South American U20 Women’s Soccer: Brazil Faces All Challengers

Asunción, Jan 3 (EFE).- The South American women’s under-20 soccer tournament begins this Wednesday in Paraguay with ten teams seeking one of the four tickets to the World Cup in the category, and with Brazil, which has won all previous editions, as the main contender for the title.

The first date of the competition will have as its highlight the debut of the head of group A, Paraguay, against its counterpart from Chile in Villa Elisa, about 15 kilometers from the capital, Asunción.

The local team is led by the new jewel of South American soccer, attacker Claudia Martínez, who recently signed for the Washington Spirit of the NWSL in the United States in a historic transaction, which netted the Paraguayan Olimpia nearly a million dollars.

That same day, Uruguay and Venezuela will also make their debut in zone A. Colombia, the last member of the group, will not see action on Wednesday.

The long-awaited first presentation of the ‘Canarinha’, head of group B, will take place on Thursday, when they face Ecuador in Villa Elisa.

Brazil won the ten previous editions of the South American women’s under-20 competition, demonstrating a dominance of the category rarely seen.

The ‘Verdeamarela’ only missed the trophy from the 2020 edition, which was suspended due to the coronavirus pandemic before the final hexagonal was played.

By then, Brazil was on a perfect course after convincingly winning its four group stage matches without allowing any goals against and with 14 goals scored.

Bolivia and Peru will also debut this Thursday in group B, while Argentina will not see action that day.

According to the tournament schedule, the first three finishers in each group will advance to a final hexagonal, where they will face each other in a round-robin format.

After this last instance, the four best positioned will obtain a place in the World Cup of the category, which will be held between September 5 and 27 of next year in Poland.

Matches of the first day:

Paraguay – Chile / 18.00 local time (21.00 GMT).

Uruguay – Venezuela / 18.00 local time (21.00 GMT).EFE

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