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Soccer Saturday: Your Running Commentary

U20WorldCup (FIFA)

By JUSTIN FERGUSON

A month of top action from the world’s brightest young stars will come to an end in Turkey with the final two matches of the 2013 FIFA Under-20 World Cup.

Saturday will be the first appearance in a U-20 World Cup Final for France, who has outscored opponents 10-2 in the knockout stages. French goalscorers Yaya Sanogo and Florian Thauvin will face a tough task against a Uruguay squad that has only allowed three goals in the entire tournament. Uruguay, led by Roma forward Nicolas Lopez, has gone to extra time in its last two matches, a 1-0 upset of favorites Spain and a penalty kick marathon victory over Iraq.

Before France and Uruguay tangle for the title, Iraq and Ghana will square off in an intriguing third-place match. Iraq has played 120+ minutes in each of its knockout stage matches, so look for the Young Lions of Mesopotamia to hang with Ghana, a survivor from the “Group of Death” and the competition’s 2009 champion.

In addition to the members of Group C in the Gold Cup, several European club powers will hit the field on Saturday for some friendly competition. It will be David Moyes’s first match in charge at Manchester United, who start their Asian tour with a match against a Thai all-star squad.

If you will be watching today’s action, please feel free to share your thoughts, opinions and some play-by-play in the comments section below.

Enjoy the action (Today’s TV schedule is after the jump):

9am – Fox Soccer Channel – Manchester United vs. Singha All-Star XI

11am – ESPNU – Ghana vs. Iraq – U20 World Cup Third-Place Match

11:30am – beIN Sport – Fortuna Düsseldorf vs. Monaco

2pm – ESPN – France vs. Uruguay – U20 World Cup Final

3:30pm – FOX – United States vs. Cuba – Gold Cup

6pm – Fox Soccer Channel – Costa Rica vs. Belize – Gold Cup

7pm – MLS Direct Kick – New York Red Bulls vs. Montreal Impact

7:30pm – MLS Direct Kick – New England Revolution vs. Houston Dynamo

8:30pm – MLS Direct Kick – Sporting Kansas City vs. Toronto FC

9pm – MLS Direct Kick – Dallas FC vs. Real Salt Lake

10:30pm – MLS Direct Kick – San Jose Earthquakes vs. Seattle Sounders

11pm – NBC Sports Network – Portland Timbers vs. Los Angeles Galaxy

Comments

  1. Watching NE vs Dynamo game. There continues to be issues with the Ref’ing. MLS needs to take a look as this is a consistent problem. Earlier today Pete Walton was interviewed but was not asked any tough questions.

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  2. Brek Shea was not ready to play. He needs to be with his club team or wind up on loan.
    Castillo played lousy defense but he was the only one willing to go at the Cubans in that first half and continued doing it in the second. Thank God for the second half substitutions of which Diskerud was a stand out along with Wondo. Until Holden is ready Disk is the best option in mid, he made good passes with very good field vision.

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  3. Congrats to Joe C. on his first USMNT international goal. Sweet bend on the strike, and great timing when our play looked so sluggish.

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  4. Ooophff. Brek Shea with another horrid cross. Looks nervy like his first couple of matches for the USMNT, and hope he can find some rhythm before the first half ends.

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  5. Brek needs to step his game up if he’s gonna crack the stoke 11.He looks stiff and out of sinc.In form(2011) he can skip past people or deliver a good cross.Hes doing none of this during this tourney.

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  6. Ok, I don’t mind Gus Johnson. Think he’s trying to tee up discussion that can educate more casual fans (e.g., ‘what style is the team playing under Klinsmann?’, ‘what is the role of a number 6?’, etc).

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    • I’m looking forward to seeing this line-up, real happy to see Orozco get a second start and finally a start at LB for Castillo. Will be interesting to see what Beltran can do. and this line-up has a lot of offensive potential. Cannot wait!!!!!!

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  7. Cuba has decent technique on the ball and athleticism.However they’re horrible with positioning and tactics.Every time they gain possession they push forward like a bull in a china shop.

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  8. Fulham sold by Al Fayed to Shahid Khan, Jaguars owner. Hope this means bigger transfer budget and bigger ambitions! Oh and a US tour!!

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    • Have you seen how the Jaguars are run? It probably means a smaller budget and the constant threats to move Fulham to San Antonio.

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    • Hey, big news that hasn’t hot much attention here is the addition of Emanuele Giacherinni (sp?) to Sunderland. That guy was incredible for Italy at the confederations cup. He will surely add the creativity and service to Jozy that he will need to thrive. I hear that juventes accepted a bid from Sunderland on Thursday, but haven’t seen it get any press here. I think it’s a massive addition in terms of jozys success

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      • I was also impressed with Giaccherini. He is quick in and around the box, lends skill and vitality to the attack.

      • They also look close to a deal with Tom Huddlestone from Tottenham. Who were rather overstocked with central midfielders and probably still are. I thought he had some good games when called on last year and certainly should be an up grade.

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