Football fever takes hold as teams arrive

New Zealand U-20 team played Austria at the East Coast Bays Football Club in a warmup match ahead of the FIFA U-20 World Cup. Photo / Jason Oxenham

And so it begins. The Under-20 World Cup doesn't start until Saturday but already you can feel the football fever. The biggest crowd in years gathered at Bays City Stadium in Auckland on Sunday afternoon to see the final warm-up match for the New Zealand side before their first game against Ukraine this weekend.

Uruguay have brought their footballing pedigree to picturesque Stanmore Bay over the last week, with the local community enraptured by the skills on display and the South Americans impressed by the Hibiscus Coast hospitality. And members of the Honduras team have become "world-famous" in Warkworth, trailed around by local kids wherever they go in the small town. These are the intangible pay-offs of hosting such a tournament, which provide local fans with the once-in-a-lifetime opportunities.

It's also a unique situation for coach Darren Bazeley and his team. Hopefully they can rise to the occasion, but they have some defensive issues that need urgent attention. New Zealand teams have always prided themselves on a rock- solid defence, regardless of what they might be able to do in possession.

That's not happening for the Junior All Whites at the moment; they are offering up a lot of chances and have conceded plenty of goals in their warm-up games, some of them soft.

They can't afford that in the tournament proper, or else it will be a long way back.

Fifa's big decision
The Fifa congress will convene in Switzerland later this week and of most interest to fans in this country will be the 2018 World Cup qualification pathways, especially the route for the Oceania representative.

Assuming that direct entry won't happen (there have been some positive noises from Sepp Blatter and Fifa on this but it is a hard sell politically and no other confederations seem willing to reduce their allocations), let's hope logic prevails and Oceania is paired with Asia for the inter-confederation play-off in 2017. It makes geographical, logistical and financial sense and is the fairest solution.

Argentina's gaffe
The South American country remain favourites for the Under-20 World Cup but their logistics manager might be feeling a bit edgy. Argentina decided to conduct their pre-tournament preparations in Tahiti, which seems a strange decision. While they enjoyed the sunny climes of the French protectorate, they also lost 3-1 in a physical match against the Tahitian senior side. And now they have to face the contrasting mid-winter delights of Wellington, where they will play all three group games.

Sky locked in ...
The news that Sky Television has secured the rights to the 2018 and 2022 World Cups might be unfortunate for football fans. Past arrangements, where a selection of games would also screen on TV1, meant the entire country could share in the excitement of the tournament. Hopefully the pay television network provides some timely - or ideally, simultaneous - coverage of some games on Prime but the chances aren't high.