USL Director of Business Development James Ward is in Canada following his brother Tim, a defender for the US U-20 Men's National Team, as he competes in the FIFA U-20 World Cup, and will be sending reports on the event from a family and fan's perspective during his time north of the border.

MONTREAL, QUEBEC - Tuesday, July 3, 2007

On Saturday morning I was excited to get rolling and see the first matches of the tournament. On my way back up to my hotel room, I caught a few players from the Puerto Rico Islanders, who played against the Montreal Impact on Friday night.

The US game wasn’t scheduled to begin until 5pm, but we also had tickets for the first match of the tournament between Brazil and South Korea. The tournament has been designed so that there are back-to-back games at every venue, which means that we have tickets for the US games as well as the matches paired with them.

Knowing that the doubleheader has sold out Montreal’s Olympic Stadium, we decided to make sure to leave plenty early to get to the early match.

With our hotel only being about seven blocks from the Metro station, we decided that the train would be the easiest and fastest way to get to and from the match. As the train pulls up in the station, it is about 80% full, and it is quite evident that almost everyone on the train is making their way to the tournament. With 10 stops to go before the stadium, it isn’t long before the train is completely full.

Before I go any further, let me say that although I’ve attended my fair share of international and high-level matches, I’m not nearly as fortunate as those who attended the ’94 World Cup in the US or any of the other ensuing World Cups since that point.

The train stop is actually connected to the entry of the stadium, so after we walk up the ramp, we are right in the middle of the action. The feeling is indescribable. I expected a good contingent of supporters from both Brazil and Poland, but being a U20 event, I also expected a large part of the 55,000 fans to be neutral Canadians. This was not nearly the case, and almost everyone I saw had claimed their allegiance to one of the four teams scheduled to take the field that night.

The big-time nature of the event was unexpected but very welcome. I’m not saying that I didn’t think the U20 World Cup was going to be a great event. Rather, I just expected a very different atmosphere. I watched the 2005 version of the U20 event on Fox Soccer Channel, and since Saturday have seen some subsequent matches on TV, and with the exception of the Canada-Chile match on Sunday night, none of the games have seemed to have a feel similar to that which I experienced on Saturday afternoon.

Once we were in the stadium and the match was underway, the atmosphere was tremendous. About 75% of the stadium was full, and the Polish fans made it known that they were the dominant group. Chants of “Polska, Polska” began before the first whistle and continued until the Poles scored on a free-kick in the first half hour of the match.

The pro-Poland crowd went into a frenzy for the next few minutes until their team would be reduced to 10 players after one of their own received a second caution. Although Brazil hadn’t been playing exceptionally well, I fully expected them to use the next 70 minutes of the match to take control and show why they are the favorite to win the tournament.

They did show moments of brilliance during the remainder of the game but were unable to put together anything that would beat Poland’s defense, and the match finished with a 1-0 victory for the underdogs. One game has been played and there had already been an upset. Time will tell if this result helps or hurts the US team.

Up next was the US-South Korea match, and the US looked sharp in their warm-up. The team started in their 4-3-3 formation, which has allowed them to be very successful over the past few months of preparing for the event.

The South Koreans came out strong and immediately begin to play long balls behind the US defense with their attacking midfield making long, deep runs in an effort to create chances. Even though they held an advantage early, the US got on the board first with a great goal by Danny Szetela.

I had hoped that the goal would act to deflate the Korean players, even if only for a brief period, but they continued to attack and play with the same vigor as before the goal. They finally got a goal later in the first half, and the teams were level at halftime.

The remainder of the game would provide for some exciting chances at both ends, but neither team was able to capitalize. The US had come away with a well-fought point in a match against a surprisingly effective South Korean squad.

On Sunday there was a social gathering for the players and families, so I was able to see my brother Tim for a few hours. It was good to spend some time catching up on things not related to the tournament.

After he returned to the team hotel, the remainder of the day was spent watching other U20 matches and taking in some of the festivities associated with Canada Day (similar to July 4th in the US).

After spending time with him and a few players, it is evident that the team is focused on the next match and confident that they can get the results needed to advance. I’m excited to see it all unfold.

US Soccer Match Report >>

Official FIFA U-20 World Cup Site >>

USLers on the US squad >>