Still waiting on that Zeppo post. . .

[Mosiah]

The issue is it's a LIE! I have a problem with LIES!!!

[HL]

OK then.

All the teams the younger BoyZ encountered were full strength!

(watch yuh blood pressure!)

[Muadib]

zeppo's badmind has no equal? Think that
one over again mo. Slowly too LOL. Methinks there is one that is even superior to that of zeppo, woeeee.

Heh, heh... Irony.

[Mosiah]

Your lying is congenital. Not your fault. At least I can tek someting for the blood pressure.

[Zeppo]

A question Zeppo is your honesty guided by your percieved lack of talent ? or is it lack of organization ?

I am curious to know why you believe we wouldnt make it this far .

Well, it's no secret that the whole ReggaeBoyz program has taken a bit of a nosedive over the past several years.

Look at the men's team. From a World Cup participant in 1998, to a Hexagonal finalist in 2002, and then you failed to make the Hexagonal entirely for 2006.

In the last year alone you have taken some serious poundings, too: England, Iran, losses to lightweight Asian teams, etc.

And your youth teams haven't qualified for a major tournament since that U-20 WC back in 2001 or so.

Now I jokingly called the Pan Am games a "poor man's U-20 World Cup". It was a wisecrack, but anyone who seriously thinks that countries like Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Mexico, USA, Canada, etc. sent anything close to their strongest U-20 teams to the competition seriously needs their head examined.

But still taking that into consideration, I was surprised by the ReggaeBoyz accomplishments at the tournament given their results over recent years, which I referenced above. And considering the pedigree of the competition they faced (weakened teams or not) I really didn't expect them to make it as far as they did.

I hope I have explained myself.

[HL]

Stop lying Zeppo. All the counries you listed sent full strenght football teams. Juss ax Mosiah.

[Sir X]

Of course some teams didnt send thier full strength teams and some did , in the case of Brazil which can field 3 different teams at a time anyone being a full strength team , i wouldnt discount the talent they sent regardless of the age to any tournament , same with argentinia , Did ecudaor make the FIFA U20 finals ? If they didnt I would expect all that didnt to send a full strength team or a 2nd 11 to the pan am games, i see no other tournament in progress at the time the pan am games were on except the FIFA U20 .

To dimish the Rbyz accomplishment is ridiculous, colombia which didnt make it to the FIFA U20 tournament must have sent a full strenghth side.

Your point of lack of organization and program being in a nose dive has my full support , but make no mistake about it we were 20 minutes away from pan am gold , the 2nd most important tournament going on for U 20 s in the world and it was held in Brazil from the North ,Central , Carribbean and South america.In the most powerfull football nation in the world vying to bring the World Cup tournament home the next time it is bid to be held.

Another point that you hinted to and that is with organization Jamaica can be a force in any tournament.

[Tilla]

I really do not know why people are making such a big deal about under-X team was sent. For example, the tournament required an under-20 team to be sent. All players therefore were expected to be born no earlier than a certain date in 1987. It does not matter if the players are under-17, it means your team is a legitimate team in the under-20 competition.

Moreover, if you look at the team the USA sent, they may have been a B team, but they were no under-17 team!

Let us take a closer look at the ages of the players on the teams and it will give you a different picture. The player age distribution of some of the older teams were as follows:

USA
Year Qnty Age
1987 - 2 (20 yrs)
1988 - 6 (19 yrs)
1989 - 7 (18 yrs)
1990 - 3 (17 yrs)

Jamaica
Year Qnty Age
1987 - 6 (20 yrs)
1988 - 7 (19 yrs)
1989 - 2 (18 yrs)
1990 - 3 (17 yrs)

Mexico
Year Qnty Age
1987 - 9 (20 yrs)
1988 - 5 (19 yrs)
1989 - 4 (18 yrs)
1990 - 0

Bolivia
Year Qnty Age
1987 - 8 (20 yrs)
1988 - 7 (19 yrs)
1989 - 2 (18 yrs)
1990 - 1 (17 yrs)

Haiti - Genuine Under-17
Venezuela- Genuine Under-17
Colombia - Under-17 plus
Costa Rica - Genuine Under-17
Brazil - Genuine Under-17
Argentina - Genuine Under-17
Honduras - Under 17 Plus
Ecuador - Under 18

Average age of oldest teams in the competition:-

Mexico - 19.27 years
Bolivia -19.22 years
Jamaica - 18.88 years
USA - 18.39 yrs

The question should be why did the USA, Mexico, Bolivia not dominate the competition since they were not at an age disadvantage? They along with th Winner Equador could be considered genuine Under 20 teams, although Equador was a little younger than the four named.

Age information courtesy of the official Pan American Games site:
http://www.rio2007.org.br/data/pages...4DF1415613.htm

NB: Age was calculated on the year of birth, not by year and birth month.