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Leroux goal gives U.S. U20s CONCACAF Title With a berth in the 2010 FIFA Under-20 World Cup already in hand after a 2-1 semifinal win over Costa Rica, the U.S. women were playing for gold in the CONCACAF U-20 Women’s championship game. And gold is what they got, as UCLA standout Sydney Leroux scored her sixth goal of the tournament in the 87th minute to give the U.S. a 1-0 win over Mexico. Mexico had reached the title game by edging defending champion Canada 1-0 in the semifinals. Costa Rica won the third-place game 1-0 over Canada and earned the region’s third and last berth in the World Cup, which will be played July 13-Aug. 1 in Germany. Leroux, who plays for U.S. U-20 coach Jillian Ellis at UCLA, winner of the Golden Ball and Golden Shoe at the 2008 Under-20 Women’s World Cup, was the regional tournament’s leading goalscorer. Leroux started the scoring sequence by finding Kristie Mewis in the center circle. Mewis slotted a perfect pass on the ground ahead of the sprinting Leroux, who outran the Mexico defense and fired a hard left-footed shot at a difficult angle past Mexico goalkeeper Aurora Santiago. Mexico had an 11-10 edge in shots, marking the first time the Americans were outshot in five games. Costa Rica's win over Canada meant Canada failed to qualify for a FIFA Women's World Cup at the youth level for the first time. Canada won the 2008 Concacaf U-20 title. USA 1 Mexico 0. U.S. Under-20s Qualify For World Cup The U.S. Under-20 Women’s National Team earned a berth at the FIFA U20 Women’s World Cup with a 2-1 win over Costa Rica in the semifinals of the CONCACAF championships. U.S. Will play Mexico, a 1-0 winner over Canada in the second semifinal game, on Sunday, January 31, at 5:30 pm ET. That game will be televised live on the Fox Soccer Channel. The FIFA Women's Under-20 World Cup will begin next July in Germany. After a scoreless first half, the U.S. took a 2-0 lead with second-half goals by Kristi Mewis and Teresa Noyola. Mewis gave the U.S. a 1-0 lead in the 60th minute as she finished a free kick from Rachel Quon. Noyola delivered what would be the winning goal on a free kick from the top of the penalty box and over Costa Rica’s defensive wall in the 71st minute. Costa Rica cut the margin in half on a goal from Raquel Rodriguez Cedeno in the 76th minute, but could not score the equalizer. With CONCACAF getting three teams into the World Cup, the two semifinals qualify, as does the winner of the third place game. The U.S. held a 7-3 shots advantage with four shots on goal. U.S. U-20 WNT Advance To CONCACAF Semifinals The U.S. Under-20 Women’s National Team defeated Mexico 2-1 at Estadio Cementos Progreso claim first place in Group B at the 2010 CONCACAF U-20 Women’s Championship. As the group winner, the U.S. will face Costa Rica, the second place finisher in Group A, in the first semifinal at 2:30 p.m. ET on Thursday, Jan. 28. In the other semifinal match, Group A winner Canada and Group B runner-up Mexico will square off at 5:30 p.m. ET, also on Thursday, Jan. 28, live on Fox Soccer Channel and CONCACAF.com. Both semifinal winners and the winner of the third place match will qualify for the 2010 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup in Germany. Both teams started the match strong with Mexico putting much more pressure on the U.S. defense than the Americans had faced in the previous two games of the tournament, but the U.S. back line, led by center backs Toni Pressley and Crystal Dunn, proved impossible to get behind. Dunn was recognized as the game’s MVP. The U.S. took a 1-0 lead in the first 14 minutes of the game on a goal by Victoria DiMartino, assisted by Teresa Noyola. Sydney Leroux’ goal in the 64th minute stretched the advantage to 2-0. Mexico’s goal one minute into extra time cut the score to the final 2-1 margin. It was the first goal the U.S. has given up in the tournament against 12 scored. U.S. goalkeeper Bianca Henninger, who hadn’t been tested much in the two previous matches, came up huge in the 10th minute on basically her first real test of the tournament when Natalia Gomez-Junco got some separation from Dunn and Pressley in the middle and squared it right to Natalia Lagunas. The Mexican forward hit a high, arching shot that Henninger did well to tip over the goal for a corner kick. Mexico had five shots on goal for the match and Henninger made four saves. Two years ago at the 2008 CONCACAF U-20 Women’s Championships in Mexico, the U.S. team also faced Costa Rica in the semifinal with a berth to the U-20 Women’s World Cup on the line. The USA won that match by a 4-0 score with four first half goals by four different players to book tickets to Chile. U.S. U-20 Women's National Team Match Report Match: U.S. U-20 WNT vs. Mexico Scoring Summary: 1 2 F USA – Victoria DiMartino (Teresa Noyola) 14th minute Lineups: MEX: 1-Aurora Santiago, 2-Bianca Sierra, 3-Alina Garciamendez, 4-Marylin
Díaz, 5-Valeria Miranda; 6-Diana González (7-Lydia Rangel,
54), 14-Monica Alvarado, 16-Ashley Kotero (11-Liliana Godoy, 64), 17-Natalia
Gomez-Junco; 18-Inglis Hernández, 19-Natalie Lagunas (9-Sandra
Mayor, 72) Stats Summary: USA / MEX U.S. U-20 WNT Opens With A Shutout The U.S. Under-20 women opened CONCACAF qualifying for the 2010 FIFA Under-20 Women’s World Cup with a 6-0 shutout of Jamaica. Sydney Leroux and Christine Nairn scored two goals each to lead the USA victory in Guatemala City, Guatemala. Leroux, who plays at UCLA, was the winner of the Golden Ball and Golden Shoe at the 2008 Under-20 Women’s World Cup. The other goals were scored by Florida State’s Tiffany McCarty and Stanford’s Teresa Noyola. The Americans dominated the game and held a 21-3 shots advantage. Leroux had both of her goals in the first half, and could have had more, twice hitting the post or crossbar. She also assisted Noyola’s goal. “It was a fantastic start to the tournament,” said U.S. coach Jill Ellis, who is also Leroux’s coach at UCLA. “There were some good goals and I was happy that we didn't concede any. I thought there was a little anxiety, but we settled the game pretty quickly.” The other three opening matches were all one-goal games: Canada-Costa Rica 1-0, Guatemala-Cuba 2-1 and Mexico-Trinidad & Tobago 2-1. Jan. 21 in Guatemala City U.S. Under-20s Fail To Advance The U.S. Under-20 Men’s National Team was eliminated from the FIFA U-20 World Cup after the final group matches were completed in Egypt. The U.S. finished as the 17th place team in the tournament, one place shy of the Round of 16. After finishing the group phase with three points and a minus three goal
differential after a win against Cameroon and losses to Germany and Korea
Republic, the U.S. needed certain results in Group E to go their way.
Due to the result, the U.S. and Costa Rica tied with minus three goal difference, but Costa Rica will advance with five goals scored compared to the USA’s four. It is the first time that the U.S. team has failed to advance past the group stage at the U-20 World Cup since 1987. Third place teams earning spots in the round of 16 along with Costa Rica were Nigeria, Italy and South Africa. The latter two were 1-1-1, while Nigeria was 1-0-2 like the U.S., but had a plus two goal differential. U.S. U-20s thrashed by Korea in Suez SUEZ, Egypt -- The United States lost to South Korea 3-0
Friday night in its final first-round match at the Under-20 World Cup,
but still can advance. The U.S. responded to their 3-0 opening game loss to Germany with an explosion of goals against Cameroon, defeating the African nation 4-1 in their second match of the 2009 FIFA Under-20 World Cup in Egypt. Floridians Bryan Arguez (Miami) and Tony Taylor
(Jacksonville) scored on both sides of halftime to build a 2-0
lead, before Dilly Duka provided a third in the 67th
minute. The four goals helped the USA’s goal differential, and that was the difference in putting the team into second place in the standings. Germany and Korea tied 1-1 in their second group game. The U.S. was shutout in the opener by Germany, while Cameroon had beaten South Korea 2-0 in its opener. The U.S. will play Korea in the final group game on Friday, Oct. 2, at 12:45 pm ET. That game will be televised on ESPN2 and Telemundo. Sixteen of 24 teams will advance to the knockout round, so the U.S. can
guarantee advancement with a win over Korea. The top two teams in each
group advance, along with the four top third-place teams. The good fortune the United States has experienced throughout the men's Under-20 World Cup ran out today in the quarterfinals with a 2-1 overtime loss to defensive-minded Austria, denying the Americans a second trip to the semifinals of this event and first since 1989, when the team was led by goalkeeper Kasey Keller. The U.S. started well and dominated the game early, getting quickly into the offensive flow and jumping in front on Jozy Altidore's header off a wonderful cross from Freddy Adu in the 15th minute Then, the rain that had begun in the fifth minute, started to come down heavily and suddenly the U.S. stopped pushing forward with the whole tenor of the match abruptly changing. Over the final 15 minutes of the first half, the Americans stopped pressuring the ball and starting giving the Austrians room to operate. Austria took advantage and began to control play with the U.S. seemingly content to lay back and looking for counter-attacking opportunities. The result was the U.S. conceded a sloppy Austrian equalizer just before intermission after American keeper Chris Seitz failed to control a rebound. Entering the game with the lingering effects of a leg injury and limping significantly by the time the match ended, Seitz could not hold defender Sebastian Proedl's long shot that skipped on the soaked artificial turf just before it reached him. The long rebound was controlled by Austria striker Rubin Okotie, who dodged two two tackles and squeezed a six-yard shot between Seitz who got a hand on it, and defender Tony Beltran, literally holding his right post. The second half was eminently forgettable. As the rain continued to come down, the U.S. never regained its early advantage, at times having trouble stringing two passes together. It did not help that Swedish referee Martin Hansson handed out 11 yellow cards -- six to the Americans and five to Austria -- calling fouls seemingly after any physical contact. U.S. defender Anthony Wallace was sent off with his second yellow card in the 104th minute. Still, the Americans had their chances over the final 20 minutes, but the team suddenly seemed to lose the finishing touch it had enjoyed over the tournament. Adu, Altidore, Robbie Rogers, Michael Bradley and substitute Gabe Ferrari all had chances to score, but could not put the ball past Austrian keeper Michael Zaglmair. As the match moved into overtime, Austria seemed fresher. Star striker Erwin (Jimmy) Hoffer was inserted in the 103rd minute and the Austrian offense came alive with its game-winner coming two minutes later, one minute after Wallace was ejected. U.S. players tried desperately to send a ball out of their box and to some extent got in the way of each other as three just failed to clear. Then, reserve defender Tim Ward tried to send the ball to safety, only to have it hit an opponent and slowly roll to Austria's right post. The ball appeared ready to catch the goal frame, but Hoffer nudged it home at the last second. With its one-man advantage, Austria focused on keeping its shape and did not concede much to the Americans.. Had the U.S. been able to continue the way it started over the opening half hour, it might of recorded a decisive triumph, but it could sustain the effort. Whether it was the rain, fatigue or nerves is unclear, but it allowed Austria to get into a rhythm and the Americans then simply could not regain the lost momentum. Unlike earlier efforts, they stopped pushing forward and pressuring the ball all over the field, and their demise was imminent "They're a hard team to play against," Rongen said of the Austrians.
