U 20 World Cup

Discussion in 'Ireland' started by pmannion, Jan 29, 2003.

  1. pmannion

    pmannion Member
    Staff Member

    Apr 13, 2001
    Newfoundland
    Nat'l Team:
    Ireland Republic
    The draw is being made now in the UAE
     
  2. pmannion

    pmannion Member
    Staff Member

    Apr 13, 2001
    Newfoundland
    Nat'l Team:
    Ireland Republic
    Group E:

    Saudi Arabia
    Ireland Republic
    Mexico
    Cote D'Ivoire
     
  3. Father Ted

    Father Ted BigSoccer Supporter

    Manchester United, Galway United, New York Red Bulls
    Nov 2, 2001
    Connecticut
    Club:
    Manchester United FC
    Nat'l Team:
    Ireland Republic
    I have no idea how good these other teams are at youth level but from a traditional footballing standpoint, this is not the most difficult group.
     
  4. pmannion

    pmannion Member
    Staff Member

    Apr 13, 2001
    Newfoundland
    Nat'l Team:
    Ireland Republic
    I know many African youth teams are very good, so I would be wary of Ivory Coast...
     
  5. pmannion

    pmannion Member
    Staff Member

    Apr 13, 2001
    Newfoundland
    Nat'l Team:
    Ireland Republic
    Ireland played both Mexico and the Saudis in '99. The lost 1-0 to the Mexicans, but beat Saudi 2-0.
     
  6. Samarkand

    Samarkand Member+

    May 28, 2001
    Possible indicator, but by the time the tournament begins, that will have been 4 years ago and that's a long time for U-20s. Doubt there were many 16 year olds on the U-20 team.
     
  7. e_k1

    e_k1 New Member

    Aug 12, 2002
    Germany
    The Saudis are also strong at youth level, in fact I believe they won a youth world cup a few years back. Although there always has been rumours that many of their players are always the age they claim!

    Also, I would imagine the other teams could adjust much easier to the climate down there than the Irish lads.
     
  8. Desigol

    Desigol New Member

    Jan 17, 2003
    County Tyrone, NI
    On paper it looks easy enough. But, usually, the 'weaker' nations tend to have better youth teams. So we must be on our guard. Also another factor is the heat. Fortunately it wasn't such an issue in the 2002 World Cup 'cause most of our games were played in the evening Japan time.
     
  9. Samarkand

    Samarkand Member+

    May 28, 2001
    Ehhhmmm...Ireland has good youth teams............
     

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