Mexico had a great day yesterday, winning another game in a very sensational way securing the victory at the closing seconds of the game to beat Uruguay 2-0 and win the under 17 World Cup for the second time in its history.
We saw Mexico and Uruguay surpassing Germany and Brazil. What does this mean to the future of the national teams? Shall we expect a great future to the Mexican teams in 2014 and 2018? Or the kids tournaments is for kids, and has nothing to do with the real game for the big guyz?
World Cup u17 does produce future stars:
There is no doubt about that. Looking into the past, we seen a lot of players started the important journey from the under-17 World Cups. The list includes:
- 1985: Frenando Redendo and Medford (Medford later scored for Costa Rica the goal that took them to second round in 1990 WC).
- 1987: Marco Echeverry, Emmanuel Petit,
- 1989: Luis Figo, Rui Costa, Simao, Claudio Reyna, Moh Deyaye (the Saudi keeper in 1994 WC)
- 1991: Gallardo, Veron, Del Piero
- 1993: Buffon, Totti, Nakata, Kanu, Babangida
- 1995: Aimar, Nuno Gomez
- 1997: Ronaldinho, Casillas
- 1999: London Donovon, Adriano
- 2001: Mascherano, Tevez, Torres
- 2003: Cesc Fabregas
- 2005: Giovani Dos Santos
Meaning, the list includes at least 7 players who later on won the World Cups, which makes this tournament a very important one for the scouts, and a very interesting one for people like us to watch.
We never know who will become a world star in the future and who will not make it. Will Souleymane Coulibaly from Ivory Coast become the next Drogba?
In 1995, an Omani player was awarded both the Golden Ball and Golden Shoe Awards, and seemed to be a very promising star in Asia. However, later on, he had a very modest career and didn’t make anything worth mentioning. He was too frustrated as his federation and club didn’t provide any real motives, financial or psychological. In contrast, London Donovon was awarded as the best player in the 1999 Tournament and we all saw the quality of this player later on.
World Cup U17 does not really predict success or failures in future:
There is no better example than Ghana in the 1990s. Ghana was a dominant team in the WC U17 finals from 1991 till 1997, winning twice and losing twice. It reached the Semi-Final in 1999. Yet, it never made it to the World Cup or even won the African Cup of Nations during those years. They had to wait till 2006 to make their first World Cup appearance and really 2010 to make the impressive record.
Nigeria reached the finals of 85 and 87, winning one and lost the other, and later we saw great Nigerian teams that won a lot of things. Then, they won the 1993 tournament before winning the gold in 1996 Olympic games.
Saudi Arabia had a very good start in 1987 before winning the 1989 tournament. Later, they introduced a very nice team in 1994 WC. Two important players at least came from the U17 teams.
What I think:
That it is great to have great appearance in the U17 tournament. What’s a strong indication for a great future, is to have the good teams at different levels. When you see a team doing well in the U17, and having a great U20 teams, and may be a nice Olympic one, then, you know that the whole football system is very healthy in that country (such as Spain, Brazil, Japan, Australia, Germany, Netherlands).
Okay, take a look at this interesting statistics, there are 3 FIFA WC competitions for men, U17, U20 and the big one. For each tournament, there are eight winners only in its history:
WC-U17: Nigeria, Brazil, Ghana, Mexico, Soviet Union, Saudi Arabia, France, Switzerland.
WC-U20: Argentina, Brazil, Portugal, Ghana, Spain, Soviet Union, Germany, Yugoslavia.
WC: Uruguay, Italy, Brazil, Germany, Argentina, France, Spain, England
Among the U17 winners, only 2 teams won the real WC. Among the U20 winners, 4 teams won the real WC. I think the progress of football does not only require talent, but consistency and a whole system.
What’s most important that the country federation pay attention to young talents and teams at all ages, and develop them for future. I was thrilled to see Germany and Brazil knocked out at SF stage, and leaving the spotlights to Mexico and Uruguay. I hope football in those countries develop further in Mexico, and return stronger in Uruguay.
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