2019 FIFA U20 World Cup: Non-U.S. team and tournament news

Discussion in 'Youth National Teams' started by Dave Marino-Nachison, Dec 14, 2018.

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  1. gunnerfan7

    gunnerfan7 Member+

    San Jose Earthquakes
    United States
    Jul 22, 2012
    Santa Cruz, California
    Club:
    Arsenal FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    #51 gunnerfan7, Feb 19, 2019
    Depends. Will Nigeria be sending their senior team?
     
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  2. butters59

    butters59 Member+

    Feb 22, 2013
    #52 butters59, Feb 19, 2019
    That would be a tough group. Ukraine just destroyed our pretty good team in 2015. Mali was arguably the best team at the same WC.
     
  3. gunnerfan7

    gunnerfan7 Member+

    San Jose Earthquakes
    United States
    Jul 22, 2012
    Santa Cruz, California
    Club:
    Arsenal FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    #53 gunnerfan7, Feb 19, 2019
    Eh, that 2015 team had major flaws up top, and was absolutely manhandled in the attack and in midfield against Ukraine.

    It was a midnight game for me, but IIRC, we missed a PK down 1-0, and couldn't force our way through much bigger kids. At least, that's what I remember. Looking up the highlights, they don't show much except the Ukranian goals and Hyndman's PK miss. PK was very soft.''

    Mali did stick out as really good. IDK what they're looking like now though.
     
  4. butters59

    butters59 Member+

    Feb 22, 2013
    #54 butters59, Feb 19, 2019
    I recall Steffen having very good games against Ukraine, Columbia and Serbia so the scores were kind of misleading. Hyndman and Zelalem were overrun and no individual talent in attack. Ukrainians will be big and athletic again. Never know what African teams will look like, but that Mali team just played beautiful soccer.
     
  5. Dave Marino-Nachison

    Dave Marino-Nachison Member+

    Jun 9, 1999
    #55 Dave Marino-Nachison, Feb 19, 2019
    Mali did win the CAF tournament, but it wasn't a walk for them -- they needed penalties in both their semifinal and final wins, and Senegal beat them in the group stage. Zambia, the last CAF U20 winner, didn't make it to the tournament at all, and they were a tough out in 2017.
     
  6. Dave Marino-Nachison

    Dave Marino-Nachison Member+

    Jun 9, 1999
    #56 Dave Marino-Nachison, Feb 24, 2019
    Here's what looks to be Nigeria's qualifying roster:

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2019_Africa_U-20_Cup_of_Nations_squads#Nigeria

    It included a '99 D named Udo and an '00 named Alhassan who have received some NMNT callups. They also called in a couple of '02s. The roster was mainly domestic with a few guys at comparatively small European clubs mixed in, meaning it left out Sam Chukwueze, the '99 attacker at Villareal.



    A scan of T'Markt shows a number of guys they may be hoping to attract at various clubs in Europe, including a few with American citizenship. They have certainly called in big-name players from major clubs for this tournament before, as in 2015.

    A guy worth noting is Southhampton's '00 Michael Obafemi, who recently played for Ireland's MNT. Things are tough all over...

    https://www.goal.com/en-ng/news/mic...igeria-england-miss/ogegwae9ydws1faond5hxm6if
     
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  7. Dave Marino-Nachison

    Dave Marino-Nachison Member+

    Jun 9, 1999
    #57 Dave Marino-Nachison, Feb 25, 2019
    Fixed my post.
     
  8. Dave Marino-Nachison

    Dave Marino-Nachison Member+

    Jun 9, 1999
    #58 Dave Marino-Nachison, Feb 25, 2019
    This was Ukraine's qualifying roster:

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2018_UEFA_European_Under-19_Championship_squads#Ukraine

    It was entirely domestic, with the exception of one guy at Alaves. Their '99 D Vitaliy Mykolenko has some UMNT looks. And they seem to rely pretty heavily on their attacker Buletsa, who scored the group stage winner in qualifying against France.



    They've also given MNT time to a '99 GK at Leganes (Andriy Lunin) who wasn't on the qualifying team.
     
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  9. butters59

    butters59 Member+

    Feb 22, 2013
    #59 butters59, Feb 25, 2019
    Scary looking attack.
     
  10. Dave Marino-Nachison

    Dave Marino-Nachison Member+

    Jun 9, 1999
    #60 Dave Marino-Nachison, Feb 25, 2019
    I won't pretend to know anything about Qatar's team or preparation, but here's the squad that won its qualifying group and then booked its trip to Poland by dispatching Thailand in the elimination round:

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2018_AFC_U-19_Championship_squads#Qatar

    Several of its players are evidently part of Eupen, the Belgian club the country bought and incorporated with the Aspire program.
     
