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The Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan and FIFA President Joseph Blatter before the FIFA U-20 World Cup Group B match between Cuba and Korea Republic at Kadir Has Stadium on June 21, 2013 in Kayseri, Turkey. (Getty Images)
Ankara, June 22 (IANS): FIFA U-20 World Cup matches started with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and FIFA president Joseph Blatter attending the opening ceremony and the opening match.
South Korea defeated Cuba 2-1 Friday at the opening match at the Kadir Has Stadium in Kayseri while France defeated Ghana 3-1 in Istanbul, reports Xinhua.
Turkey will compete in Group C with Colombia, El Salvador and Australia and they will play their first group match against El Salvador Saturday at Avni Aker Stadium in Trabzon along the Black Sea.
The semifinals will be played July 10 in Bursa and Trabzon. The match for the third place will be played July 13 in Istanbul and the final game will be played on the same day at Istanbul’s Ali Sami Yen Stadium.
Blatter came to Turkey amid criticism as local media said the Brazilian sports ministry had been taken by surprise when hearing of Blatter’s departure from the on-going Confederations Cup there.
FIFA claimed they had informed the local authorities of the travel plan of Blatter Thursday.
