After the confirmation of Argentina as the host country of the Under 20 World Cup, whose venue had first been awarded to Indonesia, the draw corresponding to the group stage of the FIFA World Cup was held this Friday at the FIFA headquarters in Zurich, Switzerland. competition that will begin on May 20 and end on June 11.
Luck was once again on the side of the National Team, which Javier Mascherano will once again lead and who had not achieved his World Cup ticket in the South American Sub 20 tournament, but finally won his place due to the skilful maneuver of the AFA president, Claudio ” Chiqui” Tapia, who with the clean and jerk of the world championship achieved by the senior team in Qatar, and when the Indonesian candidacy began to falter due to the political and institutional crisis that the Southeast Asian country is going through, proposed Argentina as a replacement.
Absent from the draw, Chiqui Tapia expressed his gratitude to the FIFA president, Gianni Infantino, for having awarded Argentina the venue for the Under 20 World Cup and promised the participating countries and all its visitors, “the best Under 20 youth championship that have lived”.
Almost two months after the resignation of Javier Mascherano, a decision that at the beginning of this month was reversed by the former River midfielder and the National Team, just when Argentina’s candidacy began to take shape and the youth team dreamed of their participation again World Cup, the national team found a draw that was favorable.
As the host team, the National Team was at the head of Group A, and will have Uzbekistan, Guatemala and New Zealand as rivals. Those led by Mascherano will start the World Cup in the category on May 20 against Uzbekistan, a team that is on the rise, since it has just established itself as undefeated champion in the Asian Cup. The second date will have Guatemala as a rival and will close the group stage against New Zealand, a team that comfortably qualified for the event and that dreams of overcoming the first phase of the World Cup for the first time in its history.
Meanwhile, the ever-present category of “group of death” this time fell to D, which will feature Brazil, Italy, Nigeria and the Dominican Republic. It is worth remembering that Brazil won the Under 20 championship five times (1983, 1985, 1993, 2003, 2011), one behind Argentina, which leads the category with six wins (1979, 1995, 1997, 2001, 2005 and 2007).
A total of 24 teams will participate in the competition, divided into six groups of four, of which 16 will advance to the knockout phase – the first two from each zone and the four best third-placed teams.
This is how the groups were
- Group A: Argentina, Uzbekistan, Guatemala and New Zealand.
- Group B: United States, Ecuador, Fiji and Slovakia.
- Group C: Senegal, Japan, Israel and Colombia.
- Group D: Italy, Brazil, Nigeria and the Dominican Republic.
- Group E: Uruguay, Iraq, England and Tunisia.
- Group F: France, South Korea, The Gambia and Honduras.
Mascherano goes for revenge
After the early elimination of the Under 20 team in the South American qualifying tournament for this World Cup and faced with the inactivity that would lie ahead, coach Javier Mascherano had announced his discontinuation in office. It was a terrible tournament for Argentina: defeat in the debut against Paraguay (0-1), defeat against Brazil (1-3), victory against Peru (1-0) and defeat against the host team, Colombia (0-1 ). The results hit DT deeply.
After his empty-handed return from Colombia, Mascherano felt the need to cum. However, Tapia himself, along with former San Lorenzo striker Bernardo Romeo, expressed their wish that he continue in office beyond the sporting result. There was no case.
The Jefecito, convinced of his decision, remained in his position until the talks at the AFA headquarters of the Jefecito with the captain and the coach of the Major, Lionel Messi and Lionel Scaloni, brand new world champions in Qatar 2022, arrived. who gave him the confidence and the impulse to reverse his gaze on what happened in the South American, which Mascherano himself considered “a failure”.
That, added to the World Cup passage achieved by imposing Argentina as the venue to replace Indonesia before the other candidates: Peru and Qatar, finished convincing DT to continue.
With Argentina as the host country, the support of the fans who continue to be euphoric for the World Cup won in Qatar 2022, Mascherano now once again has the balance tilted in his favor. He will have to work a lot in the next few days to get the team ready, correct mistakes and lift his own spirits and those directed by him. Football does not always give, as in this case, so clearly a second chance.
In search of his seventh star
This will also be the second time that Argentina organizes an Under 20 World Cup, after the one held in 2001, remembered for the great tournament of Javier Saviola, who turned out to be the best player and scorer of the tournament, and which included other stars in budding artists such as Leandro Romagnoli, Andrés D’Alessandro, Fabricio Coloccini and Maxi Rodríguez, among others.
On that occasion, after beating Ghana 3-0 in the final, Argentina won its fourth World title in the category, after the World Cups in Japan ’79, Qatar ’95, Malaysia ’97, and its third championship in seven years in what was, without a doubt, the best cycle of a coach at the head of the lower divisions of the AFA, José Pekerman.
