Bulgaria (COM) 4-3-3 vs. Mexico (COM) 3-4-3
The World Youth Cup 2019 begins. 32 teams fight for the chance of lifting the brand-new WYC trophy, and claim the title of the most promising generation of players in youth football. WYC provides a unique look to what might be the future of international football: and decades from now, we'll see whether these young folks will have confirmed the potential they showcase nowadays and become the superstars admired by every football fan around the globe.
The first match of this competition was an encounter between Bulgaria and Mexico, a duo of teams from which few people expect to do anything remarkable in this tournament. A round-of-16 exit would surely be a honor for both.
Both teams tried to produce quality football from the get-go, as their rather ambitious formations would suggest.
Bulgaria's 4-3-3 relied mostly on their target man M. Petkov up front, a guy who has shown tremendous skill when it comes to holding on to the ball, waiting for the best passing lane to appear. Then, the wingers would attack both lanes and produce some offensive threats, but as the midfield failed to keep up with this dynamic, more often than not there'd be only poor Petkov in the box, fighting against four or more of Mexico's defenders for a chance to win the aerial ball after a cross. When without the ball, Bulgaria drops deep and expects everyone to participate in the defensive process, even M. Petkov the striker who ended up getting 9 interceptions (!) in this match. The problem is, when they get the ball back and prepare their counter-attacking effort, there's literally no one up front to threaten the opposition's defense and once again, poor Petkov is always the guy who carries the ball up front, as if he were a box-to-box midfielder.
As for Mexico, their 3-4-3 is nothing short of amazing. When building up the play, only the three centrebacks remain in a more cautious, defensive position; everyone else is given free reign to attack the space and put pressure on the opponent's defensive organization. At times, Mexico's formation resembles a 3-2-5/3-1-6 as a consequence of their rather reckless attacking fervor.
Perhaps it comes as no surprise then that the first 15 minutes were completely frantic. There was no midfield on either end: just counter-attack after counterattack, teams exchanging blows. Neither was able to create much danger though, as the middle of the pitch was well guarded on both sides, but the wings were always too exposed. Mexico's left winger Lainez was going to have a field day, I thought; such a technically gifted and agile individual would completely wreck Bulgaria's defense. And so he did, but when it came to delivering that final ball for a teammate to score, his teammates didn't have the clarity to respond affirmatively to that solicitation.
On the other end, Bulgaria was also attacking Mexico's exposed wings. Their wingbacks almost never tracked back in time, so the back-3 was left having to deal with Bulgaria's attacking trio. But yet again, we wouldn't see any goals scored because of their inability to convert the few chances they created.
Bulgaria suffered a tough blow around the 26th minute, as winger Stoyanov gets injured and has to come off.
If up until now there were more fouls than actual shots on goal, suddenly in just four minutes, both teams shot twice, but were never actually close to scoring, as either the opposition's defense blocked the attempt or it wasn't even on goal.
From then on, and after a good portion of the first half was played at a frenetic pace, things calmed down - a lot. Clearly, both teams wasted too much energy chasing what could be an important first goal of the match, and were now out of gas...and ideas too. Mexico ceased to be able to link up their back-3 with the other players, so more often than not, they had to play a long ball towards their hopeless attackers. Lainez completely disappeared after his 20-minute-long display of skill down the left - and would never reappear until the end of the match. As for Bulgaria, their midfield was as sterile as ever and the frontmen were only hoping Petkov carried the team's offense on his shoulders. Sometimes he did, but Bulgaria lacked another Petkov up front to link up with the original one; for alone, he too was hopeless.
The minutes passed and the prospect of having to go to extra-time was increasingly more expectable. Lights were out, the flame was gone, only godly intervention would be enough to unlock this tight encounter.
God, or Bulgaria's manager.
Valentin Balacom, the above-cited manager, would completely and single-handedly change the outcome of this match when he decides to sub in Ma. Petkov - yes, another Petkov, this time a creative midfielder. In a way, this was the Petkov the original Petkov needed to unbalance this equation. Suddenly, Bulgaria's midfield takes over the match as Ma. Petkov runs the show with his display of class. He knows where his teammates are, he gives them the ball. He creates scoring opportunities, he dictates the tempo of the play.
Alongside with Ma. Petkov, the winger Babaliev is also subbed in; and less than a minute later,
he delivers a perfect cross down the left for M. Petkov the striker and he headers it home, 1-0!
Before Mexico was able to find out exactly what hit them, less than five minutes after the first goal,
Ma. Petkov shows his head is as valuable as his golden feet and scores after a left corner kick...2-0!
Well, that did it for Mexico. They completely crumble and lose their temper: the players begin focusing more on breaking the opponents' legs than actually trying to play football. This had been a catastrophe for these young talents. From then on, Bulgaria just had to cruise along until the very end while Mexico accepts its fate: Bulgaria wins it 2-0 and advances past to the next round, Mexico is the first team to exit the World Youth Cup - and deservedly so. Mexico's manager Ricardo Comzález shakes Balacom's hand after the final whistle, while he timidly asks for Balacom's tie as a display of admiration for the Bulgarian's superior and supreme display of managerial talent. Balacom refuses, for he'll be wearing this tie until the end of the WYC -; he knows God works in mysterious ways.
MOM: M. Petkov (Bulgaria) - It was obvious from the get-go that he was the superstar of this Bulgarian side: tonight, he was a striker, a winger, an attacking midfielder, a box-to-box midfielder and in some ways, even a centreback (had 9 interceptions!). Plus, if that weren't enough already, he scored one of the team's goals. What more can you ask for?
Up - Ma. Petkov. There's a Before-Ma.Petkov and an After-Ma.Petkov. Balacom said "let there be light" and the midfield begun shining as no one had predicted it to.
Up - Balacom. Bulgaria's manager outdid himself with the Petkov/Babaliev double substitution: both players ended up participating in the scoring effort successfully.
Down - D. Lainez. At first it seemed as if he was going to take over the whole match and shone above every other mortal out there, but his flame burnt as bright as it was quick to defuse.