"They converted two of their four opportunities and we converted
one out of five. That's really the story of this game." Bradley Goal Game-Winner In OT TORONTO, Canada (July 11, 2007) – A 107th minute goal from Michael Bradley was the game-winner, giving the U.S. Under-20 Men’s National Team a 2-1 overtime victory over Uruguay <http://www.ussoccer.com/articles/viewArticle.jsp_1474566.html> , and a berth in the quarterfinals of the 2007 FIFA Under-20 World Cup The U.S. will play Austria, 2-1 winners over Gambia, on Saturday, July 14 in Toronto in their fourth trip to the quarterfinals. The game, which kicks off at 2:15 p.m. ET, will be televised live on ESPNU and Galavision and fans can follow the game live on ussoccer.com’s MatchTracker. "We knew tonight's match was going to be tough and Uruguay made things very difficult for us throughout the match, but we showed some great mentality to come from behind," said U.S. Under-20 head coach Thomas Rongen. "This was a total team effort with Brian Perk filling in for Chris Seitz, and all three of our substitutions coming in and making an impact. This is the kind of game where you find out what your players are made of and how good a team you actually have. It was just a great battle over 120 minutes and a fantastic result to move on to the final eight." In two 15-minute overtime periods, the U.S. played its best soccer of the night, earning a corner kick in the 106th minute. Adu played the ball into the box that the Uruguayan goalkeeper punched out to the feet of Julian Valentin. Valentin played the ball towards goal where Bradley found the end of it and fired it into the roof of net. After going down 1-0 in the 74th minute, the U.S. battled back and forced an own goal in the 88th minute to force extra time. On the goal, Adu flighted in another perfect corner kick that Danny Szetela possesed through some hard work, firing a shot from a tough angle in the six-yard box. Szetela put the ball in front of the goal and a sliding Uruguay defender beat a streaking Andre Akpan to the ball, but played it into his own net A scoreless first half saw both teams earn quality chances throughout, and U.S. goalkeeper Brian Perk, making his first appearance in the tournament and just his third-ever cap for the Under-20 squad, was called upon to make several key saves. Perk was put under pressure with free kicks all night as the teams combined for 57 fouls throughout the game. Uruguay’s best chances in the first half came from the ensuing free kicks. In the 26th minute, Luis Suarez hit a direct shot that hit the top of Perk’s goal, and in the 38th, an out-swinger from near the corner kick spot, taken by Juan Surraco was headed by Hugo Arismendi just wide. The U.S. attacked early on, with Sal Zizzo creating the game’s first opportunity in the third minute, when he swung a cross in for Josmer Altidore, whose attempted flick-on header went wide. In the 10th minute, Freddy Adu beat his man down the endline and played a ball in for Altidore, whose header went right into the arms of Uruguay goalkeeper Yonatan Irrazabal. Another Altidore header proved to be the most dangerous chance of the half for the U.S. Tony Beltran and Danny Szetela combined just outside the box, with Beltran sending a ball into the box for the 17-year-old forward, whose header took a strange hop before being pounced on by Irrazabal. In the second half, the U.S. held much of the possession, but could not build up much of an attack through the Uruguayan defense early on. Uruguay held the ball in spurts, and got the game’s first goal when a cross into the box found Edinson Cavani, whose header was initially saved by Perk. Luis Suarez, running hard into the box pounced on the rebound and put it in the back of the net. The U.S. then was then forced into attacking mode, sending everyone forward. Rogers forced a free kick in the 77th minute, allowing Dax McCarty to get off a shot. Adu then carried the ball deep into the Uruguay end and earned a corner kick. His corner led to a shot from Bradley that forced a good reaction saved from Irrazabal. In second-half stoppage time, with the game tied at one, a last-chance effort from Uruguay hit the post, and kept the game going into extra time. In the 98th minute, Perk was called upon to make his best save of the game off of a corner kick that found the head of Caceras. The two battled for the rebound, but the ball was finally played out for a goal kick. In the 112th minute the U.S. created a chance from an Adu free kick near the touchline that found Bradley’s head, but the shot went just wide. Seven minutes later, Adu made a run down the left side of the field and found an open Szetela to his right. Szetela took a shot through pressure, but it went right to Irrazabal. This is the second time that the United States advanced to the quarterfinals since the field was expanded to 24 teams in 1997. The team's previous trip also came under the leadership of Thomas Rongen, who guided the team to within seconds of the semifinals in United Arab Emirates in 2003 before falling to Argentina in the quarterfinals in overtime. In two other come-from-behind victories on the night, Spain battled back from a 2-0 deficit to beat Brazil, 3-2, in overtime. The Czech Republic also came back from 2-0 to top Japan in penalty kicks. U.S. Under-20 Men’s National Team Game Report - Scoring Summary: USA 0 1 0 1 2 URU – Luis Suarez 73rd minute. Lineups: Subs not used: 1-Chris Seitz, 2-Tim Ward, 3-Bryan Arguez,4-Amaechi Igwe, 9-Preston Zimmerman, 21-Steve Sandbo Head Coach: Thomas Rongen Statistical Summary: USA URU Misconduct Summary: Sierra Mist Man of the Match: Brian Perk U.S. U20s Beat Brazil, Advance In World Cup OTTAWA, Canada (July 6, 2007) - Josmer Altidore scored twice off Freddy Adu assists, while Chris Seitz was sensational in goal, leading the United States to a thrilling 2-1 triumph over Brazil to win Group D in the men's Under-20 World Cup. The Americans have not yet learned their Round of 16 opponent. The U.S. went undefeated in group play (2-0-1) in their second straight U-20 World Cup. The U.S. will travel to Toronto on Saturday in preparation for their Round of 16 game on Wednesday, July 11 at 7:45 p.m., which will be against the third-pace finisher from either Group B, E or F. Both U.S. goals came from Altidore on either side of halftime, with the first coming in the 25th minute when Adu took advantage of a poorly trapped ball, touched it to Altidore and the forward capitalized from 18 yards out. Brazil temporarily tied the game at one in the 64th minute, when Leandro Lima capitalized on rebound, but Adu and Altidore connected once again in the 82nd minute for the game-winner. Altidore now has three goals for the U.S. in three games, tying him with Adu, Danny Szetela and Argentina’s Sergia Aguero for the tournament lead. The U.S. held on for their first win over Brazil in the FIFA Under-20 World Cup in four attempts. With Poland and South Korea drawing, 1-1, Poland is assured of advancing to the Round of 16 as the second-place team from Group D with four points. Brazil, the third-place finisher with three points in the group must wait to see if they are one of four third-place teams who will advance to the knock-out stages. “Anytime you go up against Brazil you know it will be a tough match and tonight was no different,” said U.S. Under-20 Men’s National Team head coach Thomas Rongen. “We battled with them throughout the match and I’m extremely proud of how the guys played tonight. To me this was clearly the toughest group in the tournament and I think the results have shown that. All four teams had to perform at their highest level each and every game The Americans started the game on the attack, earning three straight corner kicks in the fourth minute, but couldn’t convert from either side of the goal. In the 11th minute, Sal Zizzo played a slotted ball to Michael Bradley outside of the box, but Bradley’s long-range shot went into the hands of Casio. Just a minute later, Robbie Rogers, in what has become his signature move, cut the ball inside from the left flank and fired a shot that seemed bound for the upper corner of the goal, but Casio made the diving save. Brazil put the pressure on in the 14th minute when Jo carried the ball into the box, but Anthony Wallace was there to shut him down. In the 20th minute, Brazil came on a counterattack and Renato Augusto made his way into the right side of the box before Nathan Sturgis slowed him down and eventually won the ball away. Altidore’s first goal in the 25th minute came when Adu tracked back and won a ball from a Brazilian defender. The Real Salt Lake midfielder deflected it to Altidore’s feet and the 17-year-old forward took a couple of touches toward goal before firing a low shot that went to the far post to beat Brazilian goalkeeper Casio. The Brazilians increased their pressure even more after they found themselves down a goal, but U.S. goalkeeper Chris Seitz and his defense were able to smother every opportunity in the first half. In the second half, Brazil got off to an early start as they looked for the equalizer. Alexandre Pato played a dangerous free kick into the wall and had the ball picked off his feet by Seitz inside the box. Augusto took a dangerous free kick in the 55th minute from 30 yards out, but again Seitz made the save. it was the American’s turn again. In the 56th minute Zizzo carried the ball to the endline and played the ball in front of the net, but his teammates couldn’t get a foot on it for a shot. A minute later, it was Zizzo again, playing a high cross into the box that went over the outstretched fingers of Casio, but also over the head of Adu, who was running to the far post. Brazil found the equalizer in the 64th minute, when Lima capitalized on a shot by his teammate that Seitz was unable to control. Lima jumped on the rebound and rolled it into the open goal. Going into the final 10 minutes, it was the U.S. that first looked to push into the attack for the game-winner and eventually, Adu and Altidore connected for the second time on the night. This time, Adu carried the ball along the touchline, looked up and played a ball that deflected off a defender and fell to a streaking Altidore. With no one around him, Altidore fired a one-time shot past Casio from six yards out. Brazil came close to tying the game at two goals apiece in the in the 86th minute after a corner kick. Seitz had punched the ball out, but it came back to Pato. Seitz made a point-blank save and gave up a rebound. The second shot came high and this time Seitz was able to hold on. “I think this is the best group in the tournament," said Adu. "Some of the teams in the other groups are tough but we couldn’t be prouder of coming out of this group on top. Right now we’re riding high and playing well and we just have to keep it going. We have to keep working hard, because the harder you work the luckier you get.” - U.S. Under-20 Men’s National Team Game Report - Scoring Summary: 1 2 F USA – Josmer Altidore (Freddy Adu) 25th minute. Lineups: BRAZIL: 1 – Casio; 3-Luizao, 6-Marcelo, 13-Amaral, 15-Edson; 5-Roberto,