Then, from the hand of Franciso Ferraro and Hugo Tocalli, came another two titles, the World Cups in Holland 2005 and Canada 2007, respectively. The first, with players of the stature of Fernando Gago, Lionel Messi and Sergio Agüero; the second again with Kun, Chiquito Romero, Maxi Moralez, Papu Gómez and Ángel Di María, two also brand new World Champions in Qatar. Meanwhile, the first title came in the unforgettable Tokyo ’79, with César Menotti from DT and the genius on the field of Diego Armando Maradona.
Argentina’s preliminary list for the U20 World Cup
archers
- Nicolas Claa (Lanus)
- Franco Herrera (Barracas Central)
- Federico Gomes Gerth (Tigre)
- Lucas Lavagnino (River)
defenders
- Agustin Giay (San Lorenzo)
- Nahuel Arias (San Lorenzo)
- Lautaro Di Lollo (Boca)
- Valentin Boat (Mouth)
- Ulises Ciccioli (Central Rosary)
- Brian Aguilar (Lanús)
- Valentin Gomez (Velez)
- Felipe Sánchez (Gymnastics of La Plata)
- Renzo Malanca (Huachipato from Chile)
- Roman Vega (FC Barcelona)
- Franco Carboni (AC Monza)
- Julian Aude (Los Angeles Galaxy)
- Lucas Besozzi (Cordoba Central of Santiago del Estero)
- Tiago Palacios (Workshops of Córdoba)
midfielders
- Gino Infantino (Rosario Central)
- Christian Ordonez (Velez)
- Ignacio Miramón (Gymnastics of La Plata)
- Benjamin Domínguez (Gymnastics of La Plata)
- Maximo Perrone (Manchester City)
- Mateo Tanlongo (Sporting Lisbon)
- Nicolas Paz (Real Madrid)
- Valentin Carboni (Inter Milan)
- Facundo Goodnight (Brighton & Hove Albion)
- Juan Gauto (Hurricane)
- Federico Redondo (Argentines)
- Esteban Lucero (Defense and Justice)
- Tomas Aviles (Racing)
strikers
- Alejo Veliz (Central Rosario)
- Matías Soulé (Juventus)
- Luka Romero (Lazio)
- Alejandro Garnacho (Manchester United)
- Brian Aguirre (Newell’s)
- Ignatius Master Puch (Athletic Tucuman).
The four confirmed venues
The AFA made official this Friday that the venues for the Under 20 World Cup to be played in Argentina will be Mendoza with its Malvinas Argentinas stadium, San Juan with the Bicentennial Stadium, La Plata with Diego Maradona and Santiago del Estero with the Only Mother of Cities .
The organization contract for the tournament, which will be played by 24 countries divided into six groups, was signed by the AFA, along with all other documents corresponding to the organizing country and local authorities, said FIFA, which inspected the stadiums.
- Malvinas Argentinas Stadium, Mendoza. It is located at the foot of Cerro de la Gloria, near the center of the capital city, and has an approximate capacity of 42,500 spectators. Construction began in 1976, ahead of the 1978 World Cup in Argentina. Since then it has hosted different sporting events, including the Under 20 World Cup held in our country in 2001. In 2011, for the Copa América in Argentina, the Malvinas Argentinas underwent major interior remodeling.
- San Juan del Bicentennial Stadium, San Juan. It is a multipurpose stadium located south of Greater San Juan, which has a capacity for 25,286 spectators. After two years of construction, the venue was inaugurated on March 16, 2011, with a match between Argentina and Venezuela (4-1). A few months later it was one of the venues for the Copa América, although on that occasion it did not host the National Team. It had several spare parts, the last one in November 2021 to meet FIFA and Conmebol standards for international matches.
- Diego Maradona Stadium, La Plata. Known as Estadio Único de La Plata, this sports venue is located in the capital of the province of Buenos Aires and has room for 53,000 attendees. Opened in 2003, it is one of the most modern stadiums in Latin America. It hosted the 2011 Copa América, among other sporting and cultural events. On December 18, 2020, he changed his name to “Diego Armando Maradona” following the death of the idol.
- Unique Mother of Cities Stadium, Santiago del Estero. The stadium that recently hosted the friendly between the world champions in Qatar and Curaçao is barely two years old. With a singular cylindrical structure, which began to be built in June 2018, the Madre de Ciudades stands on a property located on the northern waterfront of the capital, on the banks of the Dulce River. The land is surrounded by the Highway Bridge, the Botanical Garden and is connected to the Development Train through a station. It has capacity for 29 thousand seated spectators.
