Lagos — FIFA U-20 Championship has been described as a celebration of the best of youth football. The 32-year-old championship had so far lived up to expectation, revealing talented players that later become icons with every edition.

With the draws for the 17th edition to be hosted by Egypt completed on Sunday in Luxor, it is certain that the stage has been set once more for youths across the globe to showcase their skills to the delight of soccer lovers.

Expectedly, some of the lads would rise to the occasion and make history for themselves and their countries. In fact, experience has shown that players, who shine at this level never remain the same, as scouts from respected clubs across the globe would put pen on paper for their services.

The Luxor draw placed Nigeria in Group B against soccer powerhouse Spain, Venezuela and Tahiti. Reactions have greeted the draw as soccer loving Nigerians expressed their views on the chance of Flying Eagles, which would be led to pharaoh's enclave by Samson Siasia.

Siasia's exploits at the World Youth Championship in Holland in 2005 and his Beijing Olympics, coupled with his no-nonsense stance whenever international laurel is involved has endeared him to the heart of many who remain optimistic that he will excel in Egypt.

Be that as it may, the consensus among those who reacted to the draw is that no team in the group no matter how obscure it may be should be underrated.

Former Green Eagles player and Technical Director of Eko United FC, Adegoke Adelabu, said though Nigeria should have no problem qualifying from the group, the table may, however, turn if countries such as Venezuela and Tahiti are taken for granted

"No country qualifies for a championship of that magnitude hoping to be the sacrificial lamb, so it is important to avoid underrating any team no matter how obscure it may be," he said.

Former Flying Eagles Coach, Tunde Disu, shared the same optimism, but said South American sides are hard fighters. Though Venezuela and Tahiti may be coming on stage for the first time, they nonetheless pose threat all the same.

"Even if they don't qualify, they are capable of playing the spoilers," he said.

The just concluded Africa Youth Championship in Kigali, Africa Championship (CHAN) in Cote d'Ivoire and the West Africa Football Union (WAFU) U-20 held in Nigeria recently all showed that pedigree may not be the in-thing but the level of fitness of the team, its determination to excel to mention just a few.

For those who believe that Siasia would deliver, they insist that he has a way of encouraging the youths to go for the broke, this they say will again come to the fore in Egypt.

Aside from the draw, an aspect of the championship that is set to attract a lot of attention while it lasts is the caliber of players that will emerge to join the league of super stars in the near future. Every edition incidentally has brought fresh players to the fore, sometimes - top clubs have been forced to come to blows as they seek the services of those players. The battle between Manchester United and Chelsea over John Mikel Obi is still fresh in the memories of soccer lovers. Suffice to say that it was after the World Youth Championship in Holland that the battle for Mikel was intensified, thanks to his excellent performance in the final encounter against Argentina.

Tunisia staged the first-ever FIFA World Youth Championship, as it was known in 1977 and the star of the title-winning USSR side was midfield general, Vladimir Bessonov. After laying claim to the tournament's Adidas Golden Ball award, the Dynamo Kiev star went on to enjoy an outstanding international career, winning Olympic gold in 1980 before featuring at the 1982, 1986 and 1990 FIFA World Cups.

A good start then, but nothing compared to the sense of history-in-the-making that accompanied the 1979 edition in Japan. This was the tournament in which Diego Maradona gave the world a memorable first glimpse of his awesome potential, inspiring an outstanding Argentina side to glory alongside his prolific 'partner in crime', Ramon Diaz.

Argentina conceded its crown two years later, but the Albiceleste side of 1981 did contain a striker, who went on to score a FIFA World Cup-winning goal just five years later, Jorge Burruchaga. Uruguayan legend Enzo Francescoli also impressed in Australia, but it was Romulus Gabor - the rock on which the bronze-winning Romania side was built - who claimed the Adidas Golden Ball.

It was generally felt that Gabor, despite going on to win 35 caps for his country, failed to live up to his potential and the same was widely said of Geovani, the star of Mexico 1983. The Brazilian's vision and skill had seen him edge the likes of Marco van Basten, Toni Polster and Bebeto to both the Golden Ball and Golden Shoe awards, but it was to prove the high point of a career that never truly got off the ground.

Geovani's fellow Brazilian and winner of the 1985 Golden Ball, Silas, undoubtedly fared better, featuring for Sporting and Sampdoria in a career that also encompassed two FIFA World Cups in 1986 and 1990. A supporting cast in USSR that included the likes of Claudio Taffarel, Rene Higuita and Krassimir Balakov also provided evidence of the tournament's growing strength and the trend was to continue at Chile 1987.

