On the same day as the adult team was crushed 3-0 by Brazil at Copa America, Chile's U20 players raised the spirits of the fans as it demolished Canada in the Toronto National Stadium.
It was the first match of Group A and the South Americans showed no respect for the host nation as it controlled the run of play from the first minute to the last. Chile attacked constantly pinning Canada in its own half. Canada's players could only resist with hard tackling and many fouls that were strangely overlooked by the referee.
Mathias Vidangossy became the playmaker for Chile and his dangerous dribbling caused havoc in the Canadian area. Chile's ground level passing and constant pressure paid off as Nicholas Medina capitalized on a mistake by a Canadian defender and scored the first goal in the 25th minute.
The match continued as usual for most of the first half and it was only thanks to the many saves of the Canadian goalkeeper that Chile did not increase its lead.
In the second half, the Canadian coach made several replacements and did improve its play, at least finally managing to get near the Chilean area.
Canada's resistance ended in the 53rd minute as captain Carlos Carmona headed in Chile's second goal. The final result was sealed in the 81st minute with another header by Jaime Grondona, who had replaced Nicholas Medina only two minutes before.
After the match, midfielder Arturo Vidal, recently hired by Bayer Leverkusen of the German Bundesliga, declared, "If we keep playing like this no one can beat us." Most Chilean fans hope the U20 players can continue showing this form and keep their promise of winning the 2007 FIFA U20 World Cup.
The other South American teams did not do so well, since Brazil lost on June 30 to Poland by 1-0, Argentina drew with the Czech Republic by 0-0 and Uruguay drew with Spain 2-2.
Chile's next match is on Thursday against Congo Republic, current African U20 champions
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