FIFA football history will be made this year, when the World Youth Cup kicks off inTurkeyin a few months andBrazilandArgentinawill be missing from action.
The two giants have failed to make it through fromSouth America’s Under 20 Championships. They were not able to grab one of the slots that the continent has and so have missed out by a huge margin, not even qualifying for the four available slots.Brazil, reigning World Champions at this level, astonishingly finished bottom of their first round group of five.Argentinaon their part finished second from bottom as a 3-2 victory over a largely reserveColombiaside in their last match was entirely academic as their fate had already been sealed.
It could be recalled thatArgentinawon the World Youth title five times between 1995 and 2007. They went into this year’s qualifier selecting an array of attacking talent dubbed by the local media as “The Fantastic Five.”
Nevertheless, bothBrazilandArgentinahave players capable of bouncing back from this setback. In 1992, Cafu and Roberto Carlos were part of theBrazilside that did not even get close to qualification for the Barcelona Olympics.
Again, in the current Under 20 tournament, neitherArgentinanorBrazilreally looked like a team. The Junior Albacetes had occasional moments of clarity, but in the case ofBrazil, it was hard to identify any coherent idea in their play. And if they were poor going forward, defensively, both left even more to be desired. The teams that failed to go through to second and last round of qualifiers are,Venezuela,BrazilandArgentinawhileUruguay,Colombia,Peru,Ecuador,ChileandParaguaywill slug it out for who will make the final four that will represent South America in this year’s FIFA World Youth Championship inTurkey. The stars to watch out for in South America are Juan Fernando Quintero, (20yrs, fromColombia), Jorge Rojas (18yrs, fromParaguay), Nico Lopez (19 yrs fromParaguay), Diego Laxait(19yrs, fromUruguay), Bryan Rabello (18yrs, fromPeru), Christian Benavente (18yrs, fromPeruand Carlos Guezo (17yrs, fromEcuador).
