 |
| |
|
 |
 |
 |
|||||||||||
|
U.S., Korea to meet again Finland, Argentina start U-17 World Cup with victoriesPosted: Wednesday August 13, 2003 6:56 PMHELSINKI, Finland (AP) -- Host Finland and Argentina both took a head start Wednesday in the FIFA U-17 World Championships, with victories worth three points. Finland beat China 2-1 in Helsinki while Argentina downed Australia 2-0 in Turku. Mexico and Colombia had a goalless draw and Costa Rica tied Nigeria 1-1 with each team gaining one point. Finland led Group A, playing in Helsinki, followed by Mexico and Colombia, with China last. Argentina went to the top of group B head of co-favorite Nigeria, Costa Rica and pointless Australia. Argentina, one of the favorites in the tournament, dominated Australia, which got defender Nigel Boogard sent off early in the first half for a tackle on Argentina's captain Lucas Biglia, who had to be substituted. "I am very worried about it because he could be one of the stars of the tournament," Argentina's head coach Hugo Tocalli said. The team got goals from Ezequiel Garay after six minutes and Ariel Colzera at 68 minutes. Garay's goal came from the free kick awarded for the foul on Biglia. In Helsinki, before a crowd of 8,500, China outplayed Finland during the first half, but spectacular saves by Finnish goalkeeper Aapo Kiljunen kept the hosts in the game. In the second half Tomi Petrescu, a striker on the books of Leicester City in England, curled a free kick over the wall, and the Chinese goalkeeper Xu Tian reacted too late. China took an early lead in the fourth minute through Chen Jiang, but Jarno Parikka equalized two minutes later. Costa Rica's late equalizer by Josimar Arias at 83 minutes gave the Central Americans a point against Nigeria, regarded as one of the potential top teams. Nigeria had taken the lead with a goal by Ezekiel Bala at nine minutes. Nigeria was a runner-up two years ago in Trinidad-and-Tobag and won titles in 1985 (then the age-group U-16) and 1993. On Thursday, groups C and D begin with Yemen going against Portugal and Cameroon playing Brazil in Tampere, the latter an eagerly anticipated game by the fans. In Lahti, the United States takes on South Korea (broadcast by Galavision on tape delay at 1 p.m. ET), and Spain meets Sierra Leone. The Koreans look to be the cream of the crop from Asia, as they rolled through the regions’s U-17 championship in 2002, beating Yemen in penalties in the final to hoist the trophy in triumph and qualify for the World Championship for the first time in 16 years. The U.S. and Korea played in the Busan International Youth Tournament in late May. In the first match of the four-team invitational tournament held to commemorate the one-year anniversary of the World Cup –- and in front of 35,000 red-clad Korean fans -- Korea took advantage of a jet-lagged U.S. squad and an early tournament-ending injury to defender Jonathan Spector to notch three goals in the second half for a 3-0 victory. Despite the opening-game loss, the U.S. was able to snag second place with a better goal differential than the Koreans after drawing with Argentina and defeating Poland 5-0. The host didn’t score another goal during the tournament, tying Poland 0-0 and falling to Argentina 2-0.
|
|
|||||||||
|
|||||||||||
