2011 South American under-17 Championship

This Saturday sees the start of the biennial South American under-17 Championship. Ecuador are the hosts for what will be the fourteenth edition of this championship falling exactly one month after the conclusion of the under-20 tournament. The under-17s receives considerably less coverage than the already sparsely-reported under-20s but remains a fantastic opportunity to get a glimpse of potential stars of the future. 

Of course, at under-17 level it is harder to tell which players are likely to 'make it'; there is still such a long way to go in each individual's development whilst off-field distractions or injuries can have a big effect on a young player. A look at some of the protagonists from previous years demonstrates different paths taken after a player's participation in the under-17 championship. 

In 2005, Brazil's Kerlon (famous for the 'seal dribble') was named as the best player by CONMEBOL after that year's tournament in Venezuela. Playing with his first club Cruzeiro, Kerlon won the Minas Gerais State Championship and earned a move to Italy in 2008, three years after his participation in the U17s. He was bought by Internazionale but immediately loaned out to Chievo in order to comply with non-EU registration quotas. Unfortunately for Kerlon his entire time in Europe has been consistently dogged by terrible knee injuries and in the most recent transfer window he was loaned to Paraná Clube back in Brazil. He remains on Inter's books and this blog of course wishes him much better luck with injuries and his development for the future. 

In the next tournament it was Peruvian Reimond Manco who was awarded CONMEBOL's title of best player. His move to Europe happened far quicker than Kerlon's and came in the form of a transfer to PSV Eindhoven. Manco did not suffer similar injury problems but, despite a magnificent ten-minute debut, only spent 22 months in Europe before moving back to Peru, and then Mexico. 

In the most recent edition of Sudamericano Sub-17 Edwin Cardona finished as top-scorer with an impressive seven goals in as many games. Staying with his first and only club Atlético Nacional (Colombia) Cardona was one of the top performers at last month's under-20 championship displaying a natural progression to the next age level of international football. Another star at that year's tournament in Chile was one Philippe Coutinho who, along with Kerlon is now on the books at Internazionale. Unlike his Brazilian compatriot, Coutinho has made a swift impact at San Siro and already has eleven Serie A appearances to his name with some impressive performances along the way. GUSU was present at San Siro for Inter's Champions League game against Tottenham Hotspur last October and witnessed a highly impressive European performance from such a young player. A player who has been described by former coach Rafael Benítez and chairman Massimo Moratti as "the future of Inter".

The difference in these players' fortunes in recent years highlights the need for caution when talking about impressive performers at under-17 level. 'Caution' being the key word here as of course lots of players do go on to fulfil their promise and justify the hype. So this blog will be closely following events in Ecuador whilst of course remaining grounded on the stars of the tournament. 

Onto some logistical information. The tournament is running for four weeks and is organised in a double round-robin format identical to the under-20s. Teams are initially placed in two groups of five and everyone will play each other once in a standard international group stage format. Group A consists of Argentina, Bolivia, Ecuador, Peru and Uruguay whilst Group B contains Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Paraguay and Venezuela. The top three from each group progress to the final stage where the same system is repeated. For those in Ecuador or with any geographical knowledge of the country; the tournament will be played in five stadia in five different cities: Ambato, Ibarra, Latacunga, Quito and Riobamba.

Brazil have dominated this competition to a staggering extent since its inception in 1985 winning nine out of a possible thirteen titles. But of course these youth tournaments are not all about winning and the top four finishers in Ecuador will gain qualification to the 2011 Pan American Games and, more importantly, the 2011 FIFA U-17 World Cup. 

If you are planning on tuning in to any of the action from Ecuador, enjoy!