Plenty to be proud of Albiceleste youth fall short at final hurdle

It was so near and yet so far for Argentina's kids as they battled in vain for the nation's seventh FIFA U-20 World Cup title. Diego Placente's charges had dazzled on the way to the final but paid the price for some slack defending in the first half and went down to Morocco, a thoroughly deserved winner of their first-ever World Cup crown at any level and further proof if any were needed that the north Africans are becoming a force to be reckoned with at international level.

On paper, at least the final in Santiago de Chile looked winnable for the Albiceleste. They had charged to the deciding game with a perfect six wins out of six, doing just enough to get past Colombia in a hard-fought semi four days prior. Along the way Argentina had scored 15 goals, more than any of the other 23 teams in the competition, while conceding just twice. In Alejo Sarco and Maher Carrizo the team boasted the best forward duo in the entire World Cup with a host of talent behind them fighting for minutes, while the defence had held up well against a dangerous Colombia team and Mexico's 17-year-old wonderkid Gilberto Mora.

Against Morocco, though, Placente and his side just had no answers to a team that was organised at the back and lightning quick on the break, exposing Argentina time and time again in a manic first half. 

Goalkeeper Santino Barbi was partially at fault for the opening Morocco goal, charging out and felling Yassir Zabri inches outside the area when the ball had already escaped the forward's reach. Denied a penalty, Zabri simply picked himself up and curled a delightful shot past Barbi from the resulting free-kick to make it 1-0. 

With just 29 minutes played the exquisitely talented youngster, who plays for Famaliçao in Portugal, struck again, finishing off another lethal counter-attack spearheaded by Watford youngster and Cristiano Ronaldo clone (right down to the kit colour and No. 7) Othmane Mammaa, later crowned the World Cup's best player and justifiably so.

The Africans sat further back, trusting their rearguard and that two-goal cushion, and it proved a wise decision. So cool and accomplished throughout the tournament, Argentina's attack now entered into panic mode, forcing the play and coming up empty-handed on every incursion into the Morocco box. There would be no fairytale ending for the kids, no late heroics; just the mixed sensations of disappointment and, perhaps not immediately but present all the same, satisfaction at having come so close to glory even without players of the calibre of Franco Mastontuono, Valentín Carboni, Aaron Anselmino or Claudio Echeverri, denied leave to play by their respective clubs.

For it bears repeating as many times as necessary: results are not the be-all and end-all of youth football. Placente's lads showed terrific promise across the World Cup and, as the best teams as this level do (certainly the case with Morocco, it is worth mentioning) played exactly the kind of dynamic, expansive football that the seniors show off at their best, establishing the pipeline between the two categories that is the lifeblood of a good international team.

It is easy, to take one example, to imagine Dylan Gorosito start to challenge Nahuel Molina and Gonzalo Montiel for the right-back spot given his U-20 performances; or to see Sarco, Carrizo or ex-Vélez gem Gianluca Prestianni slotting into Lionel Scaloni's plans post-2026 if they can continue their development. Perhaps the best message to leave on is that of captain and left-back Julio Soler, who, asked what making the decider meant prior to kick-off, replied simply: “It is a dream to play in a World Cup final with my friends.” 

There is no purer essence of youth football than that sentiment and Soler can rest easy in the knowledge that he and his mates did their country proud as they played, right to the end.