Sporting Madness

The FIFA U-20 World Cup continues to provide quality soccer. Only eight teams remain in the competition, and by Sunday night, they'll be reduced to four. Without further ado (Freddy or other), here's my previews and predictions for the quarter-final clashes. Saturday: Austria vs. USA (BMO Field, Toronto, 2:15 P.M. ET) This should be an interesting tilt. The U.S. has had a strong tournament so far, defeating such South American powers as Brazil and Uruguay. Freddy Adu has shown why everyone rated him so highly several years ago, and has lived up to his tremendous potential. Danny Szetela has also been terrific, producing several goals in addition to his solid play as a defensive midfielder. Austria has also been strong, especially defensively, where they have only conceded two goals. Their attack has been reasonably one-dimensional though, with Erwin (Jimmy) Hoffer producing half of their goals. Surprisingly enough, the pre-match lineups have listed Hoffer as starting on the be...

On Wednesday, the Round of 16 will begin at the FIFA U-20 World Cup. Here's my breakdowns and predictions for each one of tomorrow night's games. Picks for Thursday night's games will follow tomorrow. Wednesday: USA versus Uruguay (7:45 PM ET, BMO Field, Toronto) This will be an interesting one. The U.S. disappointed with a 1-1 draw in their opener against South Korea, which I saw in Montreal. However, they quickly recovered with a 6-1 demolishing of Poland and a massive 2-1 upset of Brazil. Freddy Adu has had a fantastic tournament thus far, and is perhaps showing the first real signs of living up to his tremendous potential. New York Red Bulls' striker Jozy Altidore has finished clinically thus far, while Sal Zizzo and Danny Szetela have produced well from midfield. Uruguay's team have not been as impressive to this point. They did well in the opener against a strong Spanish side, producing a draw, but barely squeaked out a 1-0 win over dismal Jordan and lo...

So, for a second time in as many months, Canada exits a tournament early. At the Gold Cup, this was due to a ridiculous offside call, but last night in the downpour in Edmonton, much of the blame was placed squarely on the shoulders of a fine crop of young Canadian players. However, They were in a difficult position from the start, due to Gambia's upset of Portugal, and needed to win by three to advance. Credit should go to head coach Dale Mitchell for getting the players to play the more offensive style required, and for finally starting the combination of Tosaint Ricketts and Andrea Lombardo at the front. Canada looked good early on, with Ricketts and David Edgar having chances inside the first ten minutes. Edgar, perhaps the one well-known star on this Canadian team for his work with Newcastle United, played well outside his normal role in the defence, and posed a serious threat from midfield for much of the match. Ricketts also impressed, much as he did in the game here in King...

Canada has a tough road ahead of them at the U-20 World Cup. The opening 3-0 loss to Chile last Sunday, combined with Thursday's 1-0 defeat at the hands of the Austrians, has left the home squad sitting in last place in their group. If this was the full World Cup, they would already be eliminated. However, all is not lost yet, as this championship allows the top four (out of six) third-place teams to advance to the next round. If Canada is able to defeat Congo tonight, they have a good shot at grabbing one of these spots. Here's how it breaks down. All teams are evaluated based on the number of points they have achieved from the games against the other three teams in their group. Three points are awarded for a win, one for a draw, and none for a loss. If teams are still tied, the first tiebreaker is goal differential (goals for minus goals against). If there is still a tie, the next tiebreaker is goals for, followed by fair play points (which includes the numbers of yellow and ...