  11. Dave Marino-Nachison

    Dave Marino-Nachison Member+

    Jun 9, 1999
    #61 Dave Marino-Nachison, Feb 26, 2019
    From the inbox:

    From today at midday CET until 5 March at midday CET, Visa cardholders will have an exclusive opportunity to apply for tickets on FIFA.com/tickets/U20WC for the first-ever FIFA competition to be hosted on Polish soil.​
     
  12. Dave Marino-Nachison

    Dave Marino-Nachison Member+

    Jun 9, 1999
    #62 Dave Marino-Nachison, Mar 26, 2019
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  13. zlebmada

    zlebmada Member

    United States
    Jan 16, 2018
    #63 zlebmada, Apr 3, 2019
    Mykolenko appears to be a lock starter for the senior Ukraine national team. Went 90 at left back in both of their March fixtures.
     
  14. Thundering165

    Thundering165 Member+

    North Carolina FC
    United States
    May 1, 2017
    Raleigh
    #64 Thundering165, Apr 16, 2019


    New Zealand with the first squad announcement that I've seen. They are still bringing one college player (a repeat from last cycle), but that's down from 5 last cycle. 3 players have senior NT experience, two of whom were on the team last cycle.

    Pretty much every team member who plays in the NZPL is getting pro minutes. One of their forwards has 18 goals in 14 games. It could be an interesting team to watch; lots of continuity from previous cycle and the U17s. It's not too hard to see a way out of the group for them.
     
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  15. Dave Marino-Nachison

    Dave Marino-Nachison Member+

    Jun 9, 1999
    #65 Dave Marino-Nachison, Apr 16, 2019
    Also, as noted elsewhere, Zwetsloot is U.S.-eligible, and will be provisionally cap-tied to NZ if he plays.
     
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  16. Dave Marino-Nachison

    Dave Marino-Nachison Member+

    Jun 9, 1999
    #66 Dave Marino-Nachison, Apr 23, 2019
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  17. Thundering165

    Thundering165 Member+

    North Carolina FC
    United States
    May 1, 2017
    Raleigh
    #67 Thundering165, May 10, 2019
    Portugal's roster was released today:



    Gedson Fernandes, Florentino Luis, and Diogo Dalot are pretty impressive callups for a U20 squad. Vinagre has 700 minutes for Wolverhampton. Jota is going to be electric at this level. Probably the most talented roster so far.
     
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  18. Thundering165

    Thundering165 Member+

    North Carolina FC
    United States
    May 1, 2017
    Raleigh
    #68 Thundering165, May 10, 2019
    Japan's roster has yet to be released but it has been confirmed that Takefusa Kubo and two other U20 players will not participate, instead joining the senior squad at the Copa America. That would make Mexico's road to the knockout stages a little easier.
     
  19. Thundering165

    Thundering165 Member+

    North Carolina FC
    United States
    May 1, 2017
    Raleigh
    #69 Thundering165, May 14, 2019


    France's roster is out. There was a twitter thread going around about how their squad had 500 first division appearances among them but to be honest, it's not as strong a squad as I was expecting. Obviously Zagadou will be one of the best players in the tournament and Yacine Adli is a personal favorite, but I was expecting a little more. They'll still be a favorite of course but it's a weaker squad than Portugal's.
     
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  20. Thundering165

    Thundering165 Member+

    North Carolina FC
    United States
    May 1, 2017
    Raleigh
    #70 Thundering165, May 14, 2019
    1125669378178023425 is not a valid tweet id


    Japan's roster is out as well. No Kubo as I previously noted. A very young squad, including a 16 year old keeper.
     
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  21. Thundering165

    Thundering165 Member+

    North Carolina FC
    United States
    May 1, 2017
    Raleigh
    #71 Thundering165, May 14, 2019
    Nigeria is confirmed as well:



    No Chukwueze which is good news for the USA.
     
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  22. TimB4Last

    TimB4Last Member+

    May 5, 2006
    Dystopia
    #72 TimB4Last, May 14, 2019
    Pretty cool that Japan announced their squad in Spanish.
     
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  23. Thundering165

    Thundering165 Member+

    North Carolina FC
    United States
    May 1, 2017
    Raleigh
    #73 Thundering165, May 14, 2019
    They didn’t but the official announcement was in Japanese and I thought Latin characters would be easier. That’s a Spanish language fan account. Why a Spanish language fan account exists for the Japanese national team is beyond me.
     
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  24. Thundering165

    Thundering165 Member+

    North Carolina FC
    United States
    May 1, 2017
    Raleigh
    #74 Thundering165, May 14, 2019
    Staying on trend, here is the Italian U20 roster in a Indonesian tweet:

     
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  25. Dave Marino-Nachison

    Dave Marino-Nachison Member+

    Jun 9, 1999
    #75 Dave Marino-Nachison, May 14, 2019
    Some rather unfashionable club names on that Italy roster, though it appears some of those guys are on loan -- Esposito, for example, is on loan to Serie C Ravenna from a top-table club. In any case, interesting mix. (I also did a double-take thinking they'd called up the American Sal Esposito; it's not him.)
     
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