JM Henriksen wrote: http://www.usafootball.com/jwc/index Anybody fortunate enough to be going? The champ'ship game and a few others will be broadcast live online. It all starts this coming Saturday! I'm pretty sure the US will be the winner this time around, but it will be interesting to see how it all goes down and how the other teams match up. Germany beat Sweden in the European Junior Champ'ship in Spain last year, with France coming 3rd. Canada has the #1 seed in the tournament as they've historically been the best team in the JWC. Japan should field a very fast team, which reflects what we've seen from their senior national teams too. Mexico have traditionally been pretty good, but I doubt they'll reach the champ'ship game. New Zealand will probably be very very outmatched in this tournament. I am very unsure of how Germany and Sweden match up against Japan and Mexico, but if I'm guessing, I think it could turn out something like this based on the game schedule: 1. USA 2. Japan 3. Canada 4. Mexico 5. Sweden 6. Germany 7. France 8. New Zealand

as a german I see our youngsters at 4th!

The first game has just started; Canada is playing New Zealand right now. The action can be followed at the website I mentioned in the first post. So far Canada is driving down the field on the first drive of the game.
Edit: Canada on the first drive.
No surprise there.

Week 2 :
Germany vs New Zealand
Sweden vs France (come on france!)
Canada vs Japan
USA vs Mexico

MasterMark wrote: why does Austria not compete?

"Only" the three best European teams from last year's European Championship were qualified. Since Austria finished 5th, they did not qualify.

Some predictions with regards to Wednesday's games...

Germany vs. New Zealand:
The Germans should win this one easily. Their defence basically held Japan in check all game Saturday with the exception of a couple of plays, and the less experienced Kiwis doesn't match up well with any of the teams in this competition.
Germany wins this one.

Sweden vs. France:
Both these teams lost heavily, but Sweden underperformed while France played against so superior athletes that it was expected despite their best efforts. Sweden's confidence is probably shaken, which is exactly what the French could need; an early score or two on their part could see Sweden implode. Sweden also got a couple of injuries to key players on Saturday, but there's enough depth on the roster to overcome that.
These teams met in the European Championship last year, with the Swedes coming out on top 20-13.
I think Sweden will get their act together and win this one.

Canada vs. Japan:
The Japanese did a good job beating European champion Germany 10-7 on Saturday thanks to some trickery late in the game. We don't really know the quality of Team Canada yet, as New Zealand simply wasn't much of a measuring stock. But...I think I might have underestimated the Canadians in my first prediction of how the tournament will end (I had these two teams meeting here, but with Japan coming out the winner); I think Canada will win this one as Japan struggle with the size of the Canadians while Team Canada doesn't struggle as much as anticipated with the speed of the Japanese.

USA vs. Mexico:
There is no doubt whatsoever that the US will win this one, despite Mexico being a pretty able team. But just like Sweden experienced what it's like to meet a team that's at a higher level Saturday, so will Mexico in this game. USA wins in a true demonstration of their massive amount of talent and experience.