TORONTO (CP) _ Colour the FIFA U-20 World Cup light blue yet again.
An 86th-minute goal Sunday by Mauro Zarate gave Argentina a 2-1 comeback victory over the Czech Republic and the FIFA U-20 World Cup title for the sixth time.
Zarate's low angled shot through traffic from the edge of the penalty box handcuffed goalkeeper Radek Petr, who was beaten to the short side. Sergio Aguero also scored for Argentina in the 62nd minute, cancelling out a goal by Martin Fenin two minutes earlier.
``This is for Argentina, this is for my country,'' Argentina coach Hugo Tocalli said after the match through an interpreter.
This latest title cements Argentina's dominance at the under-20 level. The South Americans have won five of the last seven tournaments.
Argentina put on a show in Canada, finishing with a 6-0-1 record and outscoring its opposition 16-2. Along the way, the Argentines beat fancied teams from Mexico and Chile. Add to that an unbeaten run in the final phase of South American qualifying play.
Overall, the Argentines have competed in 12 of the 16 U-20 tournaments held to date, winning six times: in 1979, 1995, 1997, 2001, 2005 and now 2007. They have reached the semifinals eight times in all _ and six times in their last seven appearances.
Argentina's all-time record at the U-20 World Cup is 49-14-4, outscoring their opposition 137-51.
In contrast, Canada's career mark at the tournament is 4-18-5.
The Czechs' previous best showing was making the quarter-finals: in 2001 as the Czech Republic and 1983 as Czechoslovakia. At this tournament, however, the Czechs were the only team to take points off the Argentines. The two teams tied 0-0 when they met in the first round on June 30 in Ottawa.
The Argentina triumph caps a tournament that won kudos for Canada as organizer, with a record cumulative attendance of 1,195,239 for the 52-game tournament.
The lone black marks were the disappointing performance of the host team, which went three and out without scoring a goal, and a brawl involving the Chilean team and police and security forces after Thursday's semifinal loss to Argentina.
The Canadian Soccer Association hopes to build on the tournament momentum by bidding on the 2011 Women's World Cup.
Sunday's final did not catch fire until the first goal. Tocalli credited the Czechs for their game plan, which made it difficult for the Argentines to find space _ especially in the midfield.
After a so-so opening hour, the Czechs went ahead in the 60th minute on a fine piece of finishing. A Czech attacker dribbled into the box and, meeting resistance, went back outside and sent the ball over to Fenin, who shielded the ball from defender Frederico Fazio and then turned, hammering a left footed-shot past diving goalkeeper Sergio Romero.
The ensuing Czech celebration was intense, with a teammate flinging Fenin to the ground and everyone else diving on top.
``It was a hard game. We worked very hard. But we were confident,'' said Tocalli. ``I knew although we were 1-0 down, we would pull back to 1-1.''
The Czech joy was short-lived indeed. Two minutes later, midfielder Ever Banega unlocked the Czech defence with a perfect through ball that put Aguero in all alone and the Argentine captain calmly slotted the ball past Petr for his tournament-leading sixth goal.
``Argentina is not a forgiving soccer country,'' Czech coach Miroslav Soukup said through an interpreter. ``We made a few mistakes and we paid for it.''
The stylish Banega was a provider for Argentina throughout the competition, winning the ball in midfield and then finding an attacker with it.
Two RCMP officers in full uniform flanked the tournament trophy _ which looks like a silver dumbbell with a ball jammed on one end _ during the game played in hot and sunny conditions at the National Soccer Stadium.
After the final whistle, the Argentines danced, ripped off their shirts, clambered over the south goal and then raced up and down the field sliding in unison on their bellies as they neared each end.
They have had practice winning and it shows.
They then jumped over the advertising boards at the north end to dance in front of a large group of their flag-waving fans. Two of the players returned to the field banging drums that fans had handed over and the dancing continued.
The Czechs stood silently while organizers assembled the victory stand at centre field.
Suspended captain Matias Cahais and Aguero took the trophy from FIFA president Sepp Blatter and raised it high, after kissing it, as confetti and fireworks filled the air. Another victory lap followed.
Aguero was named winner of the Golden Boot Award as tournament top scorer with six goals. He also won the Adidas Golden Ball Award as best player in a vote of the media, ahead of Argentina's Maximiliano Moralez and Mexico's Giovanni Dos Santos.
``Aguero is 19 years of age, Moralez is 20 years of age. they are both growing in the world of football,'' Tocalli said. ``They will make the national team without doubt and they will play at the highest level.''
Aguero is already playing at Atletico Madrid in Spain while the five-foot-three Moralez is with Argentina's Racing Club.
Aguero, who came on as a substitute in the 2005 final against Nigeria, becomes only the second player to play on the winning side in two U-20 finals. Portugal's Joao Pinto also did it in 1989 and 1991.
The South Americans won Sunday despite missing four players. Cahais and Claudio Yacob were suspended after picking up a second yellow in the semifinal win over Chile while Angel Di Maria was injured in that game. Damian Escudero had been injured previously.
Zarate had also been somewhat of a forgotten man in recent games. He started the first three group matches but was then injured and only played a few minutes as substitute against Mexico in the knockout rounds before the final.
Tocalli, who was an assistant to coach Jose Pekerman for the U-20 titles in 1995, 1997 and 2001, praised his squad for filling the gaps.
``I chose the best 21 players, who play the ball well, are good on the ball, confident, that look for goals,'' Tocalli said. ``You also need patience. I bet on the 21 players and the bet paid off.''
The Argentines were lovely to watch with players like Banega, Aguero, Moralez, Di Maria and Pablo Piatti moving the ball around seemingly at will. They had 63 per cent of the possession Sunday and averaged 59 per cent possession throughout the tournament.
Spanish referee Alberto Undiano Mallenco gave his whistle a workout, booking Czech defender Lukas Kuban some 35 seconds into the game for a crunching tackle. In all, he gave out 10 yellows _ six to the Czechs and four to Argentina.
Note: Japan won the tournament's Fair Play Award.
