Jason Pine: Which side will take out World Cup?

NZ Herald·

8 Jun, 2015 08:57 PM3 mins to read

Kevin Akpoguma and Niklas Stark of Germany celebrate after scoring a goal. Photo / Getty

On the eve of the round-of-16, who are shaping as the teams to beat as the under-20 World Cup reaches its business end?

The pre-tournament favourites were Argentina, but their exit before the knockout stages and the sublime form of Germany has them now as firm favourites to lift the trophy in Auckland on June 20.

The Germans have been.... well, typically German. In much the same way as their senior counterparts did in Brazil last year, they've combined clinical ball possession with eye-catching attack to cruise untroubled through pool play.

No-one has scored more goals than their 16 and defensively they've been solid. Admittedly, their opponents so far have surrendered rather meekly, but there's been more than enough to suggest the Germans won't be packing their bags for home any time soon.

Standing in their way initially are the Africans.

Germany meets Nigeria in what shapes as a classic round-of-16 match, before a potential quarter-final against either Mali or Ghana. The Germans are yet to face an African side at this tournament, so it will be fascinating to see how they deal with what could be back-to-back games against their physicality and panache.

Brazil have firmed as favourites to make the final after their perfect run through pool play. As usual, it's their front-third play which has left the strongest impression, with no team having more goal attempts in their three games than Brazil's 66.

Their nine goals have also come from seven different goal-scorers, meaning opponents are unable to focus on one or two players to nullify their threat. Brazil's senior side may have capitulated on home soil last year, but it's hard to envisage the same thing happening to their under-20 team.

The other side with a perfect record so far is Portugal with wins over the potentially tricky Columbians and Senegalese achieved with relative comfort. They were also the most fouled side in pool play; an indication of the lengths opposition sides have had to go to in order to contain them. New Zealand has a massive task ahead in Hamilton on Thursday if they're to stop Portugal's march into the last eight.

If you're looking for a dark horse, you can find it in Ukraine. They're the only side yet to concede a goal at the tournament and also boast the current Golden Boot leader in Viktor Kovalenko, who has netted five times in three matches, including a sublime hat-trick against the USA last time out.

The draw is also in Ukraine's favour. In the round of 16, they meet Senegal who won just one of their pool matches (and that narrowly against Qatar) and have scored just three times in the tournament. If they can win that, Ukraine will face Austria or Uzbekistan, either of who they'd back themselves to overcome in Wellington on Sunday. From there, they're just 90 minutes from the final.