Monday 6 April 2009

[U20] Azzurrini learn World Cup fate

Italy's Under-20s have been placed in a group with hosts Egypt for the FIFA Under-20 World Cup later this year.

FIFA U-20 World Cup 2009The group stage draw, which was made on Sunday evening at the historic Temple of Luxor in southern Egypt, also sees Italy facing Paraguay and Trinidad & Tobago in Group A.

The Azzurrini qualified for the tournament, that takes place from 24 September to 16 October, after reaching the final of the UEFA European Under-19 Championships in the Czech Republic last year.


Italy's first game in Egypt will be on Friday 25 September when Paraguay are the opposition in the Cairo International Stadium, where they will play all three of their group games.

Francesco Rocca's side will then play Trinidad & Tobago on Monday 28 September and round up the group stage when they face the hosts three days later.

There are six groups of four teams altogether with the group winners and runners-up qualifying for the Round of 16. The best four third-placed sides will also qualify for the knockout stage.

"Ours is a group that is quite even," Rocca reacted to the draw. "The three opponents are all different. Egypt are the hosts, Paraguay have eliminated the champions Argentina and that tells a lot, and Trinidad & Tobago are a difficult team to play against. However they too will have to worry about us.

"I know I can't make mistakes in the choice of players - I have to take with me motivated and ready-for-the-fight players, because it's a long tournament and because the first opponent will be the climate here.

"I have a bit of time to prepare my team and I will do the best I can, because the goal is to go as far as possible."

Seven venues in the five cities of Alexandria (Alexandria Stadium and Egyptian Army Stadium), Cairo (Cairo International Stadium and Al Salam Stadium), Ismailia (Ismailia Stadium), Port Said (Port Said Stadium) and Suez (Mubarak Stadium) will host the matches.

Egypt will meet Trinidad and Tobago in the opening match of the tournament on Thursday 24 September at the Egyptian Army Stadium in Alexandria.

Holders Argentina did not qualify from the South American qualifying section and therefore will not be able to defend the trophy they won in Canada in 2007.


FIFA Under-20 World Cup 2009
Group A Fixtures
Thursday 24 September
Alexandria - Egypt 4-1 Trinidad & Tobago (1900)
Friday 25 September
Cairo - Paraguay 0-0 Italy (1500)
Monday 28 September
Cairo - Italy 2-1 Trinidad & Tobago (1745)
Cairo - Egypt 1-2 Paraguay (2030)
Thursday 1 October
Cairo - Trinidad & Tobago 0-0 Paraguay (2030)
Cairo - Italy 2-4 Egypt (2030)

Group B Fixtures
Thursday 25 September
Cairo - Nigeria 0-1 Venezuela (1745)
Cairo - Spain 8-0 Tahiti (2030)
Monday 28 September
Cairo - Nigeria 0-2 Spain (1500)
Cairo - Tahiti 0-8 Venezuela (1745)
Thursday 1 October
Cairo - Venezuela 0-3 Spain (1745)
Cairo - Tahiti 0-5 Nigeria (1745)

Group C Fixtures
Saturday 26 September
Suez - USA 0-3 Germany (1500)
Suez - Cameroon 2-0 South Korea (1745)
Tuesday 29 September
Suez - South Korea 1-1 Germany (1500)
Suez - USA 4-1 Cameroon (1745)
Friday 2 October
Ismailia - Germany 3-0 Cameroon (1745)
Suez - South Korea 3-0 USA (1745)

Group D Fixtures
Saturday 26 September
Ismailia - Ghana 2-1 Uzbekistan (1745)
Ismailia - England 0-1 Uruguay (2030)
Tuesday 29 September
Ismailia - Uruguay 3-0 Uzbekistan (1745)
Ismailia - Ghana 4-0 England (2030)
Friday 2 October
Ismailia - Uruguay 2-2 Ghana (2030)
Suez - Uzbekistan 1-1 England (2030)

Group E Fixtures
Sunday 27 September
Port Said - Brazil 5-0 Costa Rica (1500)
Port Said - Czech Republic 2-1 Australia (1745)
Wednesday 30 September
Port Said - Australia 0-3 Costa Rica (1500)
Port Said - Brazil 0-0 Czech Republic (1745)
Saturday 3 October
Alexandria - Costa Rica 2-3 Czech Republic (2030)
Port Said - Australia 1-3 Brazil (2030)

Group F Fixtures
Sunday 27 September
Alexandria - United Arab Emirates 2-2 South Africa (1745)
Alexandria - Honduras 3-0 Hungary (2030)
Wednesday 30 September
Alexandria - Hungary 4-0 South Africa (1745)
Alexandria - United Arab Emirates 1-0 Honduras (2030)
Saturday 3 October
Alexandria - Hungary 2-0 United Arab Emirates (1745)
Port Said - South Africa 2-0 Honduras (1745)

Round of 16
Monday 5 October
Cairo - Match 37: Spain 1-3 Italy (1530)
Cairo - Match 38: Paraguay 0-3 South Korea (1900)
Tuesday 6 October
Ismailia - Match 39: Ghana 2-1 South Africa (AET) (1530)
Cairo - Match 40: Egypt 0-2 Costa Rica (1900)
Alexandria - Match 41: Hungary 2-2 Czech Rep. (AET, P: 4-3) (1900)
Wednesday 7 October
Port Said - Match 42: Brazil 3-1 Uruguay (1530)
Suez - Match 43: Venezuela 1-2 United Arab Emirates (1530)
Suez - Match 44: Germany 3-2 Nigeria (1900)

Quarter-Finals
Friday 9 October
Suez - Match 45: South Korea 2-3 Ghana (1530)
Suez - Match 46: Italy 2-3 Hungary (AET) (1900)
Saturday 10 October
Cairo - Match 47: Brazil 2-1 Germany (AET) (1530)
Cairo - Match 48: United Arab Emirates 1-2 Costa Rica (AET) (1900)

Semi-Finals
Tuesday 13 October
Cairo - Match 49: Ghana 3-2 Hungary (1530)
Cairo - Match 50: Brazil 1-0 Costa Rica (1900)

Third-place Final
Friday 16 October
Cairo - Hungary 1-1 Costa Rica (P: 2-0) (1600)

Final
Friday 16 October
Cairo - Ghana 0-0 Brazil (AET, P: 4-3) (1900)

* All kick off times stated are UK time. +1hr for Italy, CET, and local Egyptian time.

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Source: FIFA

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