Does the U-20 World Cup show an accurate vision of what is to come for national teams of the respective countries? From what I’ve seen so far I sure hope it is the case. I’m not convinced that it will happen though.
In case you have been stuck under a rock here is what has been happening. The United States U20’s tied South Korea before going on to victories over Poland and most recently Brazil. This was enough to win their group to advance to the knockout stages. Brazil finished the group in 3rd place and might not advance. Poland will advance with their 2nd place finish.
I didn’t know a lot about the history of this tournament so I did a little research. Argentina (5), Brazil (4) and Germany (1) have combined won the tournament 10 times. Each of these teams are multiple World Cup winners. Portugal (2), Spain (1), USSR (1) and Yugoslavia (1) have won the rest of the U20 world cups. Although these teams have never won a full World Cup, they are all pretty good full international sides.
I know the US has a long way to go if they even want to duplicate their best finish ever which was the semi-finals in 1989. I guess I won’t be ready to change my outlook for the US national team based on the U20 results. A lot of future stars have played in the tournament, but a lot of players also never make it to the full national team. But I might feel differently if the US does go on to with this U20 world cup.
I guess no matter what happens I’m happier thinking about the U20 world cup rather than Copa America.
