U-20 World Cup a launching pad for future superstars

Opinion

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This article was published 19/05/2023 (842 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It was about this time, all of 18 years ago, Lionel Messi launched himself onto the global football imagination with an otherworldly showing at the FIFA U-20 World Cup in the Netherlands. Twenty-six years before that, Diego Maradona used the then-World Youth Championship as a catapult to a similar stratosphere.

Little wonder Argentina holds the tournament in such high esteem.

Even beyond those all-time greats, the country has not only seen the likes of Oscar Ruggeri, Jorge Burruchaga, Carlos Tevez and Juan Roman Riquelme begin their ascent of the national pantheon at the biennial competition, but also revelled in the record six titles delivered by Los Cebollitas.

(It’s an apt comparison to Canada’s obsession with the World Junior Hockey Championship, which, like its soccer counterpart, began in 1977.)

Though it’s hardly fair to sit on the edge of one’s seat while anticipating the “next Messi” or “next Maradona,” Argentines might be forgiven for expecting this event to show them the “next ones” to come, what with its already having done so repeatedly.

Well, their spectacle begins Saturday with a group stage match against Uzbekistan in Santiago del Estero (4:00 p.m., all matches on either TSN5 or TSN+). Just who will they be watching?

Given that he’s only ever played his club football in Europe, Luka Romero will be new to local supporters’ eyes, though his reputation won’t be. The Lazio attacker became La Liga’s youngest-ever player while at Mallorca, and in November — eight days before his 18th birthday — he scored his first Serie A goal.

Buenos Aires sports daily Olé published a feature interview with Romero on Friday, and the left-footed right-winger made a point to mention that the next few weeks will be a sort of “second chance” for many of his teammates.

Argentina, after all, didn’t even qualify for this World Cup, having finished an embarrassing eighth at the South American U-20 Championship in January. When Indonesia was removed as tournament host in the wake of a fierce, national argument over the participation of Israel, with which they have no diplomatic ties, FIFA transplanted it to its natural home, and suddenly the six-time winners were entered automatically.

Tickets for the June 11 final at La Plata’s 53,000-capacaity Estadio Único sold out within 48 hours, and when they arrived at their hotel in Santiago del Estero’s historic city centre, manager Javier Mascherano and his players were mobbed by autograph-seekers. On Wednesday, Olé ran a standalone U-20 World Cup supplement.

Of course, the pre-kick-off hype has little bearing on actual results, although it could help vault Romero, Manchester City prospect Máximo Perrone, Boca Juniors defender Valentín Barco and highly-rated Gimnasia midfielder Ignacio Miramón into the contenders’ category.

Favourites? Not just yet.

No, that label belongs to continental champs Brazil, who, despite the notable absence of Vitor Roque, should get enough scoring from Santos marksman Marcos Leonardo to take them deep into the knockout stages. Though it’s actually in defence that Ramon Menezes’ side is strongest.

Former Corinthians defender Robert Renan turned a standout South American U-20 into a winter move to Zenit Saint Petersburg, and América Mineiro right-back Arthur Soares will join Bayer Leverkusen in July. Captain Andrey Santos, on loan at Vasco da Gama from Chelsea, will shield the backline.

Brazil, incidentally, were the last South American team to win the U-20 World Cup before the Europeans — finally taking the competition seriously — rattled off four in a row, starting with France in 2013.

Paul Pogba, Kurt Zouma and Jordan Veretout were among the star performers that year, although the likes of Alan Virginius, Wilson Odobert and Alexis Tidibi will be hardpressed to emulate them as almost 30 of manager Landry Chauvin’s selections were prevented from joining Les Bleuets by their clubs.

All the better for reigning European U-19 champions England, who are returning a number of key contributors from last summer’s success in Slovakia.

Goalkeeper Matthew Cox, named to the Team of the Tournament, is back, as are Chelsea’s Harvey Vale, Tottenham’s Alfie Devine and Portsmouth’s Dane Scarlett. The Young Lions’ real blue-chipper, however, is Bristol City attacker Alex Scott, who turned Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola’s head in the FA Cup and has earned the nickname “The Guernsey Grealish.” England won the U-20 World Cup in 2017.

Italy were semi-finalists that year, and they repeated the feat in 2019 (the 2021 instalment was cancelled due to the pandemic). The Azzurrini also made the final four at the 2022 European U-19s, and manager Carmine Nunziata will be looking to finally take his group over the hump in Argentina.

True to stereotype, Italy tend to find goals hard to come by. They do, however, have an exceptional talent up top in the form of Napoli’s Giuseppe Ambrosino, currently loaned to Cittadella. Chelsea’s Cesare Casadei, who previously excelled with Inter’s Primavera side, will marshal what looks to be an impressive midfield.

Outside the traditional powerhouses of South America and Europe, Senegal will look to the Ghana side of 2009 — champions in Egypt — as inspiration for a promising group that includes electrifying forward Samba Diallo of Dynamo Kyiv. South Korea, runners-up in 2019, have perhaps the U-20 World Cup’s most sought-after defender in 6-4 Ji-soo Kim.

Naturally, an event like this is bound to produce one or two surprises. The United States, featuring midfielder Owen Wolff, are a legitimate darkhorse, and Ecuador playmaker Kendry Páez, who only turned 16 this month, could end up dominating despite his years. Even Uzbekistan, the Asian U-20 champions, could shock Argentina out of the gate Saturday afternoon.

Didn’t Saudi Arabia do something similar at the senior men’s World Cup in Qatar?

We all know how that turned out.

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