canada… where were you?” The Canada vs Chile game was a case of 2 teams playing 2 different games. Chile was there to play football and win. Canada was there to wander around the field wondering who these great players were. It really was a shambles for Canada. They are capable of playing a tighter, faster game.
To start with, there was NO offense! None… nada… They offered up too many opportunities to the Chilean team, and of course Chile grabbed every one of those offerings.

Defense was comical at times. The defenders were never close enough to the Chileans to offer a vigorous defense – the Canadians stood too far away from their opponents and just couldn’t tackle.

The Chile team mastered the fine art of Swan Diving. I haven’t seen so much drama since a bad version of Swan Lake! I must say, the Canadians didn’t allow themselves to get close enough to the Chileans to commit as many fouls as they were charged with. I swear, a puff of wind would knock over Chile’s players. It was the one thing that marred the game. Chile was the superior team and did not have to resort to this idiocy. But as Chris said chalk it up “to the Latin love of melodrama”.

The stats say it all: Chile Canada
shots 20 3
fouls 8 17
yellow cards 0 4 although I dispute 1 of them
possession 61% 29%

Oh the card I disputed? The Chilean player tumbled to the ground with great fanfare but the Canadian player wasn’t close enough to actually cause the fall. Chile should have been carded for all the diving we saw. At one point I thought I was at a diving competition. The photo on the right says it all – Canada spent too much time trying to figure out the rules of “International Keep Away”.

Canada just couldn’t get the ball. It was a shame. They have excellent players with lots of international experience. I’ll be watching the next game and keeping my fingers crossed.

I do have a new hero though. Goal keeper Asmir Begovic. He was outstanding. Without his steadiness in goal the game would have been a slaughter.

Hopefully they will have their first game jitters over with and the coach will be able to guide them to a stronger game.

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