Uruguay under-20 sports team heads for World Cup

Uruguay's under-20 soccer team on Monday heads for the sport's World Cup in Canada, aiming to win the title for the first time.

Uruguay plays in Group B, which plays most of its games in the Victoria state town of Burnaby, facing Spain, Jordan and Zambia. Its first game is against Spain, the winner of the under-19 UEFA Cup in 2006.

"We are traveling north with the expecting to do our best: something we have worked hard to achieve," Uruguay manager Gustavo Ferrin told a press conference at the airport.

The team includes players who are already stars in Europe: forward Edison Cavani, who plays for Italy's Palermo; Juan Surraco, of Italian team Udineses; and Luis Suarez, of Dutch team Groningen.

Uruguay came third in the South American soccer championship, held in Paraguay in January, where a last-minute goal from Argentina in the quarter-finals prevented the team from reaching the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Ferrin said there were no easy rivals among the 24 best-prepared teams in the world, but said his team was part of a hard-working group and is well prepared. Uruguay has played eight under-20 World Cups. Its best performance was coming second in Malaysia in 1997. It has qualified for the second phase in every competition except 1991's Cup, held in Portugal.

Source: Xinhua