10-Renato Augusto (18-Carlos Eduardo, 71), 17-Ji Parana (c) (7-Willian
,84), 20-Leandro Lima (19-Luiz Adriano, 78); 9-Jo, 11-Alexandre Pato Misconduct Summary: Officials: Adu’s Hat Trick Leads U.S. Over Poland 6-1 MONTREAL (July 3, 2007) - Behind a hat trick from captain Freddy Adu, the U.S. Under-20 Men's National Team earned a dominating 6-1 victory against Poland in front of a sold-out Olympic Stadium in Montreal, Canada, to climb to the top of Group D at the 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup. Along with Adu’s three goals, Danny Szetela added two goals and Josmer Altidore added one to tie the highest goal output by a U.S. team in a U-20 World Cup. Adu becomes the first player ever to score a hat trick in both the Under-17 and Under-20 FIFA World Cups. He tallied three goals in the opening match of the 2003 FIFA Under-17 World Cup against South Korea, also a 6-1 win for the United States. He and Szetela are tied for the tournament lead in goals with three apiece through two games. The goals were Adu’s first in three FIFA U-20 World Cup appearances. With the victory, the U.S. sits atop the group with four points and will next face Brazil on July 6 at Frank Clair Stadium in Ottawa. The match will kick off at 7:45 p.m. ET and will be live on ESPNU and Galavision. Fans can also follow the match live on ussoccer.com’s MatchTracker. With a draw or victory over Brazil, who sits in second place after a 3-2 victory against South Korea in tonight’s second match, the U.S. will win the group for their third consecutive time at the FIFA U-20 World Cup. The U.S. would also go undefeated for the second straight time with a win or a draw in their final group match, after pulling off the feat for the first time ever in 2005 in the Netherlands. The U.S. has lost all three previous meetings against Brazil in the U-20 World Cup, falling to the four-time champions twice in 1989 (3-1 in group play and 2-0 in the third place match) and in 1993 (3-0 in group play). “I think we all knew that we were capable of playing much better than we showed in the first game,” said U.S. Under-20 Men’s National Team head coach Thomas Rongen. “We felt in this game that we could demonstrate some of the things that we’ve done so well over the past year and a half to get here. We moved the ball well, used our athleticism and speed today. Our key guys played well today and that’s important for us. “We’ve said from day one that this is a tough group and that every game will be hard. We don’t expect Brazil to be any different. We’re looking forward to playing what a lot of people consider to be the best in the world.” After Poland opened the scoring in the fifth minute with a goal from Dawid Janczyk, the United States began their relentless attack. Just four minutes after Poland struck, Szetela answered back, getting on the end of a Tony Beltran cross and redirecting it perfectly into the upper right corner with his head from about 15 yards out. The second goal for the U.S. was the first on the day for the hat trick hero. Sal Zizzo beat his defender on the wing and played a cheeky pass that got through to Adu down the sideline. The midfielder then beat one defender to get into the box and made a spin move on another before hitting a left-footed shot that curled just inside the far post to give the U.S. a lead it would not relinquish. With the U.S. holding possession for much of the second part of the half, Zizzo made another move down his right wing, beating three defenders and getting a lucky bounce to get inside the Poland box. The midfielder looked up and slotted the ball to a wide open Adu at the top of the box, and the captain did the rest, taking a touch and firing a spectacular shot into the upper corner of the far post from 18 yards. Adu’s shot was the final kick as the halftime whistle blew directly after the ensuing tap. “In the first game I didn’t take any shots,” said Adu. “I think tonight, as a team, we were more aggressive about shooting the ball. This is what you train day in and day out for. Today just happened to be one of those days where it worked out great.” Szetela’s second goal of the night came in the 51st minute when
Anthony Wallace made a run from his left fullback position
and played a through ball past the Polish backline for Szetela, who ran
onto the ball and beat Polish goalkeeper Bartosz Bialkowski. Adu earned his hat trick when he capped off the scoring for the U.S. in the 85th minute. Rogers won a ball in the midfield and cut towards the middle of the field. The Columbus Crew midfielder played a ball that got through for Adu, and he was able to get a touch before the onrushing Bialkowski could get to it. Adu then held off a challenge from behind from the Poland captain and played the ball into the open net. - U.S. Under-20 Men’s National Team Game Report - Participants: USA vs. Poland Scoring Summary: 1 2 F POL - Dawid Janczyk 5th minute. Lineups: POL: 1-Bartosz Bialkowski; 2-Ben Starosta, 3-Jaroslaw Fojut, 5-Kryzstof
Strugarek, 6-Adam Danch, 8-Artur Marciniak (c) (19-Pawel Adamiec, 67),
9-Patryk Malecki, 11-Dawid Janczyk, 16-Grzegorz Krychowiak (7-Adrian Marek,
55), 18-Mariusz Sacha (14-Jakub Szalek, 46), 20-Tomasz Cywka Statistical Summary: Top of PageU.S. U20s Draw First Game In U20 World Cup MONTREAL (June 30, 2007) – The U.S. Under-20 Men’s National team opened their FIFA Under-20 World Cup campaign with a 1-1 draw against South Korea in Group D play at the Olympic Stadium in Montreal, Canada. Midfielder Danny Szetela opened the scoring for the U.S. in the 16th minute, but South Korea was the more active team on the night and eventually tallied the equalizing goal in the 38th minute. The U.S. is tied for second place with one point, while Poland sits atop the group with three points after a surprising victory over group favorite Brazil. Poland scored in the 23rd minute and then went down to 10 men a few minutes later, but were still able to hold off the four-time champions. The United States will play its second game in Group D against Poland at Olympic Stadium on Tuesday, July 3 at 5 p.m. ET. Fans can follow the match live on ESPNU, Galavision and ussoccer.com’s MatchTracker. “We are happy with tonight’s result, but we’re not happy with the way we played,” said U.S. Under-20 Men’s National Team head coach Thomas Rongen. “Quite frankly, we are lucky to have come away with a draw against a very good Korean squad. They were strong and fast and, to be honest, we didn’t do our part to match up with them tonight.” Despite having just one shot on goal to South Korea’s six, the U.S. took advantage of their first quality chance of the game in the 16th minute, when Sal Zizzo advanced the ball to the end line and played a ball in the air towards goal. At the near post Freddy Adu flicked the ball in front of the net where the onrushing Szetela dove forward to beat goalkeeper Jin Hyeon Kim to put the U.S. on top. The goal came against the run of play in the first half as Korea controlled much of the possession early on. The U.S. goal opened the game up a bit as the Koreans began a more direct attack. Several long balls over the top looking for Chung Yong Lee put the U.S. under a lot of pressure, but the backline did well to bend and not break for most of the first half. U.S. goalkeeper Chris Seitz came up big for the U.S. throughout the match, and made his first big save of the game in the 25th minute when Chung Yong Lee got behind Tim Ward and slotted the ball across the goal for Young Sung Shim. The Real Salt Lake goalkeeper came up big with a full extension save to keep the U.S. in the lead. In the 35th minute, Shim slotted a ball across for Young Rok Shin in the box, and Seitz came all the way off his line to dive and intercept the ball. In the 38th minute, the South Korean attack finally broke through the U.S. backline. Shim played a perfect through ball to Shin, who collected the ball just inside the box and found himself one-on-one with Seitz. Shin was able to beat Seitz and even the score. The second half was more of the same as South Korea kept the U.S. defense under attack, but, led by Seitz, the U.S. were able to repel the majority of the pressure. The most nerve-racking moment came in the 50th minute when Seitz got beat for only the second time, but Shin’s long-range shot hit the far post and was then cleared out of danger. In the 70th minute, Adu played a ball into the box that bounced to defender Julian Valentin who was finishing a long offensive run. Valentin’s first touch allowed goalkeeper Jin Hyeon Kim to recover after coming out to play the cross, and the pending shot was blocked away. The best chance for the U.S. in the second half came in stoppage time. Defender Nathan Sturgis played a long ball out of the back and over the South Korean’s backline for Josmer Altidore to run onto. Altidore seemed to have his defender beaten in the footrace, but he was surprisingly called for a foul as he collected the ball and sprinted towards goal. The United States will play its second game of Group D on Tuesday, July 3 at 5 p.m. ET against Poland, who upset Brazil earlier in the day by a final 1-0 score. The Americans will then conclude group play on July 6 against Brazil in Ottawa’s Frank-Clair Stadium with a kickoff time of 7:45 p.m. ET.
- U.S. Under-20 Men’s National Team Game Report - Participants: USA vs. South Korea Scoring Summary: 1 2 F USA 1 0 0 USA – Danny Szetela (Freddy Adu) 16th min.
