Recap: U-17 World Cup, Group Stage

I almost included this in the DC/U-17 recap, but there's absolutely too much to mention for this not to be an entirely new post. Again, FIFA's coverage of the tournament is excellent and these young, budding stars are receiving a lot of great press.

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Spain is still my pick to win the tournament. Despite a 1-1 draw with Argentina, they play on a different level than the rest of the competition. Argentina scored from distance and distance definitely seemed their preferred style, but Spain drove straight into their defensive third and molested their back line. They scored off a sick cross from the left flank that Daniel Esquino poked in with a diving header. Incredible. I would have loved to be on hand to watch this match.

Tell you what, though, England vs. Brazil is one to remember. England scored a penalty, stopped a penalty, and scored in the second half to take the game, but above everything else, you need to see Tales' free kick to open the game for the Brazilians. Filthy good.

Germany is riding high after bagging 5 against hapless Trinidad and Tobago, each goal a lesson in clinical finishing (Wolze's screamer for the fifth is a beauty).

Nigeria, another fearsome side to watch, finished 100% in group play by cruising past Haiti 4-1.

And yet another perennial African power, Ghana, qualified with a 2-1 win over Columbia. Ghana and Argentina are my joint bids for hardest shots of the tournament. Absolute benders, those things.

France finished second in their group by winning 2-1 versus Japan, but I really don't see them as champions of the tournament. They don't have quite the offense even the US has, and their defense leaves a lot of questions to be answered. I wouldn't put any money on France this time around.

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Here's the unofficial list of the Round of 16:

Peru
Costa Rica
England
Brazil
Spain
Argentina
Nigeria
France
Tunisia
US
Germany
Ghana
North Korea
Syria
Columbia

... and Tajikistan. (Wow, I thought the US scraped through: Tajikistan advances because Japan let in just one more goal than the Tajiks.)

Out of these sixteen, I think seven have what it takes to become champions:

Spain
England
Germany
Nigeria
Ghana
Brazil
Argentina

And out of these seven, my top three would be:

Spain
Germany
Brazil

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And just because it's Sunday and I have too much time on my hands, here's a Best XI of the Tournament so far:

FORWARDS
Macauley Chrisantus (Nigeria)
Ransford Osei (Ghana)

MIDFIELDERS
Nour Hahria (Tunisia)
Alex (Brazil)
Toni Kroos (Germany)
Fatkhullo Fatkhuloev (Tajikistan)
Ricardo Serna (Columbia)

DEFENDERS
Mykell Bates (USA)
Fabio (Brazil)
Daniel Opare (Ghana)

KEEPER
Alex Smithies (England)

Subs:
Bojan Krkic (FW, Spain)
Alex Nimo (FW, USA)
Tales (MF, Brazil)
Greg Garza (MF, USA)
Ganyu Oseni (DF, Nigeria)
Jordan Spence (DF, England)
Luis Ojeda (GK, Argentina)

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Enjoy.