Off to a slow start

The FIFA Under 17 World Cup 2007 began in South Korea on Saturday, with Argentina making their debut in the competition on Sunday. The Under 17 World Cup is a real chance to see some of the stars of the future, even before they break through for their clubs – they’ve nearly always done precisely this by the time they reach the Under 20 tournament. But Argentina’s starlets didn’t shine too brightly on Sunday, drawing 0-0 with Syria.

In what looks from the statistics (FIFA haven’t bothered to furnish their website with an actual write-up of the game) like a pretty even match – Argentina had 60% of the possession but only one shot more, and were nowhere near as accurate with their finishing – Argentina appear to mainly have distinguished themselves for fouling an awful lot. For possibly the dullest minute-by-minute match report I’ve ever seen in my life, click here.

Unlike the Under 20 World Cup, Argentina have never had their hands on the Under 17 version, but their latest attempt to do so continues against Honduras on Wednesday 22nd at 8pm local time in Ulsan (11am BST, 7am Argentina), and Group C ends on Saturday 25th when they play Spain in Gwangyang at 4pm (7am BST, 3am Argentina).

If you live in the EU and are lucky enough to not have a job to go to in the morning, you can find details of FIFA’s live streams of every match in the tournament on the tournament’s official site.

Argentina squad list: Under 17 World Cup Korea 2007Goalkeepers:
Luis Ojeda (Unión de Santa Fe)
Rodrigo Meza (San Lorenzo de Almagro)
José Luís Cornalo (Independiente)

Defenders:
Mateo Musacchio (River Plate)
Maximiliano Oliva (River Plate)
Damián Martínez (San Lorenzo)
Fernando Meza (San Lorenzo)
Mariano Bittolo (Vélez Sársfield)
Alexis Machuca (Newell’s Old Boys)
Leandro Basterrechea (Gimnasia y Esgrima La Plata)
Gastón Sauro (Boca Juniors)

Midfielders:
Fernando Godoy (Independiente)
Pablo Rolon (Talleres de Córdoba)
Franco Zuculini (Racing)
Guido Pizarro (Lanús)
Daniel Carrizo (River Plate)

Forwards:
Eduardo Salvio (Lanús)
Gustavo Fernández (River Plate)
Santiago Fernández (Newell’s Old Boys)
Carlos Benítez (San Lorenzo)
Nicolás Mazzola (Independiente)