Lineups: Subs not used: 18-Brian Perk, 21-Stephen Sandbo; 3-Bryan Arguez, 4-Amaechi
Igwe, 9-Preston Zimmerman, 13-Ofori Sarkodie, 14-Anthony Wallace, 17-Gabe
Ferrari, 20-Andre Akpan KOR: 21-Jin Hyeon Kim; 2-Chul Soon Choi, 3-Kwang Hoon Shin, 5-Sung Yueng Ki, 8-Dong Suk Kim (17- Jin Hyung Song, 70), 9-Sang Ho Lee, 10-Young Sung Shim (16-Hyun Seung Lee, 84), 11-Joo Ho Park (capt.), 14-Chung Yong Lee, 18-Young Rok Shin (19-Tae Goon Ha, 59), 20-Seung Jin Bae Subs not used: 1-Su Huk Jo, 12-Jin Hyung Lee, 4-Hyun Bem Park, 7-Jong
Jin Park, 13-Sung Jae Lee, 15-Kyung Ho Jeong Statistical Summary: USA / KOR Misconduct Summary: Top of PageU.S. U-20s Beat Chile, 2-1, In Final World Cup Prep The U.S. Under-20 Men’s National Team defeated Chile, 2-1, at Giants Stadium behind goals from Freddy Adu and Robbie Rogers in the team’s final preparation match before the FIFA Under-20 World Cup in Canada from June 30-July 22. Adu was a part of both goals, striking the opening goal in the 34th minute off a pass from Josmer Altidore and then feeding Rogers in the second half to give the U.S. a temporary 2-0 lead. The U.S. also defeated New Zealand 4-0 in a closed scrimmage, but lost forward Johann Smith, who went down with a sprained ankle. He has been replaced by Preston Zimmerman, who plays with Hamburg SV in Germany. Smith, who plays in England for Bolton F.C., suffered a third-degree strain of his right ankle. He was part of the U.S. team that qualified for the FIFA Under-20 World Cup, scoring a goal and an assist in one appearance in Panama. The team will travel to Montreal, Canada, on June 26 in preparation for their opening match of the 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup against South Korea at Olympic Stadium. The U.S.-Korea match will kick off at 2:15 p.m. ET. The U.S. will also play Poland on July 3 in Montreal and finish group play against Brazil on July 6 in Ottawa. Every U.S. match at the U-20 World Cup can be followed live via ussoccer.com's MatchTracker. “I think it’s important for us to play teams like this that pose different problems,” said head coach Thomas Rongen. “One of the problems in the second half for us was to maintain our composure. The result was important obviously against a good team that tied Brazil and Argentina during qualifying and I was happy with the outcome, but we know that we can improve in certain ways. Possessing the ball and moving the ball a little bit quicker is obviously important as we move forward.” Chile put pressure on the U.S. early and often, but it was the U.S. that struck first. Defender Tony Beltran won the ball and quickly played a pass forward to Josmer Altidore. The 17-year-old, playing in his club team’s home stadium, beat his defender on the dribble, cut into the penalty area and slotted a ball back to the top of the box for Adu. In three touches, Adu made a move to beat both his defender and goalkeeper Christopher Toselli, and placed a low shot into the back of the net to put the Americans up, 1-0, in the 34th minute. After the U.S. goal, the game became more physical, and the Chilean attack became more aggressive. The second half, which saw six yellow cards to add to two from the first half, was as much of a physical battle as it was a display of beautiful soccer. It was the 77th minute before either team created a dangerous scoring opportunity, and once again it was the U.S. capitalizing. Adu played the ball from the center of the field just over the midfield stripe to a streaking Rogers on the left flank. Rogers took one touch before hitting a rocket just under the crossbar. Even though he had a hard angle, the Columbus Crew midfielder didn’t give Toselli a chance on the hard, perfectly placed shot. Just two minutes later, the Chilean attack was finally able to crack the U.S. defense. After a ball was played into the box, Sturgis got tied up with Chile’s second-half sub Jaime Grondona, and the referee called a penalty kick. Alexis Sanchez stepped up in the 80th minute and beat Seitz to cut the U.S. lead in half. With about 10 minutes left, play got a little bit out of hand as Chile tried to frustrate the Americans' attack. The best last-minute chances for Chile came on long-range free kicks, but the U.S. put numbers around the ball and were able to clear the ball out of danger and allow the 2-1 score to hold up. - U.S. Under-20 Men’s National Team Game Report - Participants: USA vs. Chile Scoring Summary: 1 2 F USA – Freddy Adu (Josmer Altidore) 34th minute Lineups: CHI: 1-Christopher Toselli; 5-Nicolas Larrondo, 3-Mauricio Isla, 2-Cristian
Suarez; 8-Dagoberto Currimilla (10-Juan Pablo Arenas, 46), 6-Gary Medel
(4-Orlando Godoy, 46), 14-Arturo Vidal (13-Chrisitan Sepulveda, 46), 15-Carlos
Carmona, 18-Mathias Vidangossy, 16-Gerardo Cortes (7-Alexis Sanchez, 46),
9-Nicolas Medina (11-Jaime Grondona, 46) Statistical Summary: USA CHI Misconduct Summary: Top of PageCHICAGO (Wednesday, May 23, 2007) -- Thomas Rongen, coach of the United States under-20 men, has announced a 16-player roster for his team's upcoming training camp in Canada, starting next Wednesday and running through June 6. This camp will serve as preparation for the upcoming FIFA Under-20 World Cup which will be competed between June 30 and July 20 in Canada. The Americans will face Canada's under-20s twice during the camp, which will provide the U.S. with a first-hand look at its two Group E venues -- Montreal and Ottawa. The U.S. will start the camp in Montreal, where it will train for three days and check out The Olympic Stadium, site of the Americans' first two Group E matches against South Korea (June 30) and Poland (July 3). The team will not train at the stadium, but is planning to take a tour of the facility. The U.S. will then travel to Ottawa and play Canada June 3 at Frank Clair Stadium, site of the Americans' third and final Group E outing against Brazil (July 6). The final stretch of the U.S. camp will take place in Kingston, Ontario, where the Americans and Canada will play the rematch June 6 in Richardson Stadium. "This camp will not only provide us with two matches against a strong Canada team, but it will allow us to get a feel for the facilities we'll be using during the World Cup," said Rongen, who will use this camp to make his final evaluations before announcing the World Cup roster. "We want to be as prepared as possible to advance out of a tough group and this is a great opportunity to check out these great venues while becoming more and more acclimated to playing on artificial turf." Two Americans sure to be on the World Cup roster who will not attend this camp are Major League Soccer teen stars, midfielder Freddy Adu of Real Salt Lake and New York Red Bulls striker Josmer Altidore. Three of the 16 players invited to camp play in MLS, four are European professionals and seven are collegians. Defender Sheanon Williams and midfielder Dane Shea are in the U.S. full-time residency camp in Bradenton, Fla. The pro ranks of Europe are represented by a trio of forwards in Gabriel Ferrari of Italy's Sampdoria, Preston Zimmerman of Hamburg SV in Germany and Johann Smith of England's Bolton Wanderers, as well as midfielder Mitchell van den Beld of FC Utrecht, respectively. Van den Beld will participate in his first American team camp at any age level. The MLS representatives are midfielder Bryan Arguez (D.C. United), defender Amaechi Igwe (New England Revolution) and midfielder Anthony Wallace (FC Dallas) The college crowd includes goalkeepers Diego Restrepo (South Florida) and Steve Sandbo (Southern Methodist); defenders Tony Beltran (UCLA), Ofori Sarkodie (Indiana) and Julian Valentin (Wake Forest); and strikers Andre Akpan (Harvard) and Sal Zizzo (UCLA) Ten players on the roster were members of the squad that won its qualifying group earlier this year in Panama City, Panama earlier this year. The team scored 11 goals during qualification, including three Akpan, while conceding only one. The U.S. visited Canada for a two-game series in July, winning 2-1 in Toronto and drawing 1-1 in Kingston. The Americans are coming off their first loss of the year after falling
1-0 to reigning world champion Argentina on May 15. Goalkeepers (2): Diego Restrepo (West Palm Beach, Fla), Steve Sandbo (Columbus, Ohio). Defenders (5): Tony Beltran (Claremont, Calif.), Amaechi Igwe (Belmont, Calif.), Ofori Sarkodie (Huber Heights, Ohio), Sheanon Williams (Boston), Julian Valentin (Lancaster, Pa.). Midfielders (4): Bryan Arguez (Miami, Fla.), Dane Shea (College Station, Texas), Anthony Wallace (St. Petersburg, Fla.), Mitchell van den Beld (Almere, the Netherlands). Forwards (5): Andre Akpan (Gran Prairie, Texas), Gabriel Ferrari (New York City), Johann Smith (Bloomfield, Conn.), Preston Zimmerman (Pasco, Wash.), Sal Zizzo (San Diego). Top of PageRongen Picks Team For Argentina Friendly The U.S. Under-20 Men’s National Team will continue their preparations for the upcoming 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup this summer with a match against reigning world champion Argentina on Tuesday, May 15, at PAETEC Park in Rochester, N.Y. Kickoff is at 7 p.m. ET U.S. Soccer and ussoccer.com will present complete MatchACCESS live coverage of the match against Argentina, starting at 6:45 p.m. ET / 6:45 p.m. ET. U.S. coach Thomas Rongen named a 16-player roster for the match, inviting in 13 professional players. Of those professionals, 11 play in Major League Soccer. The two non-MLS players are forward Johann Smith with Carlisle United in England’s third division and Jesus Padilla with Chivas de Guadalajara in Mexico. Out of the 16 players, 12 were part of the team that won Group A of the CONCACAF U-20 Qualifying Tournament in Panama City, Panama, this past January to qualify for the 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup, which will take place from June 30-July 22 in six cities in Canada. The U.S. was drawn into Group D with Korea Republic, Poland and Brazil. Tickets for the match against Argentina, ranging from $18 to $35, go
on sale at 10 a.m. ET on Monday, April 23, and can be purchased at PAETEC
Park, by phone from Ticketmaster at (585) 232-1900 or at ticketmaster.
