Colombia Tries for 2011 Tourament
Sub 20 World Cup Could be Coming to South America in 2011
With a host of talented youngsters lining up to be picked and the opportunity to spot the stars of tomorrow, Colombia may be the ideal host for 2011.
On Friday May 9 the Colombian Footballing body will present their pitch to FIFA to be the host nation for the Sub 20 World Cup competition in 2011. If everything goes ahead as Luis Bedoya, the President of the Federacion de Futbol de Colombia, has planned then this ravaged yet thrilling country will build upon recent touristic growths and a resurgent national football team - who beat Argentina in a World Cup Qualifying game in 2007 - and open its doors to a thrilling tournament.
In Colombia's Favour
The biannual tournament, last held in 2007 in Canada, is far more flexible in where it can be held although the host nation will still need to show serious investment into stadia and transport links. Colombia has both of these in droves. With major teams playing in vast stadia in Bogota, Medellin, Cali, Cartagena and beyond, the tournament can be spread to up and coming intermediary cities such as Barranquilla, Bucaramanga and perhaps even Barrancabermeja.
If the tournament were to come to Colombia and in this way South America in 2011 then it will be a welcome return to this continent as the last time a South American country hosted the competition was Argentina 2001.
Colombia's footballing prowess is on the comeback trail after some years in the wilderness and this could help spark the revival further. Fans are not fickle beasts in this part of the world and the whole nation will get behind the entire competition and celebrate with true latin gusto. It would be, as one would expect, be a tournament to remember.
Against Colombia
The international media will undoubtedly seize upon Colombia's application with stories of a bloody internal conflict and a country with cocaine strewn liberally through the streets. This, of course, is not the case, but one cannot deny that there are major issues at stake. Security will need to be stepped up and improved, particularly in urban areas and on travel routes between urban centres in order to ensure that the tournament can run as smoothly and trouble free as possible.
While the last tournament to be held in South America dates back to 2001 everyone will already have Brazil's succesful application to host the World Cup finals in the fore of their collective memory and this may appear to weight favour for the competitions in South America's direction. FIFA will be eager to appear to not be currying favour to this continent and has made special efforts to spread the footballing word to other areas such as in the UAE in 2003 and Qatar in 1995.
The Likely Outcome
With a great deal of huffing and puffing there is a strong chance that Colombia could host a very memorable tournament. The country was the only rival to Brazil for the World Cup following South Africa and are arguably, outside of Brazil, the only other country in South America that could spread the tournament all about the country in large stadia with relative ease. They also hosted a hugely succesful Copa America in 2001. Would it be wrong to deny the country another chance at hosting an international football event 10 years on?
