The closing!

This post is the closing for both the FIFA U-20 World Cup Colombia 2011 and this blog itself. For the cup one I upload the video of the closing ceremony, which took place in Bogota before the final game:

I also upload the awarding of prizes video:

In the other hand, I close this blog by, first, thanking you for reading it and second by explaing you why I made it. My intention was to let people anywhere in the world know about the FIFA U-20 World Cup Colombia 2011 in a different way. I know they can get information about it in the specialized media but I wanted to provide basic information for those who do not know much about football (soccer) and/or about Colombia. 


I hope this blog remains as a simple and basic historical document of the FIFA U-20 World Cup Colombia 2011 to be looked up by whoever wants to get a Colombian point of view of the tournament. It was also a great experience for me as a Internet journalist. I apologize for the language mistakes since I am not an English native speaker and for the blog design since I am not I designer. I wanted to do it all by myself. 


Thank you forever!

Brazil, Champion!

Brazil in the new FIFA U-20 world champion, after defeating Portugal 3 - 2.

www.lanacion.com.co

This is the fifth FIFA U-20 World Cup for Brazil who was champion in Mexico 83', Soviet Union 85', Australia 93' and Arab United Emirates 2003. Brazil is ranked as the second national team with best performance in the FIFA U-20 World Cup, after Argentina who has won 6 cups.


Portugal, who has won two FIFA U-20 World Cups, was Second. Mexico got third by defeating France 3 - 1, and due to a remarkable performance along the tournament. 


Some records.


In the FIFA U-20 World Cup Colombia 2011  1’309.929 spectator attended the 52 games. In Egypt 2009 they were 1’295.586 and 1’195 239 in Canada 2007.
Five goals were scored in the final game and three were scored by a single player.


But the best profit was for Colombia itself: We gained class-A stadiums, a new football (soccer) culture, upturn of turism, recovery of patriotism, expectations for a FIFA World Cup, better streets and roads, a country's good image, security enviroment and an international-level show.

The Final

The semi-finals

In the quater-finals draw the Colombian National Team, the host, was eliminated, so;

The quarter-finals

The eight-final draw!

After the group stage, 16 national teams are qualified for the eight-final draw. The games are:

The World Cup kicks off!

As usual in the FIFA U-20 World Cup, the Colombia 2011 one began with two games before the inauguration ceremony. Argentina vs Mexico and England vs Norh Korea played the tournament's first two games.

The inauguration ceremony was the same day before the games between Austria and Panama, and Brazil and Egypt. The 34 minites-show took place in Barranquilla and performed some folk song and dances from Colombia.

The postage Stamp!

Due to the great importance that the FIFA U-20 World Cup Colombia 2011 has for Colombians, the Ministry of Informationa and Communications Technologies launched a postage stamp as a homage to the tournament.


The stamp shows the world cup's logo which consists of a steaming cup of coffee, adorned with the Colombian flag colors.


"The FIFA U-20 World Cup Colombia 2011 is this year's most important sport event, it is a honor for Colombia and we must respond by performing the best U-20 World Cup in history of the world" said the president of Colombia, Juan Manuel Santos.

The mascot!

The FIFA U-20 World Cup Colombia 2011' mascot name's is Bambuco, named after a Colombian folk music and dance. It  is a macaw, wearing the national team uniform, that simbolyzes the country's  fauna biodiversity . Colombia is ranked first in birds species. Bambuco was presented at the national teams draw in last december and its name was choosen trhough a contest.


In the last days the city of Bogota, Colombia's capital, launched the campaign 'Bogota is World Cup' that promotes the town as a tourists destination for the tournament. The final game will be played in this city. The photograph was taken in this act. Bambuco poses by me.

The groups and the venues.

After the groups draw and the New Zealand qualification for Oceania, the groups were formed so:

                                                                                                                               AFP
          
        Group A       Group B          Group C        Group D        Group E        Group F
       (Bogota)         (Cali)          (Manizales)    (Armenia)   (Barranquilla)  (Medellin)


      Colombia       Portugal        Australia        Croacia          Brazil           Argentina
        France          Uruguay        Ecuador    Saudi Arabia      Egypt            Mexico
          Mali           Cameroon   Costa Rica      Nigeria           Austria          England
   South Korea New Zealand     Spain          Guatemala     Panama    North Korea.

     Colombia in the Americas: