They will be on ART America. Can somebody tape me a game or two? I would love to see some of these teams play.
Does anyone have a feel for the U-20 teams competing? The only feeling I get is that it is wide open and that any number of countries, both from the Eastern and Western zones could win this thing. Any predictions?
Japan took a fairly good U-20 team this time. The defence is a bit suspect in this generation, but there are some very talented midfielders and strikers, especially Kentaro Abe and Atsushi Katagiri. I dont know if Japan can go all the way to win the final, given their weak defence, but I do think they should be able to win a ticket to the WYC, and they also should be very fun to watch. Expect a lot of high-scoring games (because Japan will get plenty of both goals scored and goals conceded).
For those interested, here are the groupings and match schedules from the AFC website. http://www.asian-football.com/scripts/runisa.dll?s7:gp:166398:39913+u20/02/results/finals+1049+2002 GROUP A TEAM P W D L GF:GA PTS. Qatar 0 0 0 0 0:0 0 Thailand 0 0 0 0 0:0 0 Korea Republic 0 0 0 0 0:0 0 Uzbekistan 0 0 0 0 0:0 0 15-Oct-02 [1] Al Arabi Club, QAT 18:30 Qatar vs. Korea Republic 15-Oct-02 [2] Al Arabi Club, QAT 20:30 Thailand vs. Uzbekistan 18-Oct-02 [7] Al Ahli Club, QAT 18:30 Qatar vs. Thailand 18-Oct-02 [8] Al Ahli Club, QAT 20:30 Korea Republic vs. Uzbekistan 21-Oct-02 [13] Al Arabi Club, QAT 18:30 Qatar vs. Uzbekistan 21-Oct-02 [14] Al Arabi Club, QAT 20:30 Korea Republic vs. Thailand GROUP B TEAM P W D L GF:GA PTS. Bangladesh 0 0 0 0 0:0 0 India 0 0 0 0 0:0 0 Japan 0 0 0 0 0:0 0 Saudi Arabia 0 0 0 0 0:0 0 16-Oct-02 [3] Al Ahli Club, QAT 18:30 India vs. Bangladesh 16-Oct-02 [4] Al Ahli Club, QAT 20:30 Japan vs. Saudi Arabia 19-Oct-02 [9] Al Arabi Club, QAT 18:30 India vs. Japan 19-Oct-02 [10] Al Arabi Club, QAT 20:30 Bangladesh vs. Saudi Arabia 22-Oct-02 [15] Al Ahli Club, QAT 18:30 India vs. Saudi Arabia 22-Oct-02 [16] Al Ahli Club, QAT 20:30 Bangladesh vs. Japan GROUP C TEAM P W D L GF:GA PTS. United Arab Emirates 0 0 0 0 0:0 0 China PR 0 0 0 0 0:0 0 Vietnam SR 0 0 0 0 0:0 0 Syria 0 0 0 0 0:0 0 17-Oct-02 [5] Al Arabi Club, QAT 18:30 Syria vs. China PR 17-Oct-02 [6] Al Arabi Club, QAT 20:30 United Arab Emirates vs. Vietnam SR 20-Oct-02 [11] Al Ahli Club, QAT 18:30 Syria vs. United Arab Emirates 20-Oct-02 [12] Al Ahli Club, QAT 20:30 China PR vs. Vietnam SR 23-Oct-02 [17] Al Arabi Club, QAT 18:30 Syria vs. Vietnam SR 23-Oct-02 [18] Al Arabi Club, QAT 20:30 China PR vs. United Arab Emirates QUARTERFINALS 25-Oct-02 [19] Al Arabi Club, QAT 17:30 1st A vs. 3rd B or C 25-Oct-02 [20] Al Arabi Club, QAT 20:30 1st B vs. 3rd A or C 26-Oct-02 [21] Al Arabi Club, QAT 17:30 1st C vs. 2nd A 26-Oct-02 [22] Al Arabi Club, QAT 20:30 2nd B vs. 2nd C SEMIFINALS 29-Oct-02 [23] Al Arabi Club, QAT 17:30 Winner 19 vs. Winner 22 26-Oct-02 [24] Al Arabi Club, QAT 20:30 Winner 20 vs. Winner 21 THIRD PLACE 31-Oct-02 [25] Al Arabi Club, QAT 17:30 Loser 23 vs. Loser 24 FINALS 31-Oct-02 [26] Al Arabi Club, QAT 20:30 Winner 23 vs. Winner 24
Add China PR and Qatar to the list of top contenders. They are good in this generation. Korea Rep will be strong with deep defense and some flashy strikers. Also, Thailand has some players who won Asian U-17 Championship, so they can't be neglected. Anyhow, I guess Matsu tried to refer to Yutaro Abe(not Kentaro Abe). Nagoya's Katagiri is not selected for the Asian U-19 squad. I'd also add GK Kawashima DF Nagata, MF/DF Kikuchi, MF/DF Konno, MF Naruoka to the list of most expected Japanese players. Omyiya Ardija(J)'s Kawashima was unofficially scouted by some Italian clubs after being named the best GK of the tournament in which some Italian giants' youth teams have participated this year. Kikuchi has been invited twice by Arsenal to join the training and still under the London club's attentions. Sapporo's Konno is the most experienced player in this squad and can be the good captain of this team. Naruoka had disappointing Worul U-17 Championship, but he's been known as a quick, high-skill attacking MF. And FW Abe is a very high-skilled FW who made debut at the age of 17. He doesn't have strong foot, but he can control the ball well when he goes for netting the ball. I heard Reginna MF Nakamura praised for his skills. Japan's biggest weakness has been in defense, especially in this generation. The previous teams('98, '00) didn't have good defenders too when looking at personal defense skills and physique. But I think our defense this time may be better