Seriously, how good was that tournament?!? Loved every moment of it.
That was awesome.
A good way to help fill in the off season
Unbefreakinleivable. Check out the top ten goals of the tournament and vote:
Prob go our good mate Adama Traoré or Pereira.
What the heck am I going to do now
What the heck am I going to do now
Women's WC going on now. Round of 16 starts later on this morning.
Germany vs Sweden
China vs Cameroon
Seriously, how good was that tournament?!? Loved every moment of it.
Very enjoyable games in Wgtn despite the weather.
Had a discussion about how these U20s would go in the A-League. My opinion was that they would struggle against the better teams, as after all they are still kids.
Thoughts?
they'd show flashes of individual brilliance but trying to predict how well they'd do is akin to looking down a corridor of uncertainty.
Although some of their thought processes... BOOM!
So awesome that FIFA said this...
Awesome effort to get to that many games. I tip my hat to you.
And note Patrick "had" to get in the picture too. - Media hog!! ;) Well done Dave, Dale & Tracey, very well done!
Seriously, how good was that tournament?!? Loved every moment of it.
Very enjoyable games in Wgtn despite the weather.
Had a discussion about how these U20s would go in the A-League. My opinion was that they would struggle against the better teams, as after all they are still kids.
Thoughts?
Fiji played Western Sydney Wanderers youth team very early in their preparation for the World Cup back in November 2014 in Sydney before Frank Farina took charge and drew 1-1:
http://fijilive.com/sports/football/news/2014/11/0...
Fiji beat Newcastle Jets 4-3 in NSW a few days later (and that may have been the Jets' first team):
http://www.fijitimes.com/story.aspx?id=286052
And Fiji were arguably the weakest team in the World Cup (along with North Korea and Mynamar).
Awesomeness:
Goals scored | 154 (2.96 per match) |
---|---|
Attendance | 396,668 (7,628 per match) |
New Zealand: finished in the top 16 teams ahead of Argentina and Mexico as the best of all the third placed teams in group play.
(Which placed NZ as the 13th best team of the 24 after group play)
Junior All Whites final tournament ranking: 14th
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2015_FIFA_U-20_World...
Ahead of Argentina, Colombia, Mexico, Hungary etc.
NZ were the eleventh best team in number of goals scored:
http://www.fifa.com/u20worldcup/statistics/teams/g...
Ahead of Argentina, Colombia, Uruguay, Mexico, Austria, Ghana, Senegal, Honduras etc.
No one would have predicted that before the tournament.
Legacy Benefits:
Lots of those FIFA bibs for photographers and officials to wear in NZ for years to come as after the 1999 and 2008 FIFA tournaments...
Plus:
FIFA spent 22 million dollars on the tournament; the NZ government 5.5 million dollars.
http://www.fifa.com/u20worldcup/news/y=2015/m=6/ne...
FIFA Director of Competitions, Colin Smith, reiterated Mr Beeche’s comments giving New Zealand a huge thumbs up for its successful hosting of the tournament.
“New Zealand has proved to be a fantastic host of the FIFA U-20 World Cup, it has been run by hugely dedicated individuals, passionate and enthusiastic volunteers and we are delighted with how well the tournament has been delivered across all seven host cities.”
“The legacy from this tournament will provide huge benefits the football community in New Zealand with over $5 million dollars of football infrastructure and equipment left in place to help grow and improve the standard and facilities for football in New Zealand.”
- 1,000 volunteers declared to get involved in local football after the tournament
- Nine FIFA international standard sand-based training pitches across New Zealand.
- Goals, team benches, dug-outs and training equipment worth $140,000 provided to Football Federations.
- Futsal court worth $50,000 provided to New Zealand Football.
- VIP seats worth $50,000 provided to stadiums
- 20 new floodlights (Christchurch and Whangarei) at training venues to be used for club football
- Over 500 schools have signed up the schools programme, learning about the tournament in the classroom
- Over 8,000 young people took part in FIFA Grassroots Festivals over the last three months benefitting from world class training
The German team management described the training venue pitches in Christchurch as "senior FIFA World Cup venue standard"
(i.e. as good as the pitches that tournament games were played on in Brazil last year or Germany in 2006)
"More than 40 scouts and coaches have been in this country, including some from Man City, Liverpool, Bayern Munich and Juventus. " It's a good level and there is lots to see," said Peter Hyballa, a youth coach and scout for Beyer Leverkusen ( 3 years coaching Borussia Dortmund U-19). Hyballa has clocked up thousands of kilometres travelling throughout NZ. "Some of the big players you have already seen before, but there are always surprises. Every small country there are one or two players, and then you tell your manager, "Hey this no 9. from Myanmar is not too bad.." Leverkusen have had two two scouts plus Hyballa here. (He) has compiled a dossier of 30 prospects from the tournament, which has been passed on to his club...' etc.
Sunday Herald, Michael Burgess 'Scouts check young talent'
Seriously, how good was that tournament?!? Loved every moment of it.
Very enjoyable games in Wgtn despite the weather.
Had a discussion about how these U20s would go in the A-League. My opinion was that they would struggle against the better teams, as after all they are still kids.
Thoughts?
Fiji played Western Sydney Wanderers youth team very early in their preparation for the World Cup back in November 2014 in Sydney before Frank Farina took charge and drew 1-1:
http://fijilive.com/sports/football/news/2014/11/0...
Fiji beat Newcastle Jets 4-3 in NSW a few days later (and that may have been the Jets' first team):
http://www.fijitimes.com/story.aspx?id=286052
And Fiji were arguably the weakest team in the World Cup (along with North Korea and Mynamar).
And yet how would these young uns handle getting monstored off the ball by Siggie, turned inside and out by Roly and being stretched by Burns before Krishna blasts the ball into the back of the net?
And what them Tards eh?
Nice photos enzo (blog linked on the homepage).
I got to 15 games in four cities, and loved almost all of it.
Ghana v Argentina 3-2 at Wellington was my favourite.
Standard of play was better than anything I've ever seen live in NZ before
(with the exception of Uzbekistan v Senegal which wasn't up to A-League quality)
Among the highlights for me: Pace, skill and flair of African teams, the quality of a lot of the goals, NZ making 2nd round and giving a very creditable performance against Portugal, Fiji's win, Myanmar supporters and overall attendances.
Lowlights: not many but include weather in Wellington (really were unlucky) and the piss poor media coverage.
Would love to see the women's WC in NZ. I think we've shown we could do a good job of it and I think it would be well supported.
Seriously, how good was that tournament?!? Loved every moment of it.
Very enjoyable games in Wgtn despite the weather.
Had a discussion about how these U20s would go in the A-League. My opinion was that they would struggle against the better teams, as after all they are still kids.
Thoughts?
Fiji played Western Sydney Wanderers youth team very early in their preparation for the World Cup back in November 2014 in Sydney before Frank Farina took charge and drew 1-1:
http://fijilive.com/sports/football/news/2014/11/0...
Fiji beat Newcastle Jets 4-3 in NSW a few days later (and that may have been the Jets' first team):
http://www.fijitimes.com/story.aspx?id=286052
And Fiji were arguably the weakest team in the World Cup (along with North Korea and Mynamar).
And yet how would these young uns handle getting monstored off the ball by Siggie, turned inside and out by Roly and being stretched by Burns before Krishna blasts the ball into the back of the net?
And what them Tards eh?
Fell at the the last hurdle Junior. Ernie has been reported that Krishna will suit up for Fiji instead of the Nix.
One less not-a-striker to put the ball in the back of the net.