[Football- World Cup U20] 22.5/ 20:00 France- South Korea
Posted: 22 May 2023 19:43
[Football- World Cup U20] 22.5/ 20:00 France- South Korea
It's been a full decade since France last lifted the FIFA U-20 World Cup trophy. It took place in Turkey 2013 where Paul Pogba and co defeated Uruguay on penalties in the final for their only triumph in the competition. This sole success leaves France far behind Argentina (six titles) and Brazil (five) in the leaderboards, but Les Bleuets will have a chance to catch up with Portugal (two) in this year's edition. The young French are entering this tournament, boasting an ambitious generation of players and a coach who has experience in leading high-quality youth teams. Employed by the French Football Federation since 2020 and former director of the Caen and Rennes youth academies, Chauvin coached French youth teams across age groups. He took over the reins of the U-18 team in 2020, was promoted to the U-19 team in 2021 and then made the natural move to the U-20 team last year with one goal in mind: to impress at the U-20 World Cup with a set of players he now he knows inside out. The 54-year-old will no doubt be looking for solidity at the back in a system based on his penchant for quick passes, which lends itself to an attacking style of play. The manager loves this style of play based on fast wingers and almost always comes out with three forwards. It has the human resources to do so.
In the absence of winger Loum Tchaouna, responsibility for scoring France's goals at the World Cup will fall to Alan Virginius. Also a winger, the 20-year-old gained a lot of Ligue 2 experience at Sochaux, with whom he made 46 league appearances over two seasons (8 goals) before moving to top-flight Lille in 2022/23. In the north of France, he is regularly called up by Paulo Fonseca and has already made 14 appearances (1 goal).
He played for the French U-16, U-17 and U-19 teams and was part of Chauvin's first-choice U-20 team. With three goals, he finished second in the scoring charts of EURO U-19 - the competition that enabled Les Bleuets to qualify for the U-20 World Cup - behind his compatriot Tchaouna. He also tallied three assists.
Virginius is a versatile and very fast player who can play all over the pitch. At EURO U-19 in 2022, he was most often positioned on the right side of the three-man attack. In any case, his club teammates are full of praise for the player. "Is very fast. Playing against him is very difficult.
Another player worth noting is Tanguy Zoukrou. In just two years, Zoukrou climbed the ladder from AC Boulogne-Billancourt Jugend, the club where he trained, to the Ligue 1 Troyes first team. Although he has yet to feature this season, the centre-back has made four appearances in the 2021/22 season, and his height of 1.89m allows him to command the pitch. In the defensive phases, Zoukrou is very physical in attack and leaves very little room for opponents. He enjoys one-on-one challenges and making a difference with his powerful physique. Extremely composed and full of confidence, Zoukrou is also quick to take risks with distribution, trying to find teammates between the lines with quick passes that whiz across the pitch. He is also a capable passer over longer distances who can tear an opponent apart from afar. Born in 2003, the defender, a key player for Chauvin at U-19 level in which he made ten appearances, naturally followed his coach into the U-20s, competing in each of his last three games against Indonesia, Saudi Arabia and Japan. Assuming he stays fit, Zoukrou will almost certainly play a key role in the tournament.
SOUTH KOREA :
Will the runners-up of the previous edition of the FIFA U-20 World Cup surprise the world once again? The current U-20 World Cup will be their 16th participation in this competition. Taegeuk Warriors, as they are rightly called, can be considered tournament veterans, with only Brazil (19) and the USA (17) taking part in them more often. At the previous edition in 2019, they defeated such teams as Argentina and Senegal on their way to the final, and lost to Ukraine in the key match. Kim Eunjung, the 43-year-old national team coach, has had a rich career in the K-League, later starting his first job as a head coach when he took over the U-20 helm. However, he is not inexperienced, being the assistant coach of the U-23 national team. He was also the assistant coach of the gold medal winning Korean team at the 2018 Jakarta-Palembang Asian Games. Kim previously played in Europe, coaching AFC Tubize in the Belgian Second Division. The appointment generated a lot of interest in Korea, given how few East Asians took up head coaching positions in Europe. He had limited opportunities to mark his position in his current position.
