{"id":3531,"date":"2017-05-17T11:00:02","date_gmt":"2017-05-17T02:00:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/football-tribe.com\/asia\/?p=3531"},"modified":"2017-05-17T11:08:44","modified_gmt":"2017-05-17T02:08:44","slug":"2017-u20-world-cup-asian-teams","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/football-tribe.com\/asia\/2017\/05\/17\/2017-u20-world-cup-asian-teams\/","title":{"rendered":"Asia’s five teams at the FIFA U-20 World Cup 2017"},"content":{"rendered":"

The 2017 FIFA U-20 World Cup kicks off on Saturday, marking the start of a tournament with plenty of significance for Asian football.<\/p>\n

In the competition’s first visit to East Asia since Japan hosted in 1979, hosts Korea Republic will be joined by four other AFC members, all of whom will be looking not only to impress against traditional powerhouses in Europe, Africa, and South America.<\/p>\n

Will one of these five countries match Japan’s runners-up finish against Spain in\u00a01999, the\u00a0best-ever result\u00a0for an AFC member? Keep reading to learn more about each participant and their hopes for the group stage.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Korea<\/p>\n

KOREA REPUBLIC<\/strong><\/p>\n

The hosts will mark their 14th participation in the U-20 World Cup, more than any other AFC member.<\/p>\n

Led by coach Shin Tae-yong, Korea’s squad are perhaps the most studious in the tournament: 11 of their 21 players hail from university clubs, including five from powerhouse Yonsei University.<\/p>\n

Their most visible players will be a duo who have matriculated through Barcelona’s famed youth academy: Lee Seung-woo, the 19-year-old attacker whose MVP performance in the 2014 AFC U-16 Championship qualified his country for the 2015 FIFA U-17 World Cup, and Paik Seung-ho,\u00a0who at 20 has debuted for Barcelona B.<\/p>\n

Korea may not feel confident in their chances of finishing above\u00a0six-time champions Argentina, who have won half of those titles in Asia, but good results against West African minnows Guinea and notorious strugglers England in front of a home crowd could give them the boost needed to reach the Round of 16.<\/p>\n

Schedule (all times GMT+9)<\/strong><\/p>\n

May 20 – vs. Guinea (Jeonju, 20:00)<\/p>\n

May 23 – vs. Argentina (Jeonju, 20:00)<\/p>\n

May 26 – vs. England (Suwon, 20:00)<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Japan<\/p>\n

J<\/strong>APAN<\/strong><\/p>\n

After failing to qualify for the last four editions of the U-20 World Cup, Japan finally broke their jinx by cruising through last year’s AFC U-19 Championship to win that tournament for the first time with zero goals conceded in regulation.<\/p>\n

In a squad nearly filled with J.Leaguers, most observers will point to Gamba Osaka midfielder Doan Ritsu or Jubilo Iwata striker Koki Ogawa, who have impressed so far in the current J1 season, as the players to watch.<\/p>\n

But the majority of media attention (and public scrutiny) will surely fall on 15-year-old Takefusa Kubo, whose rapid ascension has seen him feature in a recent Levain Cup match for FC Tokyo and earn regular appearances for the club’s U-23 squad in the J3.<\/p>\n

Japan will be considered likely\u00a0to finish third in a challenging group, but\u00a0they will hope to recreate the magic that helped them to a 2-1 semifinal win against Uruguay in 1999. Should they beat expectations in Korea, Atsushi Uchiyama’s men\u00a0will likely make up the nucleus of the country’s\u00a0squad in three years, when Tokyo hosts the 2020 Summer Olympics.<\/p>\n

Schedule (all times GMT+9)<\/strong><\/p>\n

May 21 – vs. South Africa (Suwon, 17:00)<\/p>\n

May 24 – vs. Uruguay (Suwon, 20:00)<\/p>\n

May 27 – vs. Italy (Cheonan, 20:00)<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Vietnam<\/p>\n

VIETNAM<\/strong><\/p>\n

Vietnam are not just one of two teams (the other being Vanuatu) making their U-20 World Cup debut: this will be the first time that any Vietnamese team has competed in an 11-a-side FIFA tournament.<\/p>\n

Led by Hoang Anh Tuan, the country’s only coach to hold a UEFA Pro-equivalent license, Vietnam qualified after defeating hosts Bahrain in the quarter-finals of the\u00a02016 AFC U19 Championship.<\/p>\n

Midfielder\u00a0Nguyen Quang Hai, the team’s captain and one of six players from Ha Noi FC, is known as the “King of Vietnam Youth Tournaments” and brings both talent and three years of experience in the national team system. He’ll be joined on the pitch by key defender Nguyen Trong Dai and promising striker Ha Duc Chinh, who has already scored 7 goals this year for SHB Da Nang.<\/p>\n

Coach Hoang has stated that he would\u00a0be happy if his team becomes the first-ever Southeast Asian side to claim a point in U-20 World Cup history, but even with favored side France in the group there is a distinct possibility that Vietnam could claim a spot in the Round of 16 as one of the best third-placed teams.<\/p>\n

