There was an awkward feeling coming into the tournament since everyone knew that there would be a new champion being crowned since Argentina did not qualify. There were various questions being asked about various teams prior to the 2009 edition of the FIFA U-20 World Cup in Egypt, it was the answers that raised the most eyebrows.

1) Brazil is Brazil. That footballing factory continues to manufacture players and their expectations are the same as always. They came in with their usual swagger and did not think twice when it came to dismantling their first opponent- CONCACAF champs Costa Rica. Brazil dominated and humiliated from whistle to whistle. "Brazil just ran over us," said Tico coach Ronald González. That would not be a good sign for the rest of the region.

2) Two teams that shouldn's have surprised. Uruguay and Venezuela were dark horses in my book. For various people it was a shock to see these two teams come out on top in their respective matches, but there is a reason for this. Uruguay is one of the most high-flying offensive teams in this tournament. They will be a pleasure to watch with players like former River Plate (U) Jonathan Urretaviscaya and Nacional's Nicolas Lodeiro as well AC Milan youngster Tabaré Viudez (who scored the sickest goal of the tourney so far.)as well as a host of others that are ushering in a new generation of Charrúa football that is based more on pace and skill than on their traditional "garra" or physical style of play.

Venezuela in the meantime faced a Nigerian side that was coming into this tournament as one of the favorites since the nucleus of this team was the one that won the U-17 title in 2007. That match was historic for the Vinotinto as they beat a perennial power in this level. Six of the players on this roster were on the U-17 winning side. If that first match was historic for Venezuela, the second will probably be even more as they will face Oceania minnows Tahiti, who are coming off an 8-0 plastering at the hands of Spain. If César Farías can keep his young men focused, they should be celebrating a pass to the second round.

CONMEBOL as a whole came out unbeaten Brazil trounced Costa Rica 5-0 and Paraguay played Italy to a scoreless draw. CONCACAF in the meantime were extremely disappointing. In addition to the Costa Rican demolition, both the US and Trinidad suffered one-sided losses to Germany and host nation Egypt respectively. The US looked extremely disappointing in a 3-0 loss to a Mannschaft that was still getting to know each other and missed out on wide open goals on various occasions. The Americans were never even in the match, which in the end was the lone consolation for the Soca Warriors. They at least went to the dressing rooms even at one goal prior to being wiped off the map in the second half by The Pharoahs. The took advantage of the host nation's nerves and ran with it for at least the first 50 minutes of the match.

The lone consolation for CONCACAF was Honduras, who defeated Hungary 3-0. The international media have praised the team led by Eugenio Umanzor. The Spanish media hailed Honduras performance as "creative". The Catrachos battled hard in the first half, but in the second half it became their playgorund as they did what they wanted against a Hungarian side that came into the tournament with a great deal of expectations. Mario Martínez was the mad bomber for Honduras as he scored two superb goals from outside the box.

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