Dick Howard FIFA U-20

Argentina will be strong favourites to win their fifth title in the last seven years when they face the surprising team from the Czech Republic in Sunday's final.

It will not be an easy task for the "Albicelestes" (white and sky blues). The Czech Republic has brought back memories of the amazing success of Greece in EURO 2004 when a team without stars triumphed due to disciplined defending, efficient organisation and a great work ethic.

Miroslav Soukop's team bring similar values to the game.

The accusations of racism made by the Nigerian coach following the enthralling quarter-final game against Chile Sunday in Montreal should not detract from some fine officiating in the tournament.

It is certainly not the first time and will definitely not be the last time that a coach has blamed the match officials for a defeat. It is, however, great cause for concern, given that Howard Webb, a Premiership referee in England, had in the eyes of many observers given "a clinic in the art of officiating."

Clear, concise decision-making and effective player management should not have resulted in the verbal tirade from coach Ladan Bosso at the press conference following the game.

"As the host country... Canada had not been required to contest any qualifying matches and therefore had little to go on to assess its strength. The games they played in the preparatory stage did not reveal the weaknesses as adequately as they should have done. The selected players were exceptionally athletic but they lacked the other abilities necessary for success in the style of the English that they were emulating. It became evident in the group matches that the native team would not make it and were not worthy representatives of Canadian football."
(Report of Official FIFA Technical Study Group)

The report also mentioned "the forwards' inability to score goals that normally would have been difficult to miss," and made reference to the fact that "some of Canada's youngsters looked good on the field while others looked all at sea."

These comments could well apply to the performances of the Canadian team at this summer's FIFA U-20 World Cup. But, they were in fact taken from the Technical Report of the second FIFA U-16 World Tournament for the JVC Cup held in four venues across Eastern Canada in 1987!

The final round of group games begins Friday night with some interesting match ups:

GROUP A
Chile has been the class of the group with two excellent wins, the result of a core of fine technical players. Austria look set for the No. 2 spot after the important win over Canada. Canada will be hoping that it will be third time lucky against the debutantes from Congo but a spot as one of the best third-place teams is unlikely because of a poor goal differential. Congo would advance with a win over Canada.

GROUP B
A two-horse race with both Spain and Uruguay getting fine performances from key players after their dramatic opening tie. Zambia and Jordan will be hard pressed to get a best third-place spot, but both have impressed neutral observers with their performances.