FIFA U-20 Tournament Opens to Record Crowd

Canadian footie fans are enjoying the opportunity to host the second-largest soccer tournament in the  world; only the World Cup is bigger.

Further results:

[q
url="http://www.cbc.ca/sports/fifau20/story/2007/07/01/canada-chile.html"]Team
Canada will try to give the country a special birthday present on
Sunday when it takes on Chile in Toronto (CBC, 7:30 p.m. ET) in its
opening game at the FIFA U-20 World Cup.

Will Canada be able to deliver a win on Canada Day?

As host nation, coach Dale Mitchell's team has the weight of the
world on its shoulders — expectations, pressure, media scrutiny —
especially after Canada crashed out in the first round of the 2005
tournament in the Netherlands.

But Mitchell is quietly confident that Canada will be able to emerge from Group A, which also includes Congo and Austria.[/q]

[q
url="http://www.canada.com/topics/sports/story.html?id=77a3d268-887c-40bd-a460-f409b58ffec7"]Championships
are never won with moral victories, but, for what it’s worth, Panama
claimed one such triumph Saturday as it earned its first point ever in
the FIFA U-20 World Cup tournament.

In a scrappy game at Frank Clair Stadium, Panama earned a 0-0 tie with the more fancied Korea DPR side.[/q]

 

Poland gets the tournament underway with an surprise victory over Brazil:

The United States will take on Korea Republic in the opening Group D match of the FIFA U-20 World Cup in Montreal, Canada, on Saturday.