Italy U20 meets with Japan U20 in round 3 of the group stage of World Cup U20. The match will be played on Wednesday, May 29th at Zdzisław Krzyszkowiak Stadium (Bydgoszcz)
According to the bookmakers, the Italian team has chances to compete for the trophy. Of course, these chances are lower than that of France, Portugal and Argentina; however, this team is confidently moving in the second echelon of the leaders. Nevertheless, bookmakers certainly overestimate the Italians - they just take into account their past achievements. If we take the last tournament, which ended in March of this year, namely the European Elite League U20, Italy took the 8th place from 8 teams in the group. The Italians gained only 4 points in 7 matches and were in the final standings below the Netherlands, Portugal, Germany, England, Switzerland, the Czech Republic and Poland.
As for the current youth world cup in Poland, the Italians started it with a victory over Mexico. In fact, the game was difficult for the European team - 2:1. Italy scored the winning goal in the middle of the second half. But in general, the match was very interesting - Mexico tried to possess the ball and delivered 12 shots, but Italy organized faster counterattacks and gave 25 shots.
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The Asian team started the tournament with a draw against Ecuador (1:1). Given the fact that the very Latin Americans were considered the favorite before the start of the meeting, and given the course of the meeting, a draw is a good result for Japan. In that match, Ecuador had played a leading part for almost the entire regulation time, but the Japanese tried to deliver more shots. Tagawa scored an own goal in the last minute of the first half, so the psychological advantage was on the side of Ecuador. However, already in the debut of the second half, the Latin Americans lost it because they did not score a penalty, having missed the opportunity to double the score. Yamada equalized the score in the middle of the second half, and Japan even ran forward to scratch out the victory. Thus, the youth team of Japan broke the 5-game losing streak. Truth be told, all these losses were received in friendly matches. Shortly before the start of the current tournament, the Japanese played against Colombia and lost with a 1:2 score.
Two years ago, Japan and Italy also played in the Youth World Cup in the same group. Of course, not those players who are playing now performed in that match, but still it gives certain data for analysis. The Italians scored the Asian team twice already by the 7th minute of the meeting, but they failed to win (2:2). Doan, who restored the status quo, made a double. Moreover, the Japanese looked much better in that match - they delivered 13 shots on goal against 3 ones from an opponent, besides they possessed the ball more.
The Italian youth team is the favorite of this group; however, despite the victory in the first round, no one has yet guaranteed it the playoffs. Still, Italy has won only on major holidays over the past year. As for the prospects to compete for the trophy, bookmakers overestimate the chances of the Italians too. With such a game, which the young players show recently, they have nothing to do in the playoffs, if they get there. Japan will also have a chance to progress from the group after a draw in the first round. Looking at the first match, we can say that the Asians are definitely not inferior to Italy in terms of attacking actions. Italy is famous for being able to squeeze the maximum result, but the youth level is completely different, so we don’t expect victory from the Europeans in the upcoming match.
Prediction for the match: Japan U20 to win with 0.0 handicap
