An X-ray before the last dance. (U20 South American Championship)

After Wednesday’s games the South American U20 Championship is one fixture away from closing activities. Of the four spots in play for Colombia’s U20 World Cup (this coming July and August) two have been defined: Uruguay and Brazil’s. Argentina and Ecuador need ties in their final games to make it to the global football ‘party’, while Chile hopes to make the most of their hard-earned last-minute chance.

Argentina’s spot for the World Cup seems very plausible, however for the 'albi-celeste' the expectations were not only aimed at the Cup; the Olympic games are always a target and failing to reach it is a failure for head coach Walter Perazzo and his squad. After showing electrocardiogram-like play all along the tournament: 0-1 loss Ecuador, 3-2 and 2-1 victories against Chile and Brazil and a 0-1 loss to Uruguay, the World Cup will have to satisfy them, there they will aim at a seventh title.

In the last fixture Argentina faces Colombia, a team that after two years of preparations and numerous training cycles has added only one point out of twelve possible, and that, had it not been appointed the host nation, would be dwelling over an enormous –yet another- failure to reach a Cup.

The Colombians left their home soil full of confidence, labelled as favourites to show good play and get their people enthused about the world Cup, this of course, would translate to getting a spot for London.

So much for that hype… now the future World Cup hosts find themselves eliminated from 2012's games, married to a coach like Eduardo Lara that has wasted resources and time, whose team showed flawed play and rightfully did not make it to the Olympics, and shows no intentions of leaving the team five months before its major challenge. Mr Lara should step down for the good of the team, he is not liked or respected by the people or the press.

This scenario is close to a nightmare for the Colombian Football Federation, where it is well known that a successful home team drives attendances up… and the opposite just makes things -to use Carlitos' words- very difficult. Will the Colombian Federation ask Lara to step down? No, it will not. Why? Excellent question.

Moving away from troublesome teams, we need to talk Uruguay. They shook Argentina in the Río de La Plata derby, thus securing a spot for Colombia and London. After South Africa you can tell the mindset of Uruguayan football is the same: successful no matter the age. The 'Celestes' have all the right reasons to be happy, eighty-four years after their last Olympic games appearance, they are back and rocking, and aim at leaving the tournament's final stage unbeaten. They still need to face...

Brazil, likely the other Olympian team (unless Argentina beats Colombia by a margin of six goals and Brazil falls to Uruguay) has shown flashes of talent and flashes of tantrum. The eternal cradle of great footballers needs to beat the Uruguayans to claim first place in this championship, is it in their interest? If the memory of 1950 says something, it should be, plus, Brazil is not accustomed to leaving its 'top team' fate to other results.

The most important match of the last fixture is without a doubt Ecuador against Chile. If the “Rojita” manages to beat the Ecuadorians it’ll mark an impressive comeback by the young Chileans rewarded by a spot in the World Cup. After falling 5-1 to Brazil in the first game and then 3-1 to Argentina in the second, the possibility of qualifying felt impossible. After beating Colombia 3-1 and witnessing Ecuador's loss to brazil, it is more than real. Six out of the last six and they are in.

The other side of the coin presents an Ecuadorian team who, after beating Argentina 1-0 and tying with Uruguay 1-1 felt confident, and now has to cope with the possibility and pressure of elimination… it remains to be seen if in this high-tension match Ecuador save the spot they hold or if they fall victims of a confirmed downward spiral: it would mark disappointment for the ages.

Congratulations to Uruguay, for playing smart and effective football. The rest, even Brazil with its tremendous talent, hold many reasons to scratch their heads and scramble ways to play better team football.