than the previous ones. Tsubouchi is fast and strog. He usually plays as sidehalf/sideback, but he can be a good stopper IMO. Nagata, expected to be the leader of the defense line, just made debut in J.Leage and played fairly well. He showed good covering/positioning and passing skills. Kakuda is a good defender, and I guess he is the next experienced DF next to Konno(he's already a starting right CB of Kyoto since the age of 18). He is a real fighter. What I don't know much about this team is how good this team has prepared for this tourney tactically. Also, my concern on Japan is always how much they can handle difficulties they face during a game by their own hands. As far as I saw this team in World U-17, they were not handling problems well. They were just overwhelmed by France and Nigeria in every department like technique, tactics, speed, decision-making etc. They couldn't make adjustments flexibly depending on the sutuations they are placed. Well, Japan's first match is against KSA. I hope they repeat the same as what Japan's Asian Cup winning team did in their first match back in '00
Sorry, I was a bit drunk when I wrote that. I couldnt say that I was hungover, because I wasnt sober enough yet to be hungover. Im only starting to get hungover right now. I am moving back to my home in Yamanashi next week, permanently, and all my friends from Tokyo had a party for me last night that didnt end until early this morning. My mouth tastes like the mud at the bottom of Sumida river. At least my head doesnt hurt (at least not yet). Anyway, regarding the players you mentioned, I like Kawashima too, but I think that Tokushige may actually be a better player. He doesnt have as much experience because he plays behind another great young keeper, Yamagishi, at Urawa. But he really impressed me in the high school championships last year, and I think he will be a star player when he gets a bit more experience. Naruoka is another good player, and certainly dont forget to mention Kobayashi Daigo, of Verdy, who has become one of Verdy's best players in midfield. However, personally Im not that impressed by Konno. I know he has lots of experience and has been a starter for Sapporo. But when you constantly play on a losing team, it can get to be a habit. Ill have to wait and see how he performs in Qatar, but I dont really view him as one of the team's best players even though he does have lots of playing experience. The main thing that concerns me is that for some reason the team did not name some of its most explosive offensive players. Mogi and Abe are both good dribblers and Sakata is not bad, and adds an element of speed. But I cant understand why Japan did not take strikers like Unozawa (Reysol), Katagiri (Grampus) and Tamano (Verdy). Japan's U-20 age group has the most talented selection of forwards ever, but they are going to need experience in the team in order to mature. Nothing against Mogi or Sakata, but the three players I named above are all more effective scorers, and they **certainly ** are better than Yano, who hasnt even been signed by a J.League club yet. I think that the U-20s will probably make up a large portion of Japan's Athens Olympic team, with only a few players like Matsui, Okubo and the two Tanakas being included from the U-21 team. At least they will have more opportunities for serious competition, since the Asian Games were the last real test for the U-21 squad, but the U-20s still have the Qatar tournamen and the WYC to develop their skills. Hopefully they can make a reasonably good result in this tournament. One other worry I have is regarding coach Okuma. He used far too defensive a strategy when he was at FC Tokyo. He has a good eye for skilled players, and I think his philosophy is more like Zico's than Yamamoto, but I worry that he will emphasise defensive play too much. That would not be good training for this generation of players, who are all very offense oriented. I would be interested to hear what you think about the team, since you probably have seen them play more than I have. I didnt see any of the U-17 tournament at all
Go Japan!! The format was better in iran '00. they shouldn't decide the wyc participants at the knowck-out stage. it'll be sad to see even though one has strength to easily make it regional top 4, they couldn't make it wyc just because they lost in a pk tiebreaker against one team at best 8. how come afc chose the same format as the last asian cup in this tournament just because we have 2 more teams than iran '00??
