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Posted by
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February 17, 2013 |
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Aaron Nielsen
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The CONCACAF Under-20 Championship tournament begins on Monday with the top four clubs advancing to FIFA Under-20 World Cup in Turkey next June. The qualifications so far for the tournament have seen a few upsets with Brazil, Argentina, Germany and Italy not making the finals in Turkey. Although the CONCACAF tournament has its favorites, it's always difficult to analyze when you are dealing with players who are so young. We already did a review of the Canadian team and their top five players to watch and, on paper, Canada should be deeply disappointed if they don't qualify to the semifinals.
The clear favorites in the CONCACAF Under-20 Championship tournament are Mexico. Not only are they the hosts, but they also have the most sought after prospects, with Marco Bueno, Jesus Corona and Antonio Briseno leading the way.
Bueno is an 18 year old forward who is already starting as striker/winger for his club Pachuca and he won best rookie of the 2012 Clausura tournament scoring 4 goals. He also played in the U-17 World Cup in 2011 in which he scored a goal and Mexico won. Jesus Coruna lacks in size being only 5'4, but he has shown he can be an asset in the Mexican Primera, playing 26 games since 2011 for his club Monterrey. Antonio Briseno was the captain of that U17 World Cup team and although he hasn't establish himself as a pro yet, the 6'1 defender should be an experienced leader at this level. The Mexican team will also include Carlos Fierro, Julio Gomez, and Jorge Espericueta, who were also key players in the U17 World Cup win and they are also names to look out for.
For the first time in a while the United States youth team will not be led by Freddy Adu. However, the Americans will still be viewed as second favorites, with a solid combination of MLS, Mexican Primera, European Youth and College based players. The best known player is Luis Gil who has already played over 50 MLS games. Although Gil is only 19 years of age, like Freddy Adu, people are beginning to question what type of player he will become. So it will be interesting to see if he plays a dominating role in this tournament.
Mikey Lopez is another interesting American player. He was highly touted during the last year’s college season but fell in the 2013 MLS SuperDraft, being picked 14th overall after it was thought that he would be a top three pick. Jose Villarreal is another interesting choice known to many for his goal against the Vancouver Whitecaps last year. He and Colorado Rapids midfielder Shane O'Neill are the only players on the US team from the MLS academy system and it will be interesting to see how they do in comparison to the US players currently in German (Caleb Stanko, Mario Rodriguez, and Jerome Kiesewetter) and Mexican (Juan Ocegueda, Benji Joya, and Daniel Cuevas) youth systems.
Central America will be represented in the tournament by Costa Rica, El Salvador, Nicaragua and Panama, after Honduras and Guatemala failed to qualify. Costa Rica looks like the best country of the group The Costa Ricans will be led by John Jairo Ruiz, who plays with the Lille youth system in France. El Salvador is mostly based on players from local club FESA but will also include Anthony Dheming, who plays for the Chivas USA Academy. Nicaragua will be led by Carlos Chavarria, who scored all their goals in the qualifiers. While Panama might have been a difficult team to play, they will be missing eight players due to suspension after a brawl with Guatemala in the Central America qualification round.
The Caribbean will be represented by Jamaica, Haiti, Puerto Rico, Cuba, and Curacao. Jamaica will be lead by defender Alvas Powell, who already has two senior international caps. His Portmore teammate Paul Wilson will be expected to score goals. Haiti could of had a stronger team but James Jean-Francis decided to remain with his club, Le Mans, in France. That said, Haiti still have New York Red Bull Academy players in Evens Saint Jean and Jhon Estama. Puerto Rico is primarily a team of US college based players, although striker Joseph Marrero plays professionally with the Puerto Rico Islanders and has scored four goals with the senior national team.
Like at most tournaments, Cuba is something of an unknown, since all of their players play domestically. Intriguingly, they did go undefeated in the Caribbean qualifiers, winning four and drawing two. Curacao was the last placed qualifier, only winning one game in the Group B final round of qualifying and they gained qualification on a coin toss. I don't expect much from them in the tournament.
My Picks:
1. Mexico
2. United States
3. Canada
4. Jamaica
Match to Watch:
Quarter-finals: Canada vs Costa Rica or Canada vs United States (loser will be eliminated)
Aaron Nielsen has worked within the soccer/sports industry for over 15 years. His statistical analysis brings the beautiful game in a whole new light. The detailed player data and prospect lists he produces are used by many scouts, agents, and football insiders around the world.
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