Peru made their eagerly awaited debut at the "FIFA U-17 World Soccer Championship" like the country hosts since September 16th till October 2nd.
Sixteen teams of the fives continents competes to wins this Men's Youth Soccer Cup, divided in four groups: G-A ( Peru - Ghana - China - Costa Rica ) G-B ( Uruguay - Mexico - Turkey - Australia ) G-C ( Côte d'Ivoire - Italy - Korea DPR - USA ) G-D ( Netherlands - Qatar - Brazil - Gambia )
Host Cities:
Lima, Chiclayo, Piura, Trujillo and Iquitos.
On the innovative measures in place for the tournament:
Many of the innovative ideas for this event have already been widely reported on. Following on from the successful experiment at Finland 2003, this will be the first FIFA tournament where all the pitches will be artificial. Then there is the suspension ruling, which states that a player will get an automatic one-game suspension on picking up three yellow cards and not two, as is the case in all other FIFA events. Lastly, there is the experimental microchip technology that has been developed by Adidas, which will be used to determine if the ball has crossed the goal line or not.
On the possibility of Peru hosting a FIFA World Cup™ in the future:
In this life, if you can conceive something then you can also achieve it. However, because of the system of continental rotation that FIFA adheres to, the 2010 edition will be held in South Africa. It will not be the turn of South America again until 2014, which is why it is not yet possible to make an assessment on this matter.
Peruvian Soccer Background:
From the moment the beautiful game arrived on the country's shores in the early 1900s, football has reigned supreme in Peru. Yet despite not having appeared at the finals of a FIFA World Cup™ since Spain in 1982, the passion for the game here remains undiminished, as anyone who saw the 2004 Copa America will testify.
The Peruvian Football Federation was founded in 1922, becoming affiliated to FIFA two years later. The golden age of Peruvian football came in the 70s, when a supremely talented crop of players led by Teófilo Cubillas qualified for three successive FIFA World Cups™ and won only the country's second Copa América. Their best performance came in Mexico 1970, where they breezed past Bulgaria and Morocco on the way to the last eight. Unfortunately for Peru, waiting for them there were the all-conquering Brazilians, who ran out 4-2 winners on the way to their third crown.
However, since their last outing on the world stage in 1982, success has proved frustratingly elusive for the South American side. The nearest they came to a return to their former glories was in the qualifiers for France 98. Regrettably on that occasion, luck was not on the side of Juan Carlos Oblitas's men. After losing out on the last qualifying spot to Nelson Acosta's Chile on goal difference, inconsolable Peruvians could only watch in envy as their fiercest rivals travelled to Europe in their place.
While Peru's youth sides have not enjoyed anything like the success of the senior team, the Federation is hopeful that this year's FIFA U-17 World Championship in Peru coupled with the region's FIFA Goal Programme will shortly begin to bear fruit. In the long term, it is hoped that an improved youth infrastructure will result in a lot more quality players coming through the ranks.
With an amazing and perfect open ceremony this "U-17 World Soccer Champioship" is the chance to find the next generations of football players that gives any country a proud of fair play soccer players that will conquer the next years of sport world.
