Some decent footballing news this morning, with FIFA announcing in Zurich that New Zealand will host the 2015 Youth World Cup – the under-20 event.
Australia has hosted it twice (in 1981 and 1993), but it will be a first for the Kiwi isles.
The tournament, then to be in its 20th edition, will feature 24 countries playing 52 games across both the North and South islands of New Zealand.
“Put simply – it’s huge!” New Zealand Football chairman Frank van Hattum was quoted as saying by the Auckland Herald.
“For FIFA to award us the honour and responsibility of hosting is a great vote of confidence given its scale, significance and world-wide interest.
“I’ve got no doubt that Kiwi sporting fans will get excited about watching the global game in our backyard, and it will inspire, or even produce, the next generation of All Whites.”
New Zealand beat Peru, Wales and Tunisia as other host nation bidders. The 2011 event is being held in Colombia, with Tunisia the venue in 2013.
The Herald noted that six venues – including in Auckland, Christchurch and Wellington – will host matches, although the final combination of fixtures for each venue was yet to be determined.
David Carter, the Kiwi Economic Development Minister, added his own praise to the project.
“Hosting rights for a FIFA tournament are hotly contested – both for the feast of exhilarating football on offer and also for the real economic and tourism benefits they bring to the host country,” he told the Herald.
“The infrastructure and capability that we have in place to host the 2011 Rugby World Cup will hold us in good stead in 2015 to host this event.”
And I for one agree – it’s a brilliant boost for the Oceania region and Australia’s neighbours.
While I was just three years old in 1981 when West Germany beat Qatar 4-0 at the Sydney Cricket Ground, I was 15 the next time around in 1993 – and absolutely loved it. I remember following the tournament on telly via SBS and I took newspaper clippings for a scrapbook as a memento.
Ah, loads of fun, those high school days! For the record, Brazil beat Ghana in the final that year.
In other New Zealand football news, the All Whites’ senior World Cup path will now be chosen by a ballot, instead of a pre-arranged tie against an Asian nation.
FIFA confirmed that instead of a play-off against an Asian opponent, New Zealand will now go into the hat with the fourth-best North American and fifth-best South American confederation teams along with Asia’s fifth best and be pulled out as a blind draw.
FIFA boss Sepp Blatter said the decision was made to alter the play-off system to keep North American side Costa Rica happy after it faced an almost impossible task against Uruguay last time around.
“Because CONCACAF was not so eager to play another play-off with South America, it was decided there shall be a draw,” he was quoted as saying by the Auckland press.
“It was a logical decision. One part is of this is always a sporting matter, one part is a sports politics matter.”
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