2009 U-20 World Cup Preview and Schedule (Plus: ESPN TV Schedule)

September 23rd, 2009 | by: Daryl |

The 2009 U-20 World Cup kicks off in Egypt tomorrow. As the tournament title suggests, it’s just like the real thing, except all the players are too young to buy alcohol in the United States of America.

It’s a little disappointing in that several big names are missing. No Bojan Krkić for example, as he pulled out of the Spain squad with a torn thigh muscle. And no Jack Wilshere for England, as he (along with a few other young English talents) is staying home to warm Premier League benches. The other disappointment is the absence of reigning champions Argentina, who won the 2007 U-20 World Cup but somehow failed to qualify for this one.

Still, plenty of young talent to watch, including a Brazil team featuring Grêmio mid (and Man Utd target) Douglas Costa and Internacional attacking mid Giuliano, as well as a Ghana team featuring André “Dede” Ayew (son of the legendary Abedi Pele). Any other players you’re looking forward to watching? Let us know in the comments.

We’ll try and bring you occasional highlights here on WorldCupBlog, and let you know about any players making a name for themselves in Egypt. Below is a list of the 24 qualified teams, the U-20 World Cup 2009 schedule, and the ESPN broadcast schedule in the US.

Here are the groups:

Group A: Egypt, Trinidad & Tobago, Paraguay, Italy
Group B: Nigeria, Venezuela, Spain, Tahiti
Group C: USA, Germany, Cameroon, South Korea
Group D: Ghana, Uzbekistan, England, Uruguay
Group E: Brazil, Costa Rica, Czech Republic, Australia
Group F: United Arab Emirates, South Africa, Honduras, Hungary

Top 2 from each group goes through to the Round of 16, along with the the four best thir placed teams. From there it’s a good old fashioned knockout tournament.

In the United States, ESPN is broadcasting every game, but mostly online via ESPN360. If you have access to ESPN360 then this is obviously fantastic. If not, it’s not very useful at all. Full schedule below:

FIFA Under-20 World Cup Schedule, and ESPN broadcasts. All times US Eastern.

Thursday, Sep. 23

#1 12:55 p.m. Egypt vs. Trinidad & Tobago (Group A, Alexandria) ESPN360.com

Friday, Sep. 24

#2 9:55 a.m. Paraguay vs. Italy (Group A, Cairo) ESPN360.com

#3 12:40 p.m. Nigeria vs. Venezuela (Group B, Cairo) ESPN360.com

#4 3:25 p.m. Spain vs. Tahiti (Group B, Cairo) ESPN360.com

Saturday, Sep. 25

#5 9:55 a.m. USA vs. Germany (Group C, Suez) ESPN360.com/ ESPN Classic

#6 12:40 p.m. Cameroon vs. Korea Republic (Group C, Suez) ESPN360.com

#7 12:40 p.m. Ghana vs. Uzbekistan (Group D, Ismailia) ESPN360.com

#8 3:25 p.m. England vs. Uruguay (Group D, Ismailia) ESPN360.com

Sunday, Sep 26

#9 9:55 a.m. Brazil vs. Costa Rica (Group E, Port Said) ESPN360.com

#10 12:40 p.m. Czech Republic vs. Australia (Group E, Port Said) ESPN360.com

#11 12:40 p.m. United Arab Emirates vs. South Africa (Group F, Alexandria) ESPN360.com

#12 3:25 p.m. Honduras vs. Hungary (Group F, Alexandria) ESPN360.com

Mon., Sept 28

#13 9:55 a.m. Nigeria vs. Spain (Group B, Cairo) ESPN360.com

#14 12:40 p.m. Italy vs. Trinidad & Tobago (Group A, Cairo) ESPN360.com

#15 12:40 p.m. Tahiti vs. Venezuela (Group B, Cairo) ESPN360.com

#16 3:25 p.m. Egypt vs. Paraguay (Group A, Cairo) ESPN360.com

Tues., Sept.29

#17 9:55 a.m. Korea Republic vs. Germany (Group C, Suez) ESPN360.com

#18 12:40 p.m. USA vs. Cameroon (Group C, Suez) ESPN360.com/ ESPN2

#19 12:40 p.m. Uruguay vs. Uzbekistan (Group D, Ismailia) ESPN360.com

#20 3:25 p.m. Ghana vs. England (Group D, Ismailia) ESPN360.com

Wed., Sept. 30

#21 9:55 a.m. Australia vs. Costa Rica (Group E, Port Said) ESPN360.com

#22 12:40 p.m. Brazil vs. Czech Republic (Group E, Port Said) ESPN360.com

#23 12:40 p.m. Hungary vs. South Africa (Group F, 23 Alexandria) ESPN360.com

#24 3:35p.m. United Arab Emirates vs. Hungary (Group F, Alexandria) ESPN360.com

Thurs., Oct. 1

#25 12:40 p.m. Tahiti vs. Nigeria (Group B, Cairo) ESPN360.com

#26 12:40 p.m. Venezuela vs. Spain (Group B, Cairo) ESPN360.com

#27 3:25 p.m. Trinidad & Tobago vs. Paraguay (Group A, Cairo) ESPN360.com

#28 3:25 p.m. Italy vs. Egypt (Group A, Cairo) ESPN360.com

Fri., Oct. 2

#29 12:40 p.m. Korea Republic vs. USA (Group C, Suez) ESPN360.com/ ESPN2

#30 12:40 Germany vs. Cameroon (Group C, Ismailia) ESPN360.com

#31 3:25 p.m. Uruguay vs. Ghana (Group D, Ismailia) ESPN360.com

#32 3:25 p.m. Uzbekistan vs. England (Group D, Suez) ESPN360.com

Sat., Oct. 3

#33 12:40 p.m. Hungary vs. United Arab Emirates F – 33 Alexandria) ESPN360.com

#34 12:40 p.m. South Africa vs. Honduras (Group F, Port Said) ESPN360.com

#35 3:25 p.m. Costa Rica vs. Czech Republic (Group E, Alexandria) ESPN360.com

#36 3:25 p.m. Australia vs. Brazil (Group E, Port Said) ESPN360.com

SECOND ROUND (knockout with 16 teams)