Schedule (all times GMT+9)<\/strong><\/p>\n

May 22 – vs. New Zealand (Cheonan, 20:00)<\/p>\n

May 25 – vs. France (Cheonan, 17:00)<\/p>\n

May 28 – vs. Honduras\u00a0(Jeonju, 15:00)<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Iran<\/p>\n

IRAN<\/strong><\/p>\n

Iran have waited 16 years to participate in their third FIFA U-20 World Cup and will be aiming to reach the knockout tournament for the first time.<\/p>\n

Captain Omid Noorafkan, who has emerged as a star at Esteghlal in the last two seasons, was nearly unable to participate in the tournament, with manager\u00a0Alireza Mansourian reluctant to give up his star defensive midfielder for the team’s upcoming AFC Champions League Round of 16 clash with Al Ain. The 20-year-old played an important role in Iran’s 2016 AFC U-19 Championship semi-final run.<\/p>\n

Rostov attacker Reza Shekari, named by The Guardian<\/em> as one of football’s top young talents in 2015,\u00a0is another potentially bright talent in Amir Hossein Peyrovani’s squad. Although the 18-year-old has not played in several months to a contractual dispute with former club Zob Ahan, his skills should be enough to leave an impact on the pitch.<\/p>\n

Despite a group that looks favorable for a team hoping to finish in second place behind Portugal,\u00a0Team Melli Javanan\u00a0<\/em>have been stymied by poor preparation that could leave them hamstrung in Korea. The FFIRI arranged just one set of friendlies with Group F participants Senegal, and the team has battled with domestic clubs to secure the release of key members, starting pre-tournament training with just nine players.<\/p>\n

Schedule (all times GMT+9)<\/strong><\/p>\n

May 21 – vs. Costa Rica (Jeju, 17:00)<\/p>\n

May 24 – vs. Zambia (Jeju, 15:00)<\/p>\n

May 27 – vs. Portugal (Incheon, 20:00)<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Saudi<\/p>\n

SAUDI ARABIA<\/strong><\/p>\n

Six years removed from their last U-20 World Cup appearance, 11 years from their prior\u00a0World Cup berth, and 21 years since their last Olympics, Saudi Arabian fans hope their country’s participation in this year’s tournament will mark the start of a long-awaited revival.<\/p>\n

While the Green Falcons fell short in the final of the 2016 AFC U-19 Championship, they did capture the round-robin Under-19 Gulf Cup of Nations earlier last year. Their top striker,\u00a0Captain Sami Alnaji, has already been tapped by Bert van Marwijk for the senior national team after proving himself as a starter for Al Nasr. He’ll be ready for Korea despite undergoing stomach surgery in late March.<\/p>\n

Alnaji and teammate\u00a0Abdulrahman Alyami combined for eight goals during the AFC U-19 Championship, and a similarly inspired performance will be called for if the Saudis are to escape Group F. They’ll primarily look to win through their quick and effective counterattacks, while attempting to reduce the number of goals surrendered by the back line.<\/p>\n

Head coach Saad Alshehri\u00a0has welcomed his charges’ recent friendly losses, including a 3-1 defeat to Korea Republic, as learning experiences. But CAF U-20 Cup of Nations runners-up Senegal, South American U-20 Championship runners-up Ecuador, and CONCACAF U-20 Championship winners USA may not be as forgiving.<\/p>\n

Schedule (all times GMT+9)<\/strong><\/p>\n

May 22 – vs. Senegal (Incheon, 20:00)<\/p>\n

May 25 – vs. Ecuador (Incheon, 17:00)<\/p>\n

May 28 – vs. USA (Daejeon, 18:00)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The 2017 FIFA U-20 World Cup kicks off on Saturday, marking the start of a tournament with plenty of significance for Asian football. In the competition’s first visit to East Asia since Japan hosted in 1979, hosts Korea Republic will be joined by four other AFC members, all of whom will be looking not only to impress against traditional powerhouses in Europe, Africa, and South America. Will one of these five countries match Japan’s runners-up finish against Spain in\u00a01999, the\u00a0best-ever result\u00a0for an AFC member? Keep reading to learn more about each participant and their hopes for the group stage.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":90,"featured_media":3539,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[25,50,41,32,45,33,40],"tags":[298,737,85,57,311,95,70,511,105],"class_list":["post-3531","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-asia","category-fifa-world-cup","category-iran","category-japan","category-saudi-arabia","category-south-korea","category-vietnam","tag-afc","tag-fifa-u-20-world-cup-2017","tag-iran","tag-japan","tag-saudi-arabia","tag-slider","tag-south-korea","tag-u-20-world-cup-2017","tag-vietnam"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/football-tribe.com\/asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3531","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/football-tribe.com\/asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/football-tribe.com\/asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/football-tribe.com\/asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/90"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/football-tribe.com\/asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3531"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/football-tribe.com\/asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3531\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/football-tribe.com\/asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3539"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/football-tribe.com\/asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3531"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/football-tribe.com\/asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3531"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/football-tribe.com\/asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3531"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}