Brazil will carry a significant edge in experience and a remarkable record of defensive impregnability into Saturday’s final against Serbia at the Under-20 World Cup in Auckland.
The five-time champions, Brazil, in their ninth final, are trying to match Argentina’s record of six World Cup titles, while Serbia are first-time finalists as an independent country, although Yugoslavia made it to the final in 1987.
Serbia will be up against the best defence at the tournament; Brazil have gone 502 minutes since they last conceded a goal. But Serbia have been similarly sound, topping their group and conceding only four goals in five games en route to the final.
The coach, Veljko Paunovic, saluted Brazil’s formidable record at these tournaments but said “it would be wonderful to make history … Brazil are a great team and they’re finishing the tournament in the best possible form. As for ourselves, three games going to extra time has taken its toll.
“But my guys are making history here and the incentive of winning the trophy will give them the energy they need.”
Brazil have lost their scoring touch as the tournament has progressed in New Zealand, preferring caution to an all-out attacking approach. Their last-16 match and quarter-final both ended scoreless at the end of extra time – decided in penalty shootouts – and it seemed Brazil had were happy to rely on their defensive resilience.
But the flair returned emphatically in the semi-final against Senegal as they scored three goals in the first 19 minutes during a 5-0 win.
The midfielder Gabriel Boschilia, who will play a critical playmaking role in Saturday’s final, said he hopes team can go some way to restoring the reputation tarnished at the senior World Cup. “We’re here to win this tournament and we’re ready to give our all to do it,” Boschilia told Fifa.com. “We’re trying to restore the image of Brazilian football here.
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“The world lost a little respect for our country’s players after what happened at the 2014 World Cup so we want to show them that we can still produce the goods. We’ve had players like Pelé, Ronaldo and Ronaldinho and now we’re the next generation.”
The junior World Cup has unfolded against the background of football’s worst-ever corruption scandal. Even in distant New Zealand, it was not able to entirely escape the fallout from those events – Sepp Blatter had been due to attend the final but the Fifa president now has more pressing matters in Zurich.
While the Fifa scandal threatened at times to divert attention from the tournament, it overcame that through the spirit of the players and quality of the football.
More than 300,000 tickets were sold to the tournament’s 52 matches and all 25,000 tickets to the final at Auckland’s North Harbour Stadium have been sold out for some time.
The FIFA U-20 World Cup, until 2005 known as the FIFA World Youth Championship, is the world championship of football for male players under the age of 20 and is organized by Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA). The Championship has been awarded every two years since the first tournament in 1977 held in Tunisia.
In the nineteen tournaments held, only nine nations have won the title. Argentina is the most successful team with six titles, followed by Brazil with five titles. Portugal won two titles, while Ghana, Germany, Spain, France and formerly existing nations Soviet Union and Yugoslavia have won the title once each.
A corresponding event for women's teams, the FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup, began in 2002 with the name "FIFA U-19 Women's World Championship" and an age limit of 19. The age limit for the women's competition was changed to 20 beginning with the 2006 FIFA U-20 Women's World Championship, and the competition was renamed as a "World Cup" in 2007 in preparation for the 2008 event.
The 2013 tournament was played in Turkey and the next edition is scheduled to be played in New Zealand in May–June 2015.
