2009 FIFA U-17 WC: Group E to produce winners

On my previous post there is this poll:

Which Group do you think will produce the winners of the 2009 FIFA U-17 World Cup?

So far most people think Group A will produce winners but I think it will be Group E (Malawi to be more specific). Yes don’t rule out Malawi. Malawi may not be well known, but the U20 World Cup showed that even small countries can cause upsets. Malawi should just target four points to progress to the knock out stage. During knock-out stages anything can happen.

Group E pits Malawi against teams from three different continents, with the top two automatically qualifying for the knock-out phase. The four best third-placed teams, from six groups, will also progress to the round of 16. Malawi are in the same group as U.A.E, Spain and USA.

GROUP E Recent Team News:

UAE

The UAE, who recently drew with fellow World Cup qualifiers Mexico and Honduras during a pre-Nigeria training fortnight in Spain, played their Italian counterparts in Florence this week. The match was their final warm-up fixture before they flew to Nigeria. Please note that their Under 20 Team reached the quarter finals of the just ended 2009 FIFA U-20 WC Finals that took place in Egypt.

SPAIN

The Spain Under 17 played the following games in October:

15 October 2009: Spain 3 Columbia 0 (Friendly)
16 October 2009: Spain 6 Faroe Islands 0 (UEFA Euro 2010 U-17 Qualifying Round)
18 October 2009: Spain 9 Lithuania 1 (UEFA Euro 2010 U-17 Qualifying Round)
19 October 2009: Spain 1 Columbia 1 (Friendly)
21 October 2009: Spain 4 Romania 1 (UEFA Euro 2010 U-17 Qualifying Round)

Most Spain U-17 players play for the following Clubs (Reserve Teams): Real Madrid, FC Barcelona and RCD Espanyol

U.S.A

Here is the U.S. Roster. Earlier this month, the U.S. Under 17 held a training camp in U.K. that included games against the Academy teams of English Premier League sides Chelsea and Arsenal, as well as the Gambian U-17 National Team (Africa U-17 Champions), whom they beat 5-0. The U.S. Under 17 played the last friendly against Crystal Palace Baltimore before leaving for Nigeria yesterday. Jack McInerney was the team’s leading scorer through qualifying and has received offers from Holland and Mexico to play professionally. The U.S. Under-17 arrives in Nigeria today.

MALAWI

Not to be outdone by the Yanks, the Malawi Under-17 left Malawi for U.K. last Saturday, 17 October 2009. On Monday they played against Wycombe Wanderers and lost 1-0. Their next game is today against Reading Reserve side. But that’s not all:

“We have been monitoring our opponents closely through the Egypt (FIFA Under-20 World Cup) tournament. The Under-20 teams can not be different from their Under-17 sides because they are all youths. So we used the Egypt competition to analyse our opponents. We have known their strengths and weaknesses which we can’t disclose to the media because we may end up alerting our opponents.” – FAM technical director Jack Chamangwana

So don’t be surprised when the Junior Flames win it all. By the way, The Flames (Senior Flames) are taking part in the COSAFA Senior Challenge Cup currently underway in Zimbabwe.

Which Group E Team do you think will win the 2009 FIFA U-17 World Cup?(opinion)

P/S 1 NOVEMBER 2009:

FIFA U-17 WC Nigeria 2009 Sweet Sixteen Bracket
http://malawi.worldcupblog.org/team-news/fifa-u-17-wc-nigeria-2009-sweet-sixteen-bracket.html