Seven MLS teams provide the 11 professional players, including a trio from the Columbus Crew in forward Robbie Rogers, midfielder Danny Szetela and defender Tim Ward. Real Salt Lake provides two of the marquee players in first-choice goalkeeper Chris Seitz and captain Freddy Adu, while the Los Angeles Galaxy released central defender Nathan Sturgis and defender/midfielder Quavas Kirk. N.Y. Red Bulls’ Josmer Altidore, D.C. United’s Bryan Arguez, New England Revolution’s Amaechi Igwe and Chivas USA’s Rodrigo Lopez are the other MLS professionals on the roster. Lopez makes his first appearance on a U-20 roster since 2006. The three non-professionals are Jalil Anibaba, Alec Dufty and Julian Valentin. Valentin, a junior at Wake Forest, was a starter for the U-20s in qualifying. Anibaba is making just his second appearance on a U-20 roster and is the only high school player on the squad, while Dufty, a goalkeeper from the University of Evansville, will be part of his first national team camp. This will be the sixth time the U.S. and Argentina have met at this age level in the past five years. The U.S. has faced Argentina twice during this cycle, with both games occurring in 2006 and the teams each coming away with a victory. In the first meeting, the U.S. fell, 4-0, in Argentina during their tour of the country in April. Five months later, the U.S. defeated Argentina, 3-1, in their final match of the Busan Four Nations International Tournament in Busan, South Korea. Altidore scored the opening goal in the U.S. victory. Rongen coached the U.S. in both those previous meetings, but his most well-known match against Argentina came during the quarterfinals of the 2003 FIFA Youth World Championship in the United Arab Emirates. The U.S. allowed an equalizing goal during the final minute of injury time and eventually lost in overtime. Despite the loss, the U.S. finished in fifth place and set numerous records during their remarkable quarterfinal run. U.S. Roster by Position – A detailed roster is available at ussoccer.com <http://www.ussoccer.com/articles/viewArticle.jsp_281877.html> GOALKEEPERS (2): Alec Dufty (University of Evansville), Chris Seitz (Real Salt Lake) DEFENDERS (6): Amaechi Igwe (New England Revolution), Quavas Kirk (L.A. Galaxy), Jesus Padilla (Chivas de Guadalajara), Nathan Sturgis (L.A. Galaxy), Julian Valentin (Wake Forest University), Tim Ward (Columbus Crew) MIDFIELDERS (5): Freddy Adu (Real Salt Lake), Jalil Anibaba (Davis, Calif.), Bryan Arguez (D.C. United), Rodrigo Lopez (Chivas USA), Danny Szetela (Columbus Crew) FORWARDS: (3): Josmer Altidore (N.Y. Red Bulls), Robbie Rogers (Columbus Crew), Johann Smith (Carlisle United) Top of PagePoland,
Brazil and South Korea are Saturday, March 3, 2007) -- The United States will face South Korea, Poland and Brazil in Group D of the men's Under-20 World Cup which will take place between June 30 and July 22 in six Canadian cities. The U.S. faces South Korea on June 30, the tournament's opening day, meets Poland July 3 and completes the first round July 6 against Brazil. The first two matches will be played at Olympic Stadium in Montreal with the Brazil game at Frank Clair Stadium in Ottawa. "Anytime you go to a World Cup and you're drawn with Brazil it's exciting," U.S. under-20 coach Thomas Rongen said. "For us to go out and measure ourselves against the best in the world is what this under-20 competition is all about. With Poland and South Korea complementing Brazil, we have a very interesting and tough group. But saying that, all 24 teams at this stage deserve to be there so there are no easy games." The field consists of six groups of four nations with the top two teams from each group and the four third-place teams with the best records advancing to the Round of 16. The 52 matches in the tournament will be played at venues in Burnaby, Edmonton, Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto and Victoria. The U.S., having qualified for this event for a sixth straight time, will play all three group matches on artificial turf. "Everybody is in the same situation," Rongen said. "I think all teams will make a very conscious effort to practice and play games on turf that represents the same turf we're going to see in Montreal and Ottawa. It changes the game somewhat, but at the end of the day, it will still come down to executing your game plan regardless of where you play." Rongen previously took the U.S. under-20s to the world tournament, then known as the World Youth Championship, in the United Arab Emirates in 2003. The Americans won their preliminary group for the first time and advanced to the quarterfinals before falling 2-1 in overtime to Argentina to wind up in fifth place. Sigi Schmid led the U-20s to 11th place in the 2005 tournament in the Netherlands. "I think we obviously have a hard group but I'm excited about this opportunity," said 17-year-old team captain Freddy Adu, who will be playing in his third world tourney at this age group. "We are going to find out how good we are playing against these teams and if we play well enough to get out of the group, we will be well prepared for the second round because all three (opening) games are going to be tough. Brazil always has one of the best teams in every age group and it's a great opportunity for us to show we can play against the best in the world on the world stage. People are going to be watching and it is going to be a great atmosphere, I'm sure. I'm looking forward to it." The best finish for the U.S. came in Saudi Arabia in 1989 when three-time World Cup veteran Kasey Keller was in the U-20 goal. The Americans finished fourth, losing to Nigeria 2-1 in overtime in the snowy semifinals and then 2-0 to Brazil in the third-place match. The U.S. will make its 11th overall appearance in the 16th rendition of the under-20 championship event. South Korea has played in nine previously, including the last two, and advanced to this event by finishing third in Asian Football Confederation qualifying. The U.S. qualified for Canada '07 with a first-place finish in Group A of the CONCACAF Under-20 Final Round Qualifying Tournament in Panama City, Panama, in January. The U.S. opened the tournament impressively, disposing of Haiti 4-1, drew 0-0 with Guatemala and then dumped Panama 5-0 to secure its berth. It was the second straight time the Americans went 3-0 and finished atop their qualifying group. The U.S. and South Korea have met twice previously in this tournament, both times to close group play. In 1993, the countries played a 2-2 draw with the U.S. moving on to lose 3-0 to Brazil and finish eighth. In 2003, the Americans prevailed 2-0 and then blanked the Ivory Coast 2-0 in the Round of 16 before dropping the thriller to Argentina.. South Korea "is always a team to be reckoned with coming out of Asia and a tough opening game for us," Rongen said. Poland hosted the European Under-19 Championship last July and finished fifth to qualify for this tournament for their fourth time, but first since 1983. Poland finished in third place in Mexico in 1983, defeating the U.S. 2-0 in group play. Two years earlier, Poland drubbed the Americans 4-0 in Australia. "Poland is a very traditional, Eastern European team, a team that will play with a lot of organization and discipline," Rongen said. Four-time titlist Brazil has the most appearances (14) and victories (57) in the U-20 world championship history. The U.S. is 0-3 against Brazil in the event, falling twice in 1989 (3-1 in group play and 2-0 in the semifinals) and 3-0 in the Round of 16 in 1993. Brazil qualified for its trip to Canada by winning the South American
U-20 championship in Paraguay in January. Defenders (4): Ofori Sarkodi (Indiana University; Huber Heights, Ohio), Nathan Sturgis (Los Angeles Galaxy, MLS; Redondo Beach, Calif.), Anthony Wallace (FC Dallas, MLS; St. Petersburg, Fla.), Tim Ward (Columbus Crew, MLS; Waukesha, Wisc.) Midfielders (7): Freddy Adu (Real Salt Lake, MLS; Potomac, Md.), Brian Arguez (D.C. United, MLS; Miami, Fla.), Tony Beltran (UCLA; Claremont, Calif.), Amaechi Igwe (New England Revolution, MLS; Belmont, Calif.), Robby Rogers (SC Heerenven, Netherlands; Huntington Beach, Calif.), Danny Szetala (Columbus Crew, MLS; Clifton, N.J.), Jonathan Villanueva (University of Virginia; Grand Prairie, Texas) Forwards (7): Andre Akpan (Harvard University, Grand Prairie, Texas). Josmer Altidore (New York Red Bulls, Boca Raton, Fla.), Quavas Kirk (Los Angeles Galaxy, Long Beach, Calif.). Johann Smith (Bolton Wanderers, England; Bloomfield, Conn.), Julian Valentin (Wake Forest University; Lancaster, Pa.), Preston Zimmerman (Hamburg SV, Germany; Pasco, Wash.), Sal Zizzo (UCLA; San Diego). Top of PageNine Pros On 20-Player U-20 MNT Roster United States Under-20 Men’s National Team head coach Thomas Rongen has named the 20-man roster that will represent the U.S. in Group A of the CONCACAF Under-20 Final Round Qualifying Tournament from Jan. 17-21 at Rommel Fernandez Stadium in Panama City, Panama. Rongen brought in more than 70 players during nine camps in 2006 before making his final decision on the 20 that would represent the U.S. in Panama as they attempt to qualify for their sixth consecutive FIFA U-20 World Cup (formerly known as the FIFA World Youth Championship). Of the 20 players on the qualifying roster, nine are currently professionals, with six in Major League Soccer and three overseas, and several players could be available in the 2007 MLS SuperDraft, which will take place on Friday, Jan. 12, in Indianapolis, Ind. There are more professionals on this U.S. Under-20 qualifying roster than ever before. “We’ve looked at a large number of players during the past year and believe that the 20 we’ve chosen to represent the U.S. in qualifying will provide us with the best chance of qualifying for our sixth straight World Cup,” said Rongen, who is attempting to qualify a second U.S. Under-20 team to a World Cup after leading his first as head coach in 2003. “This is the first time in two cycles that we have to try and qualify outside of the United States which will make it that much tougher, but we are confident we can head down to Panama and come away with a ticket to the World Cup in Canada.” The U.S. players will meet in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., on Wednesday, Jan. 10, where they will train for three days before heading to Panama early in the morning on Saturday, Jan. 13. The U.S. will then have a few days to prepare before opening the six-game round-robin qualifying tournament against Haiti on Wednesday, Jan. 17, at 6:30 p.m. ET. Two days later, on Friday, Jan. 19 at 6:30 p.m. ET, the U.S. will face Guatemala, a team that is no stranger to the U.S. Under-20s as the two countries met twice in November (once in a closed-door scrimmage) with the U.S. coming away with 2-1 victories in both matches. The U-20s wrap up the qualifying tournament against Panama on Sunday, Jan. 21, at 6 p.m. ET. Fans can follow all three games on ussoccer.com’s