Guaraní Messi celebrates against Brazil.
Are you ready for tomorrow’s massive slate of soccer? Starting bright and early with the Manchester derby, you can feast on Premier League matches, La Liga, Bundesliga, maybe even some Serie A just to make Orr happy.
Then what? Mexican league? Pffft. If you’re still hungry for soccer at dinnertime, South America has you covered.
The U20 hexagonal tournament wraps up tomorrow with all three matches live on ESPN3, starting with Argentina vs. Colombia at 4:45 p.m, Ecuador vs. Chile at 7, and Uruguay vs. Brazil at 9. You might have watched some of the earlier action from this tournament, if only to catch some of Neymar’s brilliance, or maybe to see this kid Iturbe who people are calling the Guaraní Messi (because he was born in Paraguay).
Hopefully, this little third rate overview will help you figure out what’s going on. First of all, this “hexagonal” is the final six-team phase of a larger qualifying tournament. The top four teams qualify for the Youth World Cup (YWC from now on) in Colombia this year, and the top two also qualify for next year’s Olympics. Here’s the standings with one match left to play:
Neymar's hair keeps the ball afloat.
1. Uruguay 10 pts
2. Brazil 9 pts
3. Argentina 6 pts
4. Ecuador 5 pts
5. Chile 3 pts
6. Colombia 1 measly point
Ironically, Colombia is already “qualified” for the YWC because they’re hosting it, and with only one point out of four matches, they have zero chance of going to the Olympics. The fact that they have nothing to play for could favor Argentina, who need to hope that Uruguay beats Brazil (preferably by a lot), then they can beat Colombia by a lot and maybe steal Brazil’s Olympic qualifying spot.
In all likelihood, though, Uruguay and Brazil will play to a draw, forcing Argentina to settle for the YWC and no shot at defending their Olympic gold medal. Uruguay has locked up their first Olympic soccer appearance in 84 years, no small feat for them.
The most interesting match could be Ecuador vs. Chile, since a win for Chile would knock Ecuador out of the YWC.
So, there you have it. Keep in mind that all of these teams have players who could possibly end up featuring for your favorite European club someday.
Wait–Argentina has 2 Messis to call upon? We need a FIFA corruption investigation stat.
@OM: And he wasn’t even born in Argentina! Maldini doesn’t like this one bit.
It feels like this U20 tournament has been going on for months.
It has been going on for months. Even longer than CONCACAF World Cup qualifying…
Anyways, Uruguay has a great generation of young players coming through, with Suarez to lead them in 2014 & 2018. They may even win #3 in Brazil, and I’m probably going to put $20 on that.