The Canadian under-20 national team, which will be making its sixth appearance at the 24-team tournament, will play its first game Friday against Brazil.
"There’s no doubt that playing Brazil will be a good test," says DiTullio (photo), a 20-year-old midfielder who has been training in Dubai with his teammates since November 21. "But we’re hungry and confident, and everybody here is ready to play."
DiTullio says the Canadian squad doesn’t feel any extra pressure squaring off against the Brazilians in its first match-up.
"Sure, we’ll have butterflies but I don’t think we have any pressure," he says. "We’re going in with nothing to lose. And what better way to kick off the tournament than against the best team in the world?"
Canada, which is in group C, will then face Australia on December 1 and the Czech Republic on December 4. The second round will begin December 12 with 16 qualifying teams, while the championship final will take place December 19, in Abu Dhabi.
Canada has a lifetime record of two wins, nine losses and four draws at the World Youth Championship.
AN EMOTIONAL RIDE
Canada’s road leading up to Friday night’s kick off match against Brazil has been very emotional, both on and off the field.
First, there was celebration when Canada’s U-20 team beat the United States 3-2, in Charleston, back on November 17, 2002. That win secured first place for Canada and a berth at the World Championship. It was the first time since 1957 any Canadian side in any age category had beaten the United States in qualifying.
A few months later, there was disappointment when the World Championship, which was originally scheduled for March 2003, was postponed because of the war in Iraq.
"But fortunately, that gave us time to play more international games," points out DiTullio. "We were able to play a tournament in Panama and more international friendlies to better prepare ourselves."
And just last week, with the Canadian training camp in full swing in Turkey, the team had a brush with horror when two bombs exploded in Istanbul.
"We were pretty far from it all, about an hour’s plane ride away," explains DiTullio. "But nevertheless, it’s one thing to see this on television back home, when it happens overseas, and another to know that it happened just an hour away."
While DiTullio doesn’t believe the incidents affected the team’s preparation, he is convinced the players just have one thing on their mind right now: "Basically, we all want to play. Our objective is to play more than three games in this tournament. We want to come out of our group."
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SOURCE:
bcomm
INFO:
Stéphane Banfi
514-328-3668 (ext. 27)
