France vs Uruguay 13-07-2013 FIFA U-20 World Cup Final

Türk Telekom Arena (Istanbul) will be hosting on 13 July 2013, an U20 World Cup Final between France and Uruguay.
Though it was one of the favorite teams in tournament, after it receives the third position in the prestigious Toulon tournament, it didn't make a good start to the Under-20 World Cup, and it gained only four points in group stage. Since then it hasn't met the strongest teams on their way to the final, but displayed the confidence of a real favorite. The semi-final between France and Ghana (2:1) has been the expected spectacular match last Wednesday with many chances on both sides and it was Florian Thauvin (OSC Lille), who decided it with two scores. In the final, France will have to replace defender Samuel Umtiti for the second time due to a suspension.
As Uruguay had eliminated top favorites and title defenders, Spain, in the quarter-finals, it was favorite in the semi-finals against the Iraqi team on Wednesday. Against Spain the 'Celeste' had set on counter attacks, this time they dominated the match themselves and it was Iraq who played dangerous counter attacks. In the 34th minute Iraq then shocked the Urus with a free kick goal. From now on, it was one way football towards the Iraq goal, but the equaliser came just two minutes before the end. After another thirty minutes dominated by the Urus, they won the semi-final 7:6 on penalties. Uruguay conceded only three goals in the six games it played in this tournament.

Possible line-ups:

France U20 (4-4-2): Alphonse Areola, Dimitri Foulquier, Kurt Zouma, Samuel Umtiti, Lucas Digne, Geoffrey Kondogbia, Jordan Veretout, Paul Pogba, Florian Thauvin, Jean-Christophe Bahebeck, Yaya Sanogo
Uruguay U20 (4-2-3-1): G. De Amores, G. Silva, G. Varela, G. Rodríguez, J. Giménez, L. Pais, S. Cristoforo, G. De Arrascaeta, D. Laxalt, F. Acevedo, N. López.

Match Details and Timings:

France vs Uruguay

Football: U20 World Cup Final

Match date: 13 July 2013
Kick Off Time: 20:00 CET - 18:00 GMT
Stadium: Türk Telekom Arena (Istanbul)

You can watch the match here

Read More

France vs Ghana 10-07-2013 FIFA U-20 World Cup

Attatürk-Stadium, Bursa will be hosting on 10 July 2013 , an U-20 World Cup Semifinal match between France vs Ghana.

I t was clear from the begining that France was the dominating team as they missed many opportunities, so it was fair enough that it qualified for the semi-final against Usbekistan after scoring two penalties so the match ended up 4:0. France will have to use its chances more consequently in the match against Ghana to realize its dream to play in the final. In addition to Usbekistan, France was able to eliminate Turkey from the tournament as well. It won against Ghana, drawed against USA and lost against Spain in the group games. France has a noteable goal difference of 13:5 and its top scorer is Yaya Sanogo with 4 goals.
It was able to win the first matchup with Ghana with 3:1. France managed that win with two quick goals in 180 seconds and Ghana was far from chanceless. The semi-final will definitely be a different game. 

Ghana won in the quarterfinal against Chile with 4:3 in extra time. It was an attractive game with a lot of offensive power from both sides. It was dramatic and Assifuah finally scored the game winning 4:3 in the last seconds of the second half of extra time. The game showed that Ghana is always able to score goals and that it has a few players with great individual skills in their squad. But, on the other hand, Ghana received a lot of goals (10) as well. Nevertheless the heart and passion it showed make it a serious contender for the world champions title. Furthermore, it already eliminated higher rated Portugal and Chile and should no longer be underestimated. 

Possible line-ups:

-FRANCE: Areola; Foulquier, Zouma, Umtiti, Digne; Pogba, Kondogbia, Veretout, Thauvin; Sanogo, Bahebeck.

-GHANA: Antwi; Nketiah, Addico, Mensah, Rahman; Salifu, Ashia, Acheampong, Aboagye; Assifuah, Boakye.

Match Details and Timings:

France vs Ghana

Football: U-20 World Cup Semifinal

Match date: 10 July 2013
Kick Off Time: 17:00 CET - 15:00 GMT
Stadium: Attatürk-Stadium, Bursa

You can watch the match here

Read More

Portugal vs Ghana 03-07-2013 FIFA U-20 World Cup

 Portugal was able to win group B with 7 points out of 3 games. After a 3:2 victory against Nigeria they played 2:2 against South Korea. Finally they sent home underdog Cuba with a 5:0 win. Portugal showed a lot of quality in the offense and managed to score 10 goals so far. Especially Aladje (3 goals) and Bruma (5 goals and 2 assists) threatenend opposing defenses. On the other hand we saw a lack of concentration in Portugals defense from time to time. Edgar Borges, their coach, already rested several players. Fatigue should therefore not be a factor. 

 Ghana u20 were faced with an almost impossible task from the off after being drawn in a “Group of Death” with France, Spain and USA. One sided defeats to the European sides left their hopes dangling by a thread as they faced a one of play off of sorts against USA. Both sides knew a high margin win may be enough to take them through. It was Ghana who prevailed with a 4-1 victory that took them through on goals scored. They finished level with Egypt but progressed thanks to a total of 5 goals scored, 1 more than their fellow Africans. Ghana are decent on the attack but look very shakey at the back and should not go much further in this competition.

Match Details and Timings:

Portugal vs Ghana

Football: International FIFA World Cup Under 20
Match date: 07/03/2013 Wednesday
Kick Off Time: 05:00 CET
Stadium: Kadir Has Stadion, Kayseri 

Read More