MatchTracker. The top two finishers in Group A will advance to the 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Canada, which will take place from June 30-July 22 across six cities – Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, Edmonton, Burnaby and Victoria. Rongen had initially planned to name his roster before the New Year, but delayed the announcement until U.S. Soccer received final word on whether Heerenveen midfielder Michael Bradley would be released by his club for the qualifying tournament. The Dutch club had already released midfielder Robbie Rogers, but despite numerous discussions during the past week, ultimately decided it would not release Bradley. Without Bradley in the mix, Rongen made the decision to bring back UCLA midfielder Tony Beltran, who was initially named an alternate. “We had planned on getting Michael … and felt with his and Danny Szetela’s international and MLS experience that we were well covered, but after learning Michael would not be with us it left us with a hole in our depth chart,” said Rongen. “After our final camp we felt that Tony was the best player to replace Szetela if needed due to injury or card accumulation. Despite not having Bradley, the U.S. has capable players leading the team with Freddy Adu, Nathan Sturgis, Tim Ward and Szetela, all professionals in MLS. While being the third youngest player on the roster, captain Freddy Adu has the most experienced player, having played in the past two FIFA World Youth Championships and for three years at D.C. United. Along with Adu, Sturgis and Szetela were also part of the 2005 FIFA World Youth Championship squad, while Ward was named to the roster only to be replaced due to injury. The other two MLS professionals on the roster are N.Y. Red Bulls forward Josmer Altidore and Los Angeles Galaxy midfielder Quavas Kirk, both of whom will be pushing for a starting spot. Altidore is coming off a thumb injury and attempting to get match-fit after an impressive end to his rookie season, while Kirk is still getting adjusted to his new position at right back. Of the three overseas professionals, Rogers will be the only one that will join the team on Jan. 10 in Fort Lauderdale. Forwards Johann Smith and Preston Zimmerman will fly directly from Europe to Panama City on Jan. 13 to meet up with the Under-20s. Smith, who is in his second year with Bolton FC, earned his first EPL appearance with the first team this season and is continually pushing to earn more minutes. Zimmerman has been playing with the youth and reserve teams at Hamburg SV. Out of the eleven amateur players invited into camp, three are from UCLA with Beltran, goalkeeper Brian Perk and midfielder Sal Zizzo making the roster. Perk will be the backup goalkeeper, while Zizzo will push for a spot on the right wing with impressive speed. Along with Beltran, Harvard forward Andre Akpan and Wake Forest midfielder Julian Valentin were featured in Studio 90’s “Roster Spot” on ussoccer.com. Despite coming in an underdog to make the team, Akpan impressed the coaching staff by continually scoring goals in training and games, while Valentin created some drama with a come-from-behind story as the central defender made the team with quality match performances after struggling through the first few days of fitness. Maryland’s Chris Seitz is the first-choice goalkeeper, while Amaechi Igwe from Santa Clara could end up starting in left midfield. Bryan Arguez and Anthony Wallace will both be looking to earn a starting spot in the holding midfield position. The final two college players are Indiana’s Ofori Sarkodie and Virginia’s Jonathan Villanueva. Sarkodie gives Rongen options at the central defender position, while Villanueva provides speed and an attacking style of play from midfield. During Rongen’s last tenure as the Under-20 head coach, the U.S. finished second in 2003 qualifying at Blackbaud Stadium in Charleston, S.C. The U.S. won their first two games against Haiti and El Salvador to advance but fell to eventual champion Canada, 3-2, in their final match. In the 2003 FIFA World Youth Championship in the United Arab Emirates, the U.S. won their group for the first time ever and finished in fifth place after falling to Argentina in overtime. The other two of the four CONCACAF berths (not including Canada which gets an automatic berth as host) will come from Group B, which will occur a month later from Feb. 21-25 in Culiacan, Sinaloa, located on the west coast of Mexico. Competing with the hosts will be Costa Rica, St. Kitts & Nevis and Jamaica. 2007 CONCACAF Final Round Qualifying Tournament; Rommel Fernandez
Stadium U.S. Under-20 Men’s National Team Top of PageRongen’s Final U20 Training Camp United States Under-20 Men’s National Team head coach Thomas Rongen has invited 21 players to participate in the team’s final training camp before the 2007 CONCACAF Final Round Qualifying Tournament. The players and staff arrived in Bradenton, Fla., on Saturday and will train through January 6 at IMG Academy. Following the eight-day camp, Rongen will name his final 20-player roster for CONCACAF qualifying, which will take place from Jan. 17-21 in Panama City, Panama. The team will regroup on Jan. 10 in Fort Lauderdale where they will train before heading to Panama on Jan. 14 for the qualifying tournament. Rongen had initially planned to name his qualifying roster after last week’s U-20 camp that included 26 players, but the announcement has been delayed until he can confirm the release of midfielder Michael Bradley from Dutch club Heerenveen. Heerenveen has already released midfielder Robbie Rogers, who is in Bradenton for the final camp. Forward Johann Smith is not in camp, but will be released by Bolton FC (England) for the qualifying tournament and will join the team when they regroup on Jan. 10 in Fort Lauderdale. With the addition of Smith, and possibly Bradley, Rongen will need to trim his 21-man roster by two or three players. The final qualifying roster will be announced upon the team’s arrival in Fort Lauderdale. “With more and more of our youth national team players abroad, we are entering into an area that is similar to what our senior national team encounters on a frequent basis, and that is the challenge of getting players released,” said Rongen. “While Heerenveen has been cooperative in releasing Robbie Rogers, right now we are still in discussions with the club to try and obtain Michael Bradley for the tournament. With the unknown of Michael’s availability, we wanted to bring in one or two extra players in the event he is not available, which would force us to make some changes. At the end of this camp we will narrow it down to the 20 players that will represent us in Panama.” Of the 26 players that participated in the U-20’s last camp in the middle of December, 19 were invited back for this final camp. Along with Rogers, forward Preston Zimmerman, who plays for Hamburg SV in Germany, is the only other player on the roster that was not in the prior camp in Bradenton. The U.S. is in Group A of the 2007 CONCACAF Final Round Qualifying Tournament with Guatemala, Haiti and host Panama. The top two teams in the group will qualify for the FIFA U-20 World Cup in Canada, which will take place from June 30-July 22 across six cities – Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, Edmonton, Burnaby and Victoria. The U.S. will be attempting to qualify for their sixth straight FIFA World Cup (formerly FIFA World Youth Championship). The other two of the four CONCACAF berths (not including Canada which gets an automatic berth as host) will come from Group B, which consists of a separate qualifying tournament a month later from Feb. 21-25 in Culiacan, Sinaloa, located on the west coast of Mexico. Competing with the hosts will be Costa Rica, St. Kitts & Nevis and the winner between a two-game series between Jamaica and Trinidad & Tobago. In their upcoming camp, the U-20s will play four games against the U.S. Under-17 Men’s National Team. In an attempt to prepare for the qualifying tournament, which will require them to play three games in five days, the U-20s will play the U-17s on Jan. 2, 3, 4 and 6. Of the 21 players named to camp, 10 are in college, nine are professional players and two just exited U.S. Soccer’s Under-17 Residency Program. Seven of the professional players ply their trade in Major League Soccer, while Rogers and Zimmerman are based in Europe. Five MLS teams are represented on the roster, with the Columbus Crew providing Danny Szetela and Tim Ward, and the L.A. Galaxy providing Quavas Kirk and Nathan Sturgis. The other three MLS players are Freddy Adu (Real Salt Lake), Josmer Altidore (N.Y. Red Bulls) and Blake Wagner (FC Dallas). 2007 CONCACAF Final Round Qualifying Tournament Date Match-up Venue Time (ET) Top of PageMOSCOW, Russia (September 3, 2006) -- The United States women finished fourth in the Under-20 Women's World Championship tonight after falling for the second straight time in a penalty-kicks tiebreaker. The U.S. failed to score in either the semifinals or today's third-place match, but neither did its opponents. In penalty kicks the opposition was one better on each occasion with Brazil claiming third place today 6-5 in eight rounds of the shootout before 8,500 witnesses on a rainy, cold evening at Locomotiv Stadium. U.S. midfielder Danesha Adams, who entered after halftime tonight, was awarded the Bronze Ball as the tournament's third-best player. The fourth-place finish marked the first time a U.S. women team had finished out of the top three in any of the 10 women's world championships contested at any age group. "Without question, it is difficult," U.S. coach Tim Schulz said. "There are 16 teams that come here to play for first place and anything short of that, I would think that would be a disappointment for any team. I am very pleased with my girls that their eyes were on first place. Yes, they were disappointed (losing to China in the semifinal), but after a day or two they were focused and back on track. It's a very resilient, tough team and I am very proud of them." Surprising North Korea continued its dominance of the field by thrashing China 5-0 in tonight's championship match behind three goals by Kim Song Hui. "The women's game has seen tremendous growth and improvement, especially outside of the United Statesm" Schulz said. "For me, it's exciting to see the parity. France and Germany and the United States were favored to win this tournament and then you have North Korea and China playing for the championship. I think it's tremendous for the women's game." In the eighth round of penalty kicks, Maurine scored for Brazil, while goalkeeper Barbara stopped U.S. midfielder Amanda Poach to end the proceedings. Overtime was not played in this match, limiting the scoreless play to 90 minutes. To end the world championship tournament without scoring a goal in its last two outings was particularly difficult for the U.S. Against a variety of competition, the Americans had