U-20 World Cup Final Thoughts

To my pleasure, Argentina won the U-20 World Cup!  Yes it was expected, but with Spain and Japan losing to this Czech team, I was sort of afraid.  And the Czechs did score first, but Aguero!!!!  He was so deserving of all the awards, as well as little Maxi (Maximiliano Moralez)!  Now off to the list of my own awards:

Best player - Sergio Aguero, duh.  He deservedly won the Golden Ball and also won the Golden boot, because he got Argentina back with the equalizer in the final and that golazo against Poland was a beauty.  Also Ever Banega and Max Moralez were really good for Argentina, so he was lucky to play with such talents.  I think Dos Santos was also a very good player, and I would put Toselli and Petr (even though he allowed that 2nd Argentina goal) into the mix.  Unfortunately Bruno Gama got injured so early, or he might have gotten a bit more recognition.  I don't think i even got to see him play...

Best Team - Argentina.  They played offense, they played defense, they teased the hell out of their opponents and they had golazos.  It's hard to pin down the 2nd best team because of the draw.  I want to put Mexico down as the 2nd best team even though they lost in the quarters because they ran into Argentina in the quarters, so it wasn't their fault, but otherwise they were playing very well.  Spain really should have beat the Czech Republic, and Chile played a very competitive match against Argentina.  The Czechs were really organized, so perhaps they were the 2nd best team after all.

Best show of Team Spirit - I have to say the painted Austrain flags on the back of the Austrian players' heads today for the 3rd place game.  The Czechs shaving their heads together also deserved mention, as well as the Japanese team's goal celebrations.  Talking about goal celebrations....

Best Goal Celebrations - By the Japanese team.  Most creative (not just one guy jumping up in the air and throwing an uppercut).  I wish I could describe them, but you should just try to Youtube them.  Of course points for team involvement.  And crazy hair...wait, that goes under...

Best Hair-Do - Vidangossy's "horse" mane.  And the coloring is pretty sweet too.

Worst Refereed Match - Chile v. Argentina.  Those red cards...ugh.  And it completely ruined the game.  USA v. Uruguay might have been next.  After all, I didn't watch all of the matches because they weren't all on TV, but I also think that game was also unfairly card-heavy.  Actually, all of the later matches seemed that way because refs were falling for dives and also giving cards for just regular fouls. Things were more important in the later rounds, so teams were playing tougher and rougher, but still...

Craziest moment of the cup - Zequinha taking the red card from the ref while he showed it to a fellow Portuguese teammate.  Zequinha then got a red card and was inconsalable, but the nerve!  Just it was so crazy...

Newest Favorite Team - Chile.  They stole a part of my heart, except it's more like my heart grows another part for them.  But then some of my other favorites are swimming in the vast ocean of my heart so sometimes I forget about them, which is unfortunate.

Newest Favorite Players - Max Moralez, for being only 5' 3" but being awesome, Chris Toselli for being a great goalkeeper but also showing a large heart for the game and for his team, Arturo Vidal for being crazy and passionate and something I can't actually describe.

I am sort of sad that the U-20 World Cup is over.  It was a great ride, and I can't wait to see the next one!  At least it is only 2 years away!