Results from the U-20 tournament http://www.asian-football.com/mrel/news_44843_E.html Group A U-20 results for October 15, 2002 (in Doha, Qatar) Korea Republic 1 Qatar 0 Scorers: Kim Dong Hun (KOR) 8? Halftime: 1-0 Thailand 0 Uzbekistan 4 Scorers: Geynrikh Alexander (UZB) 15?penalty Salomov Shavkat (UZB) 63?br> Magdeev Idlar (UZB) 75?br> Holikov Muzaffar (UZB) 78? Halftime: 0-1 I am a little shocked by the Thailand-Uzbekistan result. 4-0 drubbing by the Uzbekis.
Matsu I think U-19 players make up 1/3 of all the spots in the Olympic team. I could be wrong because they still have 1.5 years and could step up or down during that span. Here's the list of my Olympic team... GK: Fujigaya, Kawashima, Tokushige CB: Ikeda, Mita, Nagata SB: H.Tanaka, Moniwa, Kakuda DH: Little Abe, Aoki, Kikuchi OF: Ishikawa, Okubo, Matsui, Maeda FW: Tahara, Big Abe, Tamano shenhua China is always a force in the youth category.(because the top 6 or 7 teams are always the same in Asia, from the senior side to junior youth)
16-Oct-02 [3] Al Ahli Club 18:30 India vs. Bangladesh 16-Oct-02 [4] Al Ahli Club 20:30 Japan vs. Saudi Arabia Times are Qatari time. Does anyone now the difference between Qatari and Chinese time?
japan 2-1 ksa 87th min!! gogogogogogogogogogogogogogogogogogogogogogogogogogogogo!!!!!! go for win. beat them gogogogogogogogoogogoog!!!
Results from Day 2 (Group B matches) India vs. Bangladesh 6:0 Goalscorers: India: MARLANGKI SUTING (13') SYED RAHIM NABI (25') SYED RAHIM NABI (41') MARLANGKI SUTING (47') SYHLO MALSWAM TLUNGA (70') KUMAM SAMSON SINGH (85') Half time: (3:0) Japan vs. Saudi Arabia 2:1 Goalscorers: Japan: SAKATA DAISUKE (67') KONNO YASUYUKI (83') Saudi Arabia: EISA M H AL MAHYANI (46') Half time: (0:0) Huge win for Japan. It should clear them to win the group, barring a huge upset from the subcontinent. http://www.asian-football.com/mrel/news_44944_E.html
Today's schedule from Qatar: 17-Oct-02 [5] Al Arabi Club 18:30 Syria vs. China PR 17-Oct-02 [6] Al Arabi Club 20:30 United Arab Emirates vs. Vietnam SR
they're not wearing their WC kits? or is this picture from a while back? its weird cuz I just saw Canada with their old uniforms and not their new ones in their recent friendly against Scotland... China's and Canada's look soooo similar!
Nice to see a fellow Torontonian who's also a supportor of CJK NTs !! Are you Korean? Damn I missed the Canada-Scotland match on SportsNet. How did we do? I think the red uni's are China's "away" kit. It's basically the same as the WC kit except for the colors.