GKO's Youth World Cup Season 9
Now that the qualifying round is over. We have all the 32 teams who qualified to play in the official GKO's Youth World Cup in season 9. Congratulation to all the qualified countries and managers who have fought a tough battles. Don't get careless just yet. The battle is not over. One may use Germany as a good example that any teams can win in any match. It's the biggest surprise in the qualifying round that Germany failed to advance. In this round, teams will become stronger, players' condition will be nearly perfect, and managers won't have distraction from club matches anymore. Here are the groups, my predictions, and a poll (you can vote for two teams)
Group A: Brazil, Finland, Poland (Youth WC champ S.5), and Switzerland
Prediction: Brazil and Poland will advance to the next round.
Group B: Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, and Paraguay
Prediction: A clear favorite in this group is Bulgaria. It will be a fight between Croatia and Paraguay for the second ticket to advance.
Group C: Belgium (WC runner up S.6), Egypt, Romania, and Spain
Prediction: There is two group of death imho and this group is one of the two. Belgium, Romania, and Spain will have battle it out in this round. It will be interesting to watch who will advance.
Group D: China, Macedonia, Uganda, and United States (WC champ S.6)
Prediction: China and United States are surely a clear favorite in this group.
Group E: Argentina(WC champ S. 4 & 8 ), Serbia, Slovakia, and Vietnam
Prediction: This is a tough group, but not a group of death for me. Argentina is Argentina. They are one of the favorites to win this tournament. They will be hoping that they take home the first youth trophy to add to their already two World cup trophies in their showcase. The other three teams will have to battle it out for the remaining ticket.
Group F: Italy, Malaysia, Puerto Rico, and Thailand (WC runner up S.8 )
Prediction: Italy and Thailand will advance to the next round. These two countries are similar in both WC and Youth WC, they just cannot find a formula to become a champion. We should see if they finally figure out how to take home the trophy in this youth world cup.
Group G: Bosnia and Herzegovina (Youth WC Champ S. 7 and runner up S.5), England, Portugal, and Scotland
Prediction: This is the second group of death for me with the like of Bosnia, England, and Portugal. Somehow Bosnia always find success in the youth tournament, so my money would be on them being one of the team who will advance, but England and Portugal might make a surprise or two.
Group H: Australia, Hungary, Moldova, and Slovenia
Prediction: Moldova and Slovenia
Now it's time for your comment/s and votes for who you think will be the Champion. May luck be with all the countries and managers 8)