been blanked only three times in 50 matches leading up to this event and all three times were against the full U.S. women's national team. "It was a pretty even match with two skillful teams," Schulz said. "It went back and forth. Unfortunately, the rain came and that took away some of the skills." The U.S. had two chances to put Brazil on the ropes during the tiebreaker, including Amy Rodriguez's chance to win it in the seventh round. After Daiane converted Brazil's first kick, U.S. defender Carrie Dew matched her with a second attempt. On the first try, Barbara stopped the shot, but was ruled to have moved off her line too soon. Brazil captain Renata Costa then missed wide right, but the Americans could not take advantage and establish a lead because Allie Long shot right at the keeper. In the sixth round, Erika weakly hit ball up the middle right to U.S. keeper Val Henderson, but Rodriguez blasted her potential game-winner wide right. Her miss was followed by a bizarre incident when Swedish referee Jenny Palmqvist (who worked the middle of the 2004 Summer Olympics women's final) ruled Brazil had won at that point. As the Brazilians streamed out on the field in celebration, waving green and yellow flags, the U.S. delegation vehemently protested. After consulting with her assistants and the fourth official, Palmqvist corrected herself. Her paper listing the kickers had become unreadable in the pouring rain. She only momentarily delayed the American dismay. After Maurine converted for Brazil, Barbara dove to her right to snag Poach's attempt to the corner. In the semifinal against China, Brittany Bock had a chance to put the Americans into the final in the fifth round of the shootout, but also missed wide right, allowing China to prevail 5-4 in six rounds. If Brazil had converted a penalty kick in the 58th minute, it might have won in regulation. After U.S. keeper Val Henderson was ruled to have taken Danielle down in her area, Francielle hit the PK wide right. Perhaps justice was served because television replays showed Henderson getting the ball before her momentum took her into Danielle. The U.S. outshot Brazil 11-9, but the on-frame count was 6-2. Despite being the aggressor, the sloppy conditions made it difficult for the Americans to create many scoring chances. The solo dribbling of Brazilian forward Fabiana produced some danger for Brazil, but the U.S. adjusted well to keep her in check. The Americans had a golden chance early on when, in the 12th minute, defender Tobin Heath found Lauren Cheney in the penalty area with a cross from the left side. The U.S. forward did well to settle the ball, but her left-footed shot from 14 yards out was saved by Barbara with a dive to her right. The U.S. came close to a lead in the 16th minute when Brazil poorly cleared a corner kick, the ball trickling to Dew who drilled a shot that Barbara tipped over the crossbar with a great reaction save, Ten minutes later, O'Hara's header off a free kick seemed to have Barbara beaten, but sailed high. In the 32nd minute, Rodriguez had a chance off a deflected thrown-in, but her half-volley caught Barbara in the chest with the keeper falling on the ball. In the 70th minute, Heath targeted a long shot, but Barbara moved quickly to tip it wide. Eight minutes later, Dew headed a corner kick high. In the 83rd minute, Rodriguez drove a shot from outside of the box, but Barbara pushed it around her right post. Notes: Henderson, Adams and midfielder Amanda Poach were the three Americans
named to the all-tournament team. Lineups: United States - Val Henderson, Stephanie Lopez (captain), Carrie Dew, Nikki Krzysik, Tobin Heath, Tina DiMartino (Jordan Angeli 85), Amanda Poach, Allie Long, Kelley O'Hara (Danesha Adams 46), Lauren Cheney, Amy Rodriguez. Brazil - Barbara, Daiane, Monica, Aliane, Danielle, Erika, Francielle, Renata Costa (captain), Stephane (Pamela 62), Fabiana, Maurine. Scoring: None. Penalty kicks tiebreaker: Brazil - Daiane (goal), Renata Costa (missed), Aliane (goal), Francielle (goal), Monica (goal), Fabiana (goal), Erika (saved), Maurine (goal). United States - Dew (goal), Long (saved), Angeli (goal), Heath (goal), Adams (goal), Lopez (goal), Rodriguez (missed), Poach (saved). Shots: United States 11, Brazil 9. Shots on goal: United States 6, Brazil 2. Saves: United States 2, Brazil 5. Corner kicks: United States 7, Brazil 4. Fouls: United States 16, Brazil 12. Offside: United States 3, Brazil 1. Yellow card cautions: United States - Krzysik 20, Dew 46, Henderson 57, Lopez 63; Brazil - Barbara 87, Pamela 89. Referee: Jenny Palmqvist (Sweden). Assistant referees: Maria Luisa Villa Gutierrez (Australia), Susanne Borg (Sweden). Fourth official: Shane De Silva (Trinidad & Tobago). Attendance: 8,500 at Lokomotiv Stadium in Moscow. Weather:Rain, chilly, 67 degrees Tournament Most Valuable Players Final standings Top of PageU-20 WNT Dominates China, Loses On PKs MOSCOW (Thursday, August 31, 2006) -- No matter how good a team might be, the game of soccer inherently possesses the ability to humble even the most talented sides. This tenet is well understood among soccer partisans, but that did not make the reminder the United States under-20 women received tonight any less painful. The U.S. was clearly the better side in tonight's Under-20 Women's World Championship, but its domination could not prevent China from advancing to the championship game after winning 5-4 in a penalty-kicks tiebreaker following 120 minutes of scoreless competition before 1,000 witnesses of the semifinal at Locomotiv Stadium. On Sunday, the U.S. will play Brazil for third place in a preliminary for the title match between China and North Korea. The Koreans, the surprise of the tournament, advanced by edging Brazil 1-0 this afternoon. "It's a cruel game," U.S. coach Tim Schulz said. "I am very, very proud of my girls. They are fantastic soccer players. They hurting right now, but this is the ups and downs of sports." The U.S. won this event in 2002 when it was competed at the under-19 age group in 2002, but two years ago Germany unseated the Americans 3-1 in the semifinals en route to claiming the crown. After the U.S. handled the Germans 4-1 in the quarterfinals here, the team seemed poised to again bring home the trophy. And there was nothing about the Americans play today that would not have supported that concept with the U.S. controlling play, outshooting China 23-5, 8-1 on frame. "The amazing thing was that this was our best game of the tournament, even in the rainy conditions, but soccer is a cruel game sometimes," U.S. defender and captain Stephanie Lopez said. "I was so proud of the heart and skill that was shown by my team tonight and I am proud to be a part of this team even though we didn't win. There are some great players and great people in this group. "I know the rest of the team shares my feeling of grief and astonishment. Throughout the whole game and even up to the penalty kicks, the whole team was confident we would win. It's the toughest way to lose when you battle for 120 minutes and you know you were the better team on the day, but things just don't go your way." The U.S. was in charge for a large majority of the proceedings with China's best stretch coming in the final 10 minutes of the first half. But the Americans could not solve China's defense, so the game went to penalty kicks. Zhuang Ran opened the PK segment by burying her attempt with Carrie Dew answering for the Americans by sending a penalty into the left corner of the net. China's Zhang Wei also went left and made it 2-1 with U.S. goalkeeper Val Henderson getting a hand on the shot, but unable to keep it out. Danesha Adams found the lower right corner to equalize at 2-2. China's Yuang Fan went high left, while American Amanda Poach shot into the left corner and it was 3-3. Zi Jingling of China and Lopez were both successful to the lower right, making it 4-4 and setting up the decisive sequence. Henderson dove to her left to deny Ma Xiaoxu, the ball catching her right arm and deflecting off the crossbar. Brittany Bock was in position to send the U.S. the the championship game, but she hit the outside of the right post. The shootout still stood at 4-4. Zhu Wei blasted China's sixth try up the middle and into the net, catching Henderson leaning. American Lauren Cheney also drove her attempt up the middle, but goalkeeper Zhang Yanru held her ground and palmed the ball safely over the bar to send China forward and the U.S. to the third-place game. "When you've worked so hard and poured out your heart on the field, you are just left with a really empty feeling after something like this," Lopez said. "It will be hard to move onto the next game, but we have to regroup and play our best match against Brazil. We owe that to each other and our country. The hardest thing is that we know we were the best team at this tournament, but that will not be demonstrated when they hand out the medals. This will take some time to get over." Schulz opened himself up to possible criticism after making five changes in his starting lineup from the team that drubbed defending champ Germany 4-1 in the quarters four days earlier. In his defense, he had rotated his lineup liberally throughout the tournament. "During our preparation, we did the same thing, giving players minutes and getting fresh bodies in and out," Schulz said. "Even today, I am not even sure who my starting 11 are. Some girls are hot one day and the next day they are not. They are still young. There is no question I wanted to win the tournament, but it is still about development and I am still very proud of 21 players." After the U.S. dominated play, but did not produce many scoring chances in the first half, he sent on midfielders Kelley O'Hara and Poach at halftime and Adams in the 66th minute. After Adams replaced Jessica Rostedt, the U.S. went from a 4-4-2 to a more offensive 4-3-3 formation. Subsequently, the U.S. attacked in Waves, producing 18 shots and several close calls in the final 45 minutes of regulation and 30 minutes of extra time. Completely on the defensive, the Chinese seemed happy about the prospect of going to penalty kicks and numerous players went down with cramps in an obvious time-wasting maneuver. Zhang was cautioned for time-wasting in goal. A hard rain fell here before the match and most of the game was played in a steady drizzle, making the field wet and sloppy. The slick conditions contributed to the U.S. picking up its pace and keeping China pinned in its defensive half. China's one good chance came in the 38th minute when Ma drilled a shot from the left side of the box, but Henderson did well to make her one save of the game at the near post. In the 61st minute, Rostedt took advantage of a failed Chinese clearance and went in on a breakaway, but Zhang came out for a kick save. Adams created danger with several shots from distance, especially in the 71st minute when she side-stepped two defenders at the top of the box and ripped a shot that sailed just wide right. In the 101st minute, Adams drove a free kick that his the inside of O'Hara's foot and dribbled inches wide of the right post as Zhang was left wrong-footed and could only watch. Cheney nailed a shot off Zhang's chest from close range in the 74th minute, but defender Stephanie Logterman could do more than softly send the rebound right to the keeper. Cheney had another chance four minutes later but, after spinning around a defender, sent her 15-yard shot wide left. China striker Lou Xiaoxu's headed a corner kick wide left in the 88th minute. O'Hara missed scoring nine minutes into the first of two 15-minute overtime periods, skimming the underside of the crossbar and then watching the ball be cleared. Four minutes later, Cheney just missed combining with O'Hara for a dangerous opportunity. "You've seen many games throughout history where you are pressing, you are knocking on the door, you are hitting the post, the keeper is doing everything she can to make the saves, you are taking shots and they are bouncing wide instead of going in the goal," Schulz said. "You always want to question yourself and wonder if there was something else you could have done to make yourself successful but, then again, you will go crazy if you do that. I was pleased with the performance, it was some good football." In the other semifinal, Ri Un Hyang scored from close