The elegant, imperious Robert Prosinecki proved a popular choice as the tournament's outstanding player, but the title-winning Yugoslavia team alone provided the midfielder with a plethora of worthy rivals such as Zvonimir Boban, Predrag Mijatovic and Davor Suker. There was similarly stiff competition in Saudi Arabia two years later, with Diego Simeone, Sonny Anderson and Oleg Salenko all in the running for honours. Yet it was Brazil, who again provided the Golden Ball winner. Though Bismarck didn't go on to conquer the world, he did earn a place in the Seleo squad at Italy 1990.

Portugal 1991 witnessed the crowning of a 'golden generation' as the hosts retained the trophy, despite the efforts of emerging talents such as Giovane Elber, Andy Cole and Paulo Montero. Yet the player identified as the competition's shining star was not Luis Figo nor Rui Costa, Joao Pinto but rather Peixe, who unlike his overlooked teammates went on to enjoy a surprisingly unspectacular career.

Adriano, a standout at Australia 1993, was another Golden Ball winner that failed to scale the expected heights. Caio, the star of the 1995 edition, replicated Adriano's unfulfilled dream. Rather than conquering the world, he was left to look enviously at the success enjoyed by those he had pipped to the prize, such as Hidetoshi Nakata, Fernando Morientes and Paulo Wanchope.

South America again dominated the scene in 1997, but while an Argentina side including Juan Roman Riquelme and Esteban Cambiasso took home the title, it was Nicolas Olivera that bagged the Golden Ball award. The Uruguayan's happiest times thereafter were spent with Sevilla. Though he also featured at the 2002 FIFA World Cup, his achievements have been overshadowed by rivals from that class of 97, including Thierry Henry, Michael Owen, David Trezeguet and Nicolas Anelka.

At this stage in the history of the FIFA U-20 World Cup, there was an established pattern of future superstars failing to land the end-of-tournament awards and this continued at Nigeria 1999 where Ronaldinho, Roque Santa Cruz, Xavi and Diego Forlan all missed out on the Golden Ball. Yet, while Seydou Keita was perhaps a surprise recipient at the time, the Malian is currently consolidating his reputation as an outstanding, hard-tackling midfielder with the mighty Barcelona.

The Camp Nou has proved a popular destination for stars of the FIFA U-20 World Cup and Javier Saviola, winner of both the Golden Ball and Golden Shoe at Argentina 2001, was expected to become a Baraa legend when he completed a £15 million move just at the age of 19. As it transpired, El Conejo never really won the hearts of the Catalan faithful and is currently warming the bench of Barcelona's old rival, Real Madrid. Incidentally, Kaka featured among the players beaten by Saviola to the 2001 honours, not the first time a future FIFA World player had found himself overlooked.

At UAE 2003, the role of bridesmaid fell to the likes of Andres Iniesta, Daniel Alves and Javier Mascherano, with relatively unknown Ismaeil Matar emerging as the tournament's star attraction. The attacking midfielder has offered fleeting subsequent glimpses of his talent in the senior ranks, but with UAE now out of the running for a place at the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa, we will be denied the opportunity of judging him on the game's greatest stage.

Yet, it says much for the continued ability of the FIFA U-20 World Cup to showcase the best emerging talents that the two most recent recipients of the tournament's Golden Ball award are expected to be stars to watch in South Africa. Lionel Messi, the star of Netherlands 2005, needs no introduction of course, with many already insisting that the Barcelona star is the world's greatest player. His fellow Argentine, Sergio Aguero, who shone in Canada two years ago and went on to dazzle all at the last Olympic's men football category, is another youngster on whom hopes could hardly be any higher. The only question now is who will follow in the footsteps of this galaxy of stars?

Time, you will say, will tell. When action begins in the land of the Pharaoh on September 24, it will be another opportunity for countries that have left their mark on the sand of soccer history to tell whoever cares to listen that they are still a force to be reckoned with.

Italy and Paraguay may not be forgiven easily if they fail to emerge from Group A that also has host, Egypt, and Trinidad & Tobago. Group C with venue in Suez, has 2006 World Cup host, Germany, which is expected to emerge alongside any of the other three - USA, Cameroon and Korea Republic. Host of inaugural World Cup, Uruguay, will be playing at Ismailia alongside African Champion Ghana, England and Uzbekistan. Some believe anything can happen in this group.

In Port Said where Brazil will be playing against Czech Republic, Costa Rica and Australia odds appear to favour Brazil, judging from its pedigree, Costa Rica and Czech Republic are top contenders. While teams are battling for supremacy, players will equally be hoping to show class. No doubt, the battle in Egypt will provide opportunity for the likes of Chrisantus Macualey, who emerged highest goal scorer at the U-17 Championship in South Korea in 2007, to make a mark at U-20 level and perhaps be part of the good tidings that follow after the final whistle.