Panama forces Korea DPR to a goalless draw
By Tokunbo Ojo
Ottawa – In the opener of the Group E FIFA U-20 World Cup, Panama forced Korea DPR to a goalless draw.
But Panama has its goalkeeper, Luis Mejia, to thank for the result. Without his brilliant goalkeeping, Panama would not have survived the onslaught of Korea DPR.
“He was our best player, no doubt about it,” said coach Julio Dely Valdes. And he deserves special praise because he’s only 16. He was brilliant in the first half and, while he had less to do in the second half, he still saved us on two or three occasions. We’re very happy for him.”
The Korean offensive plays were so well-executed that the Panama’s defensive line was caught off-guard several times. But Mejia, who is the second youngest player in this tournament, stood firmly behind the Koreans and goals. He was his team’s rock of Gibraltar on the day that Panama played for pride and honour in the U-20 World Cup.
Saturday game was the first time that Panama picked a point in its U-20 World Cup appearance. The country’s two previous appearances in the U-20 World Cup were disaster because it lost all its games.
From the blast of the whistle, the Koreans who are making debut in the U-20 World Cup were out for goals and victory. Playing 4-3-3 formation, the Korean striking trio of Kum II Kum, Chol Min Pak and Chil Min Jong played 1-2 touch soccer that forced Panama midfielders to lend helping hands to their defenders who made a catalogue of mistakes throughout the game.
With the midfielders playing more defensively and cautiously, the supporting striker Pablo Gonzalez had to drop to the midfield to pick ball and then force long ball to his striking partner, Gabriel Torres. But those efforts did not yield any tangible result because the Korean midfielders and defenders were quick in closing down any gap that could be used by their opponents.
However, with the second opener game of group between Czech Republic and Argentina also ended in a goalless draw, the group is now open for any of the team to pick up a space in the second-round.
The double header games of Tuesday will determine which team might make it out of the group.
Czech, Argentina prefer natural grass at Frank Clair stadium
By Tokunbo Ojo
If both Czech Republic and Argentina had the choice to choose the artifical turf and natural grass for their Group E FIFA U-20 World Cup opener on Saturday, they would have chosen natural turf instead of the artificial turf at Frank Clair Stadium in Ottawa.
“Although we know the turf and we’ve also played on the similar turf before, the natural grass would have been better,” said Pavel Frybort, the technical leader of the Czech Republic. He pointed out that the artificial turf did not have negative impact on his team’s game against Argentina, which ended goalless goal, because of their previous experience on the synthetic turf.
Argentines felt that the artificial turf at Frank Clair stadium could hinder a free-flowing soccer if the weather was hot as it was when they first trained on the turf before their Saturday encounter with Czech.
Argentina’s striker Pablo Piatti walked away with bruises from the first practice on the turf in Ottawa. But Argentina’s coach, Hugo Tocalli, said that he is not complaining about the turf because all teams would play on the same turf.
“If FIFA says it is okay, I am not making any noise about it,” he said repeatedly after the game on Saturday. “But natural grass is better for ball movement and flow”
Highly disappointed Tocalli would not comment on whether the field was responsible for his team’s goalless draw against Czech. Nonetheless, he said “no coach in the world would be happy with a tie.”
At the inspection of the stadia for the U-20 World Cup last year, FIFA gave the turf at Frank Clair Stadium 2-star rating, which is the highest rating that a stadium could receive by the FIFA rating standard.
About a half millions dollar was spent in installing the turf, which is made of a monofilament fiber that is aimed at maximizing pace and speed of the players as the natural grass turf would have provided.
Baby Blue And White Army Goalless
By Kris Fernandes
Ottawa – The dark clouds and heavy rain did a number on traffic and the artificial pitch at Frank Clair stadium today in Ottawa as the FIFA U20 World Cup finally got underway, although you would’ve thought otherwise when staring at the large number of travellers that came out to support Argentina’s squad against the Czech Republic.
The jubilant supporters came brimming with excitement with cheek-to-cheek smiles while singing catchy Spanish tunes. Almost all carried, at least, a miniature Argentina flag complimented by the famous baby blue and white striped jersey that has become extremely popular worldwide, except in Brazil for obvious reasons.
The fans had endured a surprisingly exciting 0-0 draw between group rivals Panama and North Korea and were in full spirits, and full of beer, before kickoff. Many had travelled from Argentina directly while the majority were ex-pats now based in Southern Ontario.
One of those who drove up from Toronto was Vlad Lukan, a Ukrainian who lived in Argentina for 5 years.
“It’s one of the biggest games of the tournament and just one of those games you have to be here live to get the full experience. I am going for Argentina all the way as I feel like it’s in my blood. If Canada played Argentina in any round I honestly wouldn’t want to answer who I’d cheer for.” said Lukan.
One person, who would cheer for Canada, is 13 year-old Spencer Smithers, who plays left striker for the U13 boys of the Ottawa Youth Soccer Club. Though the stadium was packed with more than its fair share of Argentina supporters, Spencer represented a significant amount of young Canadian players that came out in droves with their parents.
“Oh yeah I’m cheering for Canada. My dad bought us tickets but couldn’t make so I’m enjoying the game with my brother and some friends, it’s great here. I hope everyone keeps playing soccer in Canada.”
Surely that is the music that the CSA is hoping to hear.
Listen to Your Nana
By Kris Fernandes
Get the inside scoop on what it’s like to play for Team Canada at the U20 World Cup right from one of Canada’s brightest young players, defender Nana Attakora-Gyan. Share his thoughts on what it’s like to play in the World Cup at home and what the team does to prepare for games.
Interesting comments on the artificial turf – but, this appears to be an account from ONE of the stadiums using turf (Frank Clair).
What are the teams/players saying about the Field Turf surfaces in Toronto and Montreal? It seems like the Field Turf product is a better one than the one in Ottawa.
Just a thought – but, you might want to look into it.