range after a scramble for a corner kick in the 87th minute to send North
Korea past Brazil 1-0. Lineups: United States - Val Henderson, Stephanie Lopez (captain), Carrie Dew, Nikki Krzysik, Stephanie Logterman, Tina DiMartino, Sarah Wagenfuhr (Amanda Poach 46), Brittany Bock, Jordan Angeli (Kelley O'Hara 46), Lauren Cheney, Jessica Rostedt (Danesha Adams 66). China - Zhang Yanru, Zhou Gaoping, Yuan Fan, Zhang Wei, Weng Xinzhi, Yue Min, Rao Hui Fang (Zi Jingjing 61), Zhuang Ran, Zhang Wei Shuang (Zhu Wei 120), Lou Xiaoxu, Ma Xiaoxu (captain). Scoring: none. Penalty kicks tiebreaker: China - Ran (goal), Zhang Wei (goal), Fan (goal), Jingling (goal), Xiaoxu (saved), Zhu Wei (goal). United States - Dew (goal), Adams (goal), Poach (goal), Lopez (goal), Bock (missed), Cheney (saved). Shots: United States 23, China 5. Shots on goal: United States 8, China 1. Saves: United States 1, China 7. Corner kicks: United States 9, China 2. Fouls: United States 14, China 16. Offside: United States 3, China 1. Yellow card cautions: China - Rao Hui 8, Zi 91+, Zhang 111. Referee: Tammy Ogston (Australia). Assistant referees:
Sarah Ho (Australia), Airlie Keen (Australia). Fourth official: Shane
De Silva (Trinidad & Tobago). Attendance: 1,000 at Lokomotiv Stadium
in Moscow. Weather: Chilly, light rain, 57 degrees. Top of PageO'Hara, Adams Lead U.S. Over Germany ST. PETERSBURG, Russia (Sunday, August 27, 2006) -- Kelly O'Hara and Danesha Adams scored in a one-minute span -- both assisted by fellow midfielder Amanda Poach -- to break a scoreless tie and propel the United States to a 4-1 triumph over Germany in the Under-20 Women's World Championship quarterfinals before 750 at Petrovsky Stadium tonight. The U.S., which won this tournament (then an under-19 event) in 2002, but was eliminated by eventual titlist Germany 3-1 in the 2004 semifinals in Thailand, next faces China in the semifinals Thursday at Lokomotiv Stadium in Moscow. In today's first quarterfinal, North Korea used a dramatic 90th-minute header from Hong Myong Gum off a corner kick to defeat France, 2-1 and advance to its first world semifinal against Brazil. Moments after O'Hara opened the scoring for the U.S., Adams netted the first of two tallies for the match, putting the Americans ahead for good. Striker Amy Rodriguez registered the last U.S. goal in the final minute of regulation. For the first 30 minutes, Germany was the aggressor and created several dangerous situations, but U.S. goalkeeper Val Henderson was up to the task. She came up with a big save just four minutes in after Germany midfielder Nadine Kessler drilled a right-footed volley off a right-side corner kick. Henderson snagged it at the near post. In the 11th minute, the U.S. had a solid opportunity when Adams sent O'Hara behind the defense down the right flank, but O'Hara's shot from 17 yards out went wide right. The U.S. settled into it game after about a half hour and took a 1-0 lead in the 36th minute. Rodriguez earned corner kick after carrying into the right side of the penalty area. Poach's corner was cleared, but U.S. defender Stephanie Lopez collected it played it back to Poach on the right flank. Poach took a touch inside and bent a left-footed cross to O'Hara as the German defense stepped up, trying to pull her offside. O'Hara held the line, controlled the ball with her chest and went in alone on goalkeeper Romina Holz, before looping a 14-yard left-footed volley over Holz into the top right corner of the net. The Germans appealed unsuccessfully for either an offside or hand-ball call against O'Hara. Moments later, the U.S. had another corner kick cleared. From the right flank, Poach sent a ball to the far post where Adans powered it home with an eight-yard header. Holz got a piece of the shot, but could not prevent it from going in or the Americans going up 2-0 in the 37th minute. It was Poach's third assist of the tournament. The U.S. nearly increased its advantage in the 41st minute, but Adams' cross glanced off the forehead of forward Lauren Cheney in front of the net. Henderson, making her second straight start in net, turned in another strong performance. In the 25th minute, she dove at Germany midfielder Simone Laudehr and swiped the ball off her feet after the German had slipped by Lopez. Henderson stuffed Laudehr in the 59th minute and tipped midfielder Nadine Kessler's blast off the crossbar in the 75th minute. Holz made a diving save on Cheney in the 58th minute to keep Germany in contention. That stop looked important when Germany reserve forward Lydia Nuemann narrowed her side's deficit to 2-1 in the 65th minute. Neumann replaced Anna Blaesse, who was hurt in the 33rd minute. Laudehr slipped a pass into the left side to Neumann, who dodged a challenge from Lopez and poked the ball with the outside of her right foot 12 yards just beyond a diving Henderson's fingertips and into the right corner of the net. Any German hopes for a comeback were quickly dashed when the U.S. regained its two-goal margin in the 71st minute. Tina DiMartino, who substituted for Cheney in the 62nd minute, raced down the right flank and bent a rolling cross. Adams beat her marker and finished into the far corner from five yards out to make it 3-1. It was Adams' third tally of this competition. The Americans maintained most of the possession from there. In the 90th minute, Rodriguez was sprung for a 40-yard breakaway. She carried too close to Holz, who made the save, but Rodriguez was first to the rebound in the left side of the box. She went past Juliane Hoefler toward the end line and spun her shot into the far corner of the net from a sharp angle for a 4-1 lead. The U.S. held a 15-5 shots advantage, 9-5 on frame. Saturday, August 26 (in Moscow) Sunday, August 27 (in St. Petersburg, Russia) Lineups: United States - Val Henderson, Tobin Heath, Carrie Dew, Nikki Krzysik, Stephanie Lopez (captain), Kelley O'Hara (Jordan Angeli 48), Amanda Poach, Brittany Bock (Allie Long 48), Danesha Adams, Lauren Cheney (Tina DiMartino 62), Amy Rodriguez. Germany - Romina Holz, Janina Haye (Ann-Christin Angel 78), Babett Peter, Juliane Hoefler, Fatmire Bajramaj, Lena Goessling, Celia Okoyino Da Mbabi, Nadine Kessler, Simone Laudehr (Jennifer Oster 76), Anna Blaess (Lydia Neumann 33), Juliane Maier. Scoring: Shots: United States 15, Germany 5. Shots on goal: United States 9, Germany 5. Saves: United States 4, Germany 5. Corner kicks: United States 4, Germany 4. Fouls: United States 14, Germany 14. Offside: United States 4, Germany 1. Yellow card cautions: United States - Cheney 57, Heath (caution) 66.; Germany - Bajramaj 52. Referee: Jenny Palmqvist (Sweden). Assistant referees: Maria Luisa Villa Gutierrez (Spain), Susanne Borg (Sweden). Fourth official: Claudine Brohet (Belgium). Attendance: 750 at Petrovsky Stadium in St. Petersburg, Russia Weather: Overcast, slight breeze, 73 degrees. (From www.soccertimes.com) Top of PageU.S. Defeats France, 1-0, to Win Group D MOSCOW, Russia (August 24, 2006) - The USA got a second half goal from Jessica Rostedt to earn a 1-0 win against France and finish first in Group D at the 2006 FIFA U-20 Women's World Championship. U.S. goalkeeper Val Henderson made nine saves in the game to preserve the victory and was named the U.S. Player of the Match. The U.S. outshot France 17-13, but only four of those 17 shots were on goal. All but four of France’s shots were on frame. The U.S. will next face U-19 defending champions Germany in the quarterfinals of the tournament on Sunday, Aug. 27, at 11 a.m. ET. Germany finished second in group play, losing to South Korea, which is unbeaten in three group games. A full match report will be posted after the match. - U.S. UNDER-20 WOMEN'S NATIONAL TEAM GAME REPORT - Top of PageO’Hara Leads U20s Over The Congo The U.S. Under-20 Women’s National Soccer Team opened the 2006 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Championship with a 2-1 win against a physical and highly motivated Democratic Republic of Congo in Group D play at Torpedo Stadium. Both U.S. forwards scored as Kelley O’Hara tallied on a drive from distance in the 41st minute and Amy Rodriguez converted a penalty kick 20 minutes into the second half. But the young U.S. team wasted a slew of chances during the match, smacking four shots off the crossbar and failing to convert at least three breakaways over the course of the game. “The good news is that they are not happy or satisfied with the game,” said U.S. coach Tim Schulz. “I thought some individuals, especially some of the younger players, stepped up and did a fantastic job. Kelley O’Hara played very hard up top. (Casey) Nogueira, one of our youngest players, did well when she came in. Tobin Heath looked super with her flair on the ball…so I am pleased with that. I am happy with the back four, they kept their shape and stepped up at the right time.” The USA out-shot DR Congo, 22-9, but the Africans definitely distinguished themselves with some gutsy play despite coming into the game as huge underdogs. The USA was on shaky legs in the early going, but Congo’s only danger early on came from two misplays off the feet of U.S. goalkeeper Joanna Haig and an opportunistic 40-yard shot from Odile Kuyangisa that forced Haig to scramble back into her net as it flew over the crossbar. The USA settled down after the first 10 minutes and Rodriguez volleyed one over the goal from 10 yards out after a poor Congo clearance before she was miraculously denied in the 18th minute. The play started when defender Nikki Krzysik played a ball into the right side of penalty area behind the defense to Tina DiMartino. She whipped a cