Under 20 World Cup - Spain-Brazil highlight 2nd round

It's win or go home time at the Under-20 World Cup. And no team is feeling the heat more than superpower Brazil, which limped out of the first round as the third-place team in Group D and now goes into the Round of 16 against the toughest European side in the tournament - Spain. Brazil and Spain meet in Burnaby, British Columbia, on Wednesday, while Austria plays Gambia in Edmonton, the United States meets Uruguay in Toronto and Japan plays the Czech Republic in Victoria.

On Thursday, it is Chile vs. Portugal in Edmonton, Zambia vs. Nigeria in Ottawa, Argentina vs. Poland in Toronto,; and Mexico vs. Congo in Montreal.  The winners advance to the quarterfinals. The losers pack their bags.

Brazil's Alexandre Pato and his teammates have dazzled on attack at times, particularly in their 3-2 win over South Korea, but have been betrayed by defensive lapses. They now have travel and time zones to deal with after playing in Montreal and Ottawa, while Spain played its group matches in the Vancouver suburb.  Spain had two wins and a draw and striker Adrian Lopez leads the tournament with four goals.

The United States had a tournament first-round record three players with three goals each - Freddy Adu, Danny Szetela and Josy Altidore - while winning its group easily.  Uruguay were not impressive after holding Spain to a 2-2 draw and are without goalkeeper Mauro Giocoechea, who was sent off for hauling down a Zambian attacker in a 2-0 loss on Saturday.

The top scorers are not the only stars, although Argentina's Sergio Aguera also has three goals and has been a standout.  As teams go, Mexico, the United States, Chile and Argentina have been most eye-catching, and there is the promise of an Argentina-Mexico quarterfinal if both go through.

Austria allowed only one goal but scored only two in the first round, to reach the round-of-16 for the first time. They now face tiny Gambia, which is coming off an uplifting 2-1 victory over Portugal while playing the final 31 minutes with only 10 men. Gambia is without central defender Ken Jammeh, who drew a red card in the victory.

Japan, led by midfielder Tsukasa Umasaki, won its group and stays in Victoria to face the defensively tough Czechs, who held Argentina to 0-0 in their opening match in Ottawa.  Mexico, the only team with three wins in the first round, takes its multi-pronged attack to Olympic Stadium, where more than 35,000 fans are expecting a clear victory over Congo.

The Chileans did not give up a goal in the first round. They stay on the grass in Edmonton to face a teetering Portugal, which lost midfielder Bruno Gama to a broken foot and possibly defender Andre Marques to an ankle injury on Sunday.  Argentina outscored its opponents 7-0, including a 6-0 romp over Panama, and face a Polish side that was hammered 6-1 by the United States. Poland's 1-0 upset of Brazil while playing short one man can't be overlooked, however.  All four African teams reached the round-of-16 and two of them, Nigeria and Zambia, face one another in Ottawa. Zambia is flying after its 2-0 win over Uruguay, but Nigeria has yet to lose a match.