U20 World Cup!

It starts today for the USA with our opening match against Spain. In case you havent heard we were drawn into the group of death ( :shock: how did that happen) with Spain, France, and Ghana. Match is at 2pm ET on ESPN2. Come on you Red, White, and Blue.

Some interesting stuff here
http://www.mlssoccer.com/news/artic...reasons-why-you-should-follow-all-action-2013

 

U-20 World Cup

The US enters play today against Spain. I guess there is nothing like jumping into the deep end of the pool to find out if you can swim.

U.S. U-20 MNT Opens FIFA U-20 World Cup Against Spain on Friday in Istanbul, Turkey

 

Great minds Mo and Barry think alike etc, maybe Heather can merge the two threads. Anything can happen w/this age group, but would be shocked if the kids get out of this group.

 

ouch. 4-1 loss.

http://www.soccerbyives.net/2013/06/spa ... pener.html

 

I took a late lunch and watched a bit of the first half. From the small sample size, offensively and in the midfield the US was excellent. The left side of the defense was poor and the Spanish forwards punished them. Luis Gil looks promising.

 

Some highlights -> http://www.socceroverthere.com/?p=13452

 

Just watched the Gil goal and it was sweet. Too bad the defense was cut so wide open.

 

Two guys who likely would be starting (Will Packwood & Walker Zimmerman) are hurt and there was also the possibility that John Anthony Brooks (German-American who starts at Hertha Berlin) would have declared for the US and could have played with this group.

 

Packwood is definitely injured but Zimmerman is not and was just inexplicably not called up. Yes, I'm sure they gave the "injury" or "needs a break" excuse that has been so common in the Klinsmann era. However, Zimmerman just scored a goal and turned in a man of the match performance against Sporting tonight so how is he hurt?

As far as our U20 performance against Spain, I have no idea why we field a team that is smaller and slower than Spain. When it comes to Spain and the other top soccer nations like Germany, Brazil, and the Netherlands we have two choices, field a team that is less skilled but more athletic or field a team that is less skilled and less athletic. Ramos chose to field the latter team so we could try to play like Spain while they beat us on the counter - the same way we beat them back in the 2009 confed cup. Ironic. And actually when it come to Germany, I'm not sure we can even field a team that is more athletic but less skilled. The best we can hope for is equally athletic and less skilled.

Most of our players were just too slow (the entire left side especially), too small, or both. Gil did very well. Stanko was decent. I found Trapp disappointing in that he did not seem to fight or distribute the way he usually does. Villareal was also disappointing but the commentators did not seem surprised by that.

 

I was unaware that Zimmerman was fully back.

But I was just trying to point out to HD that the centerbacks who played on Friday were not really the "normal" starters for this group of U-20s.

 

SPOILER ALERT***** If you dvr'ed it and don't want to know look away now...


Great result for the boys with a 1-1 result against France and now a win against Ghana will more than likely see them through. Looked to be all but over after Luis Gil missed a pk, but they hung in there and nice design on the free kick equalizer, where there was no way the US was going to win a header (was it me or did every French player look about a foot taller than ours??), Cuevas peels off the wall and a composed half-volley for the tying goal. Credit to Tab Ramos and the staff for getting the team ready to go after the whoopin' Spain handed to them. Having to play Spain then France meant the odds were against them to have a meaningful match in the third, but they have earned it :flags-usa:

Mo, you had to love the commentator around the 90th minute when after Yedlin drew a free kick said 'DeAndre Yedlin, yet another product of that football factory, the University of Akron...'

 

Truly an impressive result because as Joe alluded to we looked like munchkins next to the French boys not to mention the fact that they were also much stronger and faster. I'm not as high on Cuevas as most people but I have to hand it to him, he is a predator around goal and so will always be a useful player for someone. Drives me crazy when players stand and watch after a shot so that part of Cuevas' game I love. The team and Ramos really do deserve credit for this one. I think abandoning the high pressure they put on Spain was key. I think France was even more capable of exploiting our back line if they had the type of space afforeded Spain, although their finishing is likely not as lethal as that of Spain.

On the down side, this is not the type of game that is going to win new soccer fans which seems somewhat relevant at the moment as these games are on ESPN. A draw, some bad penalty calls, and diving by the USA players.

Joe I did enjoy the Akron football factory comment. I always find those comments funny, too. Somewhere there are some youth coaches who spent years guiding and mentoring DeAndre who are scratching their heads wondering what Caleb Porter did in that one year to mold him into a star.

 

The kids are on ESPNU in a little bit. Ghana has been the proverbial thorn in the US senior team's side for several WC's now; Not going to lose sight that they are just youngsters, but it would be a great accomplishment if they got to the knockout stage from this group.

 

In addition to being disappointed by the outcome, I found it disturbing to hear that the only central defenders on the team were being converted from other positions. The varsity needs help at that position and that's the opposite of a ray of hope.