FIFA U-20 World Cup: Gloriously Rooting for Laundry

Whoever said kids should be seen and not heard has not been watching the U-20 World Cup. Stand up and shout boys, this has been one hell of a tournament. Watching the semifinals this weekend was euphoric and anxiety-inducing, just like good football should be.

Where to begin? With Portugal's one-for-the-ages penalties win over Argentina? Or how about with France gagging away a 1-0 lead with 7 seconds left in added time, and almost doing it again in extra time? And what about Brazil and Spain in extra time?

I wish I knew more about the players; I felt like I was rooting for laundry at times. I was. I was also rooting for good and dramatic football, which was hard not to do.The skill level is pretty high, in fact about the only distinguishing factor here from "senior" football is the size of the players. Most of them are tall and skinny and haven't really hit the weight room much yet as their older counterparts -- just a guess on my part.

Tactically however, the games are fun and fascinating to watch. They're playing for so much and for a lot of them, this may be their only shot at international glory. Imagine, all four quarterfinal matches went to extra time and two of them to penalty kicks. The games were tight, but you couldn't help get caught up in the drama. I can't advocate more than for you to watch tomorrow's semifinals. Brazil-Mexico and France-Portugal should be epic. A Brazil-Portugal World Cup final is epic at any level; Mexico, should it make the final, continues to make its case as a huge threat for the 2014 and 2018 World Cup (remember, Mexico won the U17 World Cup a few weeks back). France? Well, yeah, OK. Anyway.

Laurent Blanc Suspends France Team

Laurent Blanc is my new hero.

The new France coach took the best first step imaginable with the national side when he announced that he was suspending all 23 players on the World Cup team for one match. That match is a friendly Aug. 11 against Norway.

France was a disaster at the World Cup, scoring one goal, gaining only a tie as its best result, and had a slew of players refuse to train during the tournament in protest of whacky Ray Domenech, the head coach of the stars who relied on the stars for strategy.

From the French Football Federation website:

''Laurent Blanc was heard this Friday, July 23 by the Federal Council which he presented his staff and his sporting project. He also proposed to the Federal Council, which agreed to retain for the friendly Norway-France, Wednesday, August 11 in Oslo, none of 23 players selected by the official French Football Federation for World Cup South Africa.''

In the long run, this isn't a big deal, but it's an interesting first step for Blanc. If you're going to grandstand out of the chute, then this is the way to do it. Instilling more misery and humiliation on that embarrassing group of players works for me, hopefully it works for Blanc.

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Euro 2008 Draw Analysis: Group of Death

Waking up early was worth it Sunday morning. Not necessarily because the Euro 2008 draw was sitting there waiting for me on ESPN2, but mere for the entertainment value of watching eight grown men swirl hollow soccer balls about a bowl and pull out the names and group placements of the 16 Euro finalists.

When you see watch these things, it's difficult not to by cynical. When the balls are emptied and you see suspicion manifested as hosts Austria are paired with Germany and Switzerland paired with Turkey. Austria isn't long for the tournament, but gets its glory day with Germany for the sake of the tournament. Same goes for the Swiss, its gets a rematch on home soil with Turkey; remember Turkey players attacking the Swiss during a World Cup qualifier two years ago?

Then we get a legitimate Group of Death. Granted, with 16 teams, it's difficult not to get some juicy pairings, but c'mon: Netherlands, France AND Italy? Italy and France, for some reason, are conjoined at the touch line. Roberto Donadoni said it flat-out: "I had a feeling it would turn out this way." And Holland, well Holland is always in the Group of Death. Remember last year's World Cup: Argentina, Holland, Ivory Coast and Serbia.

This is excess at its best--or is it worst? Rather, well, I'll say it: this is rigged. It's well thought out, well planned and well executed. I don't buy the luck-of-the-draw explanations. I won't swallow that Dino Zoff wasn't a pawn in UEFA's game! No, no, no. There's a master plan at work here.

France opens against Romania and Italy tangles with Holland. France then gets Holland, while Italy has its turn against Romania, setting up the World Cup final rematch between Italy and France. Thank God this game cannot go to penalty kicks! Anyone seen Zizou? If the game's lacking any drama, maybe France can pry the gifted one out of retirement.