Sports

On paper, today's pivotal FIFA 2007 Under-20 World Cup Group B match shouldn't even be close.

Saturday games - Scotland vs. Costa Rica 5 p.m.

Canada has always been an accommodating and gracious host. Maybe too gracious.

It seemed like the calm amid the storm yesterday at the Victoria venue for the FIFA 2007 Under-20 World Cup as the amassed assemblage of officials, supporters, media and teams all seemed to be whale watching or shopping along Government Street.

A single moment of brilliance, seemingly snatched out of mid-air at the 2003 FIFA Under-20 World Cup at the United Arab Emirates, helped propel Josh Simpson of Victoria into a higher-calibre pro soccer career than he might have otherwise expected at

They've definitely got the talent -- star striker Jean Carlos Solorzano and perhaps the top goalkeeper in the tournament in Alfonso Quesada -- to compete with the top guns in the FIFA Under-20 World Cup.

Group F of the 2007 FIFA Under-20 World Cup is finely balanced, but don't believe all the talk of there not being a real favourite in the group.

Often buried beneath the well-documented Japanese love of baseball and sumo, soccer is quickly emerging in Japan after the nation successfully co-hosted the senior 2002 World Cup with South Korea.

When Portugal began its recent rise in world soccer, pundits nicknamed the players that fuelled its re-emergence the Golden Generation. Scottish FA officials shy away from such labels being attached to their new generation of stars.

Group A Congo Coach: Eddie Hudanski Who to watch: Fabrice Nguessi Ondama has been so impressive as a youth player, it's expected he'll be called up to the full national side.