FIFA U20 World Cup

[Montreal Wanderer]

Thought you might be interested in the perceptions of a Canadian friend, who knows little about football, but has watched a few games.

I've managed to watch 5 games in the current U20 World Cup. The games with Canada all had the classical character of "watching paint dry". It is amazing that we field a team that produces dullness in the opponent. I was becoming more and more critical of the "spectacle" of FIFA soccer until last night. I watched 2 games: US vs Uruguay and Spain vs Brazil. And the games were spectacles of remarkable skills. Spain was amazing and, from time-to-time, so was the Brazilian attack. In both cases, I think the winner was the deserved winner. What so amazed me about Spain was that they run! and fast!... In the first 15 minutes of the round-robbin game between Japan and Nigeria, Japan ran... in the Canada-Chile and Canada-Congo games, the Canadian style of aimlessly moseying around infected the opponents and they moseyed too. This was classical paint-drying excitement.

But... US-Uruguay, some real passion and desire showed on both sides and then Spain-Brazil which was amazing from the perspective of someone who knows little of the game. Until these games, I watched thinking I would have played it differently... Spain-Brazil, I couldn't even imagine how it would feel to be able to handle the ball like most the players. In hockey, having played a little hockey once upon a time, I can feel the slapshot or the check. In Canada-Chile, I could even feel the ball as I dribbled it into another pointless give-away. Spain-Brazil, I couldn't even imagine the sensation of doing some of the amazing dribbles and passes I watched. Mata, early on, and then time-after-time, the rushes of Capel were brilliant. This could have been a 10-7 game with all the offense. This was a game that both sides wanted to win rather than just not lose. The game isn't drying paint for the neophyte soccer observer when played with this intensity. Still, just as the NHL game temporarily evolved from an exciting offensive game into a tedious defensive trap, future games in this series might still return to the excitement of a grey wall, drying.