U20 FOOTBALL
FIFA U20 World Cup: African trio face tricky fixtures against South Americans
Africa’s representatives at the 2023 FIFA U20 World Cup Gambia, Tunisia and Nigeria will face tricky opponents in the round of 16 following the conclusion of the group phase of the competition.
Unbeaten Gambia finished top of Group F to progress to the knockout phase and they have booked a last 16 date against Uruguay who finished second in Group E with six points.
Nigeria’s Flying Eagles made it to the round of 16 as one of the best third placed teams and they have booked a tough date against hosts Argentina in San Juan. Argentina finished top of Group A with a 100 percent record, winning all their matches.
Despite facing a possibly tough duel, head coach Ladan Bosso says they will battle to ensure they get to the final.
“We have to fight for the trophy. I think it is still open. Everybody can be there, and I believe we have the capacity to be there. We are into the knockout stage, and in the knockout stage, there is an approach, we can employ for it, and we hope we’d have our plans executed accordingly,” the tactician noted.
Meanwhile, Tunisia who also progressed as one of the best third placed teams will take on Group D toppers Brazil in La Plata in the round of 16. Argentina enjoyed a 100 percent record in the group phase.
Round of 16 fixtures for African teams:
- Brazil vs Tunisia – Estadio Único Diego Armando Maradona, La Plata, May 31
- Argentina vs Nigeria – Estadio San Juan del Bicentenario, San Juan, May 31
- Gambia vs Uruguay – Estadio Único Madre de Ciudades, Santiago del Estero, June 1
U20 FOOTBALL
Julio Gonzalez Ferreira: a tale of triumph over adversity
- A car accident put an end to his professional football career
- But thanks to football he overcame the odds and succeeded
- Today he is a member of FIFA’s Technical Study Group at the U-20 World Cup in Argentina, the same tournament and country in which he shone so brightly 22 years ago
The accident happened on 22 December 2005, on the road between Vicenza and Venice, hours before he was due to fly home to Paraguay for the holidays.
Twenty-seven days later, and despite their best efforts, the medical team were forced to amputate his left arm.
Julio Gonzalez Ferreira was 24 years old. The dreams he had had as a kid kicking the ball around near his childhood home in Asuncion were now over.
Dreams that had been sustained by goals and hard work at club level and with the national team.
He had featured in the Paraguay sides that finished fourth at the FIFA U-20 World Cup Argentina 2001 and won a silver medal at the 2004 Athens Olympics, while his debut on the biggest stage was to come, with La Albirroja having had qualified for the 2006 FIFA World Cup Germany.
“When the surgeon told me that they had to amputate my arm, my world fell apart,” Gonzalez Ferreira told FIFA.com, during a break from his duties with the FIFA Technical Study Group at the FIFA U-20 World Cup Argentina 2023.
“It’s hard to express everything that went through my head…I even had a pre-contract signed with Roma…I was going to replace my childhood hero, Gabriel Batistuta!” he added.
How did he get through it? “Football was at the heart of it. I knew that my future depended on my perseverance, on the same thing that made me a professional footballer in the first place.
“So I set out with the aim of playing again, no matter what the doctors said, or how many people thought it was impossible,” explains Gonzalez Ferreira, now 42 years old.
While Vicenza offered him a coaching role within their youth set-up as his recovery advanced, Julio returned to Paraguay in 2007, and signed with Tacuary.
There, after a great deal of hard work, on 18 November 2007, 22 months and 26 days after the accident, he took to the field and played professionally once more.
With his brother Celso playing alongside him, Gonzalez Ferreira was on the field for nearly 60 minutes against a powerful Olimpia side.
The story made headlines worldwide, and served as inspiration for thousands of people. “That achievement meant that football could be the main priority in my life once more. Since then, I’ve stayed in the game in one form or another.”
He retired in 2008. Since then, he has worked with Inter Milan’s foundation in Paraguay, running training sessions for children from disadvantaged backgrounds. He also qualified as a coach, working in the lower divisions. Last year, he joined the FIFA Legends programme.
His time at the current tournament in Argentina is, he says, “bringing back so many memories”.