BTTS (Both Teams to Score) @1,85 22bet
FT 1:2
It's been a full decade since France last lifted the FIFA U-20 World Cup trophy. It took place in Turkey 2013 where Paul Pogba and co defeated Uruguay on penalties in the final for their only triumph in the competition. This sole success leaves France far behind Argentina (six titles) and Brazil (five) in the leaderboards, but Les Bleuets will have a chance to catch up with Portugal (two) in this year's edition. The young French are entering this tournament, boasting an ambitious generation of players and a coach who has experience in leading high-quality youth teams. Employed by the French Football Federation since 2020 and former director of the Caen and Rennes youth academies, Chauvin coached French youth teams across age groups. He took over the reins of the U-18 team in 2020, was promoted to the U-19 team in 2021 and then made the natural move to the U-20 team last year with one goal in mind: to impress at the U-20 World Cup with a set of players he now he knows inside out. The 54-year-old will no doubt be looking for solidity at the back in a system based on his penchant for quick passes, which lends itself to an attacking style of play. The manager loves this style of play based on fast wingers and almost always comes out with three forwards. It has the human resources to do so.
In the absence of winger Loum Tchaouna, responsibility for scoring France's goals at the World Cup will fall to Alan Virginius. Also a winger, the 20-year-old gained a lot of Ligue 2 experience at Sochaux, with whom he made 46 league appearances over two seasons (8 goals) before moving to top-flight Lille in 2022/23. In the north of France, he is regularly called up by Paulo Fonseca and has already made 14 appearances (1 goal).
He played for the French U-16, U-17 and U-19 teams and was part of Chauvin's first-choice U-20 team. With three goals, he finished second in the scoring charts of EURO U-19 - the competition that enabled Les Bleuets to qualify for the U-20 World Cup - behind his compatriot Tchaouna. He also tallied three assists.
Virginius is a versatile and very fast player who can play all over the pitch. At EURO U-19 in 2022, he was most often positioned on the right side of the three-man attack. In any case, his club teammates are full of praise for the player. "Is very fast. Playing against him is very difficult.
Another player worth noting is Tanguy Zoukrou. In just two years, Zoukrou climbed the ladder from AC Boulogne-Billancourt Jugend, the club where he trained, to the Ligue 1 Troyes first team. Although he has yet to feature this season, the centre-back has made four appearances in the 2021/22 season, and his height of 1.89m allows him to command the pitch. In the defensive phases, Zoukrou is very physical in attack and leaves very little room for opponents. He enjoys one-on-one challenges and making a difference with his powerful physique. Extremely composed and full of confidence, Zoukrou is also quick to take risks with distribution, trying to find teammates between the lines with quick passes that whiz across the pitch. He is also a capable passer over longer distances who can tear an opponent apart from afar. Born in 2003, the defender, a key player for Chauvin at U-19 level in which he made ten appearances, naturally followed his coach into the U-20s, competing in each of his last three games against Indonesia, Saudi Arabia and Japan. Assuming he stays fit, Zoukrou will almost certainly play a key role in the tournament.
SOUTH KOREA :
Will the runners-up of the previous edition of the FIFA U-20 World Cup surprise the world once again? The current U-20 World Cup will be their 16th participation in this competition. Taegeuk Warriors, as they are rightly called, can be considered tournament veterans, with only Brazil (19) and the USA (17) taking part in them more often. At the previous edition in 2019, they defeated such teams as Argentina and Senegal on their way to the final, and lost to Ukraine in the key match. Kim Eunjung, the 43-year-old national team coach, has had a rich career in the K-League, later starting his first job as a head coach when he took over the U-20 helm. However, he is not inexperienced, being the assistant coach of the U-23 national team. He was also the assistant coach of the gold medal winning Korean team at the 2018 Jakarta-Palembang Asian Games. Kim previously played in Europe, coaching AFC Tubize in the Belgian Second Division. The appointment generated a lot of interest in Korea, given how few East Asians took up head coaching positions in Europe. He had limited opportunities to mark his position in his current position.
BTTS (Both Teams to Score) @1,85 22bet
FT 1:2