2017 U20 World Cup

So you're telling me there's a chance?

 

Both still better than: "Daniel Simpson Day...has no grade point average."

 

Seriously. What scheduling genius put the winner of the last round of 16 match into the first quarterfinal match?

 

DVR'ed it but haven't watched it yet. The young Yanks went out 2-1 minutes in extra time.

 

US Kids now 1-5 in U20 WC Quarterfinals...sigh. Tell me if this sounds familiar to a recent senior WC knockout; Venezuela dominates the match, the US GK saves the day on numerous occasions, and at the end the match the US carves out their best chance and somehow misses a sitter to advance (Palmer-Brown had a free header and a wide open net that he'd make 99 out of 100 times that he missed). Venezuela scores the first 2 goals of the extra time with the US pulling one back, only to come up short 2-1. Yes, it was the Belgium match from the last WC all over again.

Venezuela deservingly advances, but on the 5th match of the tournament it's inexcusable to have one team get 2 extra days rest. Klinnsman was the player of the game, and Palmer-Brown will be thinking about that header long after the rest of us have forgotten about it.

 

OK, I wanna see some of those Venezuela kids' driver's license's. Reminds me of those decades of Little League World Series dominance by Taiwan. Big kids.

 

I also thought that while the majority of our team still looked like kids, the Venezuelans looked like men - big and muscular. I'm pretty sure a few of them had senior team caps already as well. I haven't watched much of the other teams left in the tournament, but I would be surprised if Venezuela has much trouble winning out.

 

England ended up beating Venezuela 1-0 to win the U20 World Cup in a match that included a blocked PK late in the match:

 

It'll be interesting to see how this group matures. I don't know what history tells us about the fortunes of U-20 World Cup winners, but I guess we'll see if these lads bring some glory to the land of the three lions. I watched a bit of them during this tourney, and they've got some spunk to go with the talent. I'm really happy for Fikayo Tomori, the defender who scored one of the more bizarre own goals you're likely to see in the group stage against Guinea. That's got to be the worst feeling in the world for a young player on a big stage. But now he's got a medal. And a trophy. Vindication can be sweet indeed.