It was here that he was one of the key players when Paraguay secured a historic fourth place finish in the U-20 World Cup Argentina 2001. He is surprised when FIFA.com shows him a video of the two goals he scored in that competition, against Iran in the group stage and against Ukraine in the round of 16.
“I really wanted to see them again. They bring back such happy memories, a really nice feeling!” he smiles.
He speaks with a touch of emotion when asked what it means to him to form part of the FIFA Technical Study Group here. “It’s life’s way of answering me, of saying ‘this is your reward for all that effort, all that sacrifice, for never giving up, never throwing in the towel. Life and football are repaying you now.’”
In between memories, the former forward organises his papers and his tablet ahead of the first of the round of 16 games.
During the matches, he observes and analyses all the “tactical, technical, physical and even psychological aspects of the game, generating data that the teams and players can then use.
And FIFA makes them available to the world of football via their Training Centre, which anyone can access,” he explains. “All this material we generate is fantastic, because it goes into a final report for the tournament.
“Have you any idea how valuable all this information would have been in my time as a player?” he adds.
With his coach’s eye, he has been impressed by what he has seen so far in the tournament, particularly “how the teams are building play from the goalkeeper or the central defenders, through the full-backs and midfield and ending up in organised attacking plays”.
The next game is about to begin, and Gonzalez Ferreira dives back into his work with a smile, happy at what he now helps to create. Football always gives a second chance to those who persevere.
-FIFA
U20 FOOTBALL
Flying Eagles fly home on Tuesday
After a mission impossible at getting to the championship game of the U20 World Cup in Argentina, the Flying Eagles will return home on Tuesday.
They fought gamely but lost after extra time to Korea Republic at the quarter final stage on Sunday.
Two-time runners-up Nigeria dominated for large parts of the game but were eliminated from the FIFA U20 World Cup by a single goal on Sunday as Korea Republic surged into the semi-finals for the second successive tournament.
The Flying Eagles, who eliminated hosts and six-time champions Argentina in the Round of 16 on Wednesday, created few chances despite passing the ball round the field quite well, with lack of punch in the final third the undoing of the seven-time African champions.
Victor Eletu, whose show of guts and grits led to the second goal that ended Argentina’s hope on Wednesday, curled a fine shot from outside the box on the half hour, but the Korean goalkeeper punched it out of danger.
In a highly cagey affair, both teams watched each other closely and only few risks were taken throughout the first period.
In the second period, Nigeria looked more adventurous with defender Daniel Bameyi striking from the edge of the box, only to see his effort stopped by the goalkeeper. In added time, Emmanuel Umeh’s dazzling run ended with a shot that was also smartly held by the Korean goal-tender.
The Asian vice champions got the winner five minutes into the first period of extra time, when substitute Sun Choi met a corner kick with a glancing header, and Nigeria goalkeeper Chijioke Aniagboso was in no man’s land.
Umeh, with a great chance to equalize in the 109th minute, blazed over the bar, and in the final minute, struck the side of the net.
U20 FOOTBALL
End of the road for Flying Eagles
Nigeria’s Flying Eagles, the last African team standing have crashed out of the FIFA U20 World Cup after losing 1-0 to Korea Republic after extra time in a quarter-finals clash.
And so, as it was at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, South Korea have again sent Nigeria packing.
No thanks to Seokhun Choi’s header in the fifth minute of the extra time. That settled the encounter which the Flying Eagles obviously had more ball possession.
Until the back-breaking goal, Nigeria had gone 545 minutes – over nine hours – without conceding against an Asian side in the competition .
The Taegeuk Warriors will now face Italy on Thursday for a place in the final. The Flying Eagles had the better of the play during the first 90 minutes, but struggled to create any meaningful opportunities against a resilient defence.
Victor Ehuwa Eletu had the best of them following a jinking dribble, but his shot was tipped round the post by Kim Joonhong.
To extra-time it went, with Korea Republic making the breakthrough via a corner. Lee Seungwon delivered one of his low, quick crosses, and Choi cleverly headed it backwards, up and over goalkeeper Kingsley Aniagboso and into the net.
Korea Republic will now strive to reach the final in back-to-back editions of this competition.
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