Mon., Oct. 5

#37 10:25 a.m. 1st B vs. 3rd A/C/D (Cairo) ESPN360.com

#38 1:55 p.m. 2nd A vs. 2nd C (Cairo) ESPN360.com

Tues, Oct. 6

#39 10:25 a.m. 1st D vs. 3rd B/E/F (Ismailia) ESPN360.com

#40 1:55 p.m. 1st A vs. 3rd C/D/E (Cairo) ESPN360.com

#41 1:55 p.m. 1st F vs. 2nd E (Alexandria) ESPN360.com

Wed., Oct. 7

#42 10:25 a.m. 1st E vs. 2nd D (Port Said) ESPN360.com

#43 10:25 a.m. 2nd B vs. 2nd F (Suez) ESPN360.com

#44 1:55 p.m. 1st C vs. 3rd A/B/F (Suez) ESPN360.com/ESPN2

QUARTERFINALS

Fri., Oct. 9

#45 10:25 a.m. Winner 38 vs. Winner 39 (Suez) ESPN360.com

#46 1:50 p.m. Winner 37 vs. Winner 41 (Suez) ESPN360.com/ESPN2

Sat., Oct. 10

#47 10:25 Winner 42 vs. Winner 44 (Cairo) ESPN360.com

#48 1:55 p.m. Winner 43 vs. Winner 40 (Cairo) ESPN360.com

SEMIFINALS

Tues., Oct.13

#49 10:20 a.m. Winner 45 vs. Winner 46 (Cairo) ESPN360.com/ESPN2

#50 1:50 p.m. Winner 47 vs. Winner 48 (Cairo) ESPN360.com/ESPN2

THIRD PLACE PLAYOFF
Fri., Oct.16

#51 10:55 a.m. Loser 49 vs Loser 50 (Cairo) ESPN360.com

FINAL
Fri., Oct. 16

#52 1:50 p.m. Winner 49 vs Winner 50 (Cairo) ESPN360.com/ESPN

Source: ESPN press release, but schedule first spotted on WVHooligan.

Tags: Egypt 2009, U-20 World Cup, World Football, World Soccer

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Comments

By Dustin | September 23rd, 2009 at 3:51 pm

Thank God for ESPN 360

Posted from United States

By Rory | September 23rd, 2009 at 4:03 pm

Does anyone know of anyway to get ESPN 360 outside the US?

For Australia, the important players will be Aaron Mooy, Tahj Minniecon and Luke DeVere, although being in the same group as Brazil and Czech Rep will make it hard to get into the next stage

Posted from Australia

By Stan | September 23rd, 2009 at 4:47 pm

It could be that Germany ist topping the list with regard to players who have to stay with their clubs. There are actually 27 (yeah, not joking) of them, including Sven Bender (Dortmund), Holger Badstuber (Bayern München), Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting (Nürnberg), Dennis Diekmeier (Nürnberg), Alexander Eßwein (Wolfsburg), Timo Gebhart (Stuttgart), Marko Marin (Bremen), Christoph Moritz (Schalke), Thomas Müller (Bayern München), Deniz Naki (St. Pauli), Savio Nsereko (Fiorentina), Kevin Pezzoni (Köln), Sebastian Rudy (Stuttgart), Julian Schieber (Stuttgart) and Toni Kroos (Leverkusen).

So, I wouldn’t bet on Germany to win this thing, but hey, at least lesser known youngsters get experience and a chance to shine and most of the players stayin with their clubs actually already are important parts of their teams and their clubs really need them.

Posted from Germany

By Bill | September 23rd, 2009 at 4:53 pm

Why does Australia consistently get paired with Brazil in tournaments. Great experience for the players though.

By Fernando | September 23rd, 2009 at 5:28 pm

ESPN SUCKS!!!!

WHAT THE HELL IS ESPN360.com???? Are they kidding me? The Spanish broadcaster is even worse, Galavision… they’re showing like 2 matches.

Posted from United States

By Mustafa | September 23rd, 2009 at 6:34 pm

the ONLY name to watch is a young man from Cameroon who will soon ascend to cult-hero status (and if we’re lucky, we might also see a few new blogs based off his name alone)

BANANA YAYA

Posted from United States

By Al | September 23rd, 2009 at 9:20 pm

Sergio Asenjo!

Posted from United States

By greg | September 24th, 2009 at 7:33 am

alexandre pato

By Ryan | September 24th, 2009 at 8:00 am

Rory, possibly if you know someone in America, you can access it by using their password. Other than that I have no idea, I’m sure the usual illegal options will be available.

Posted from United States

By Samir | September 24th, 2009 at 8:27 am

Marilungo for Italy is great, though I am not sure he was convocated…

Posted from Italy