MONTREAL — It was dubbed the group of death because of its strength. Appropriately, it is Group D in the Fédération Internationale de Football Association under-20 World Cup.
One of the group's four good teams will not advance, assuming that the third-place team will have enough points to move on to the second round with the top two finishers.
And for sure this group has been death on predictions after four games.
Powerful Brazil lost to Poland and was all out to defeat South Korea.
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The Polish team, which held on against Brazil while playing with 10 men for more than an hour, was still tired from that effort and was trounced by the U.S. team three days later. That was the same U.S. team that was fortunate to escape with a tie from its opening game against South Korea.
Now it is down to one more game for each team.
South Korea, which has given both Brazil and the United States all they could handle, faces elimination if it cannot defeat Poland tomorrow at Olympic Stadium. What a loss that would be for the tournament. The South Koreans are fun to watch and their fans have added to the atmosphere at Olympic Stadium.
The United States and Brazil play tomorrow in Ottawa with first place in the group the prize.
A first-place finish in Group D means facing the third-place finisher from one of three groups — B, E or F — in the round of 16, which follows the group stage.
A second-place finish in Group D means facing the winner of Group E, which could be Argentina. If the third-place team from Group D advances, it would play the winner of Group A or B.
Brazilian coach Nelson Rodrigues talked about how Group D has brought together different styles and perhaps offered a clue about why predictions have proved precarious.
"You have four different schools of football in the same group," Rodrigues said through a translator. "So no game is ever the same as the next. Tactically you have to adapt. It's not the same as if you're in a championship in a country where you are playing against adversaries that you know more about, you're accustomed to and have more similar styles. It's a constant modification in this."
Brazil showed its strengths, scoring its three goals off the counterattack in a 3-2 victory on Tuesday night after surviving some early chances by South Korea. After Brazil built a 3-0 lead, the South Koreans came back with goals in the 83rd and 89th minutes and nearly tied it.
It led to suggestions that Brazil is better on offence than on defence, which Rodrigues denies. "I do not agree that our defence is any less than our attack," he said.
He said South Korea's first goal was the result of an error in marking on a corner kick, leaving the scorer uncovered. The other came after intense pressure.
"There are some things that we need to work on," he said. "We are still growing and we will continue to."
U.S. coach Thomas Rongen felt his team played a little "soft" against South Korea, but was able to show its speed and athleticism to advantage against tired Poland.
Freddy Adu, who scored three goals in Tuesday's 6-1 victory over Poland, did not take a shot in the draw against South Korea. "I talked to a couple of guys about it, that we've got to be more aggressive and take some shots," Adu said. "You can't score if you don't shoot. We were a little more aggressive against Poland."
"We said from day one that this is a tough group, every game is hard," Rongen said. "I know we're looking forward to measuring ourselves against the best in the world."
Just how difficult this group can be is shown in Poland's plight. After basking in the upset of Brazil, Poland came crashing to reality in losing by five goals to the United States, even after scoring the game's first goal. Now Poland's situation is more precarious than thought possible after the victory over Brazil.
Poland's coach, Michal Globisz, said the two days off between the two matches was not long enough to recover from the strain of playing so long against such a good team with 10 men.
With only two days off again before facing South Korea, Globisz was asked about recovery time. "We'll do our best," he said. "But it's not only a matter of physical recovery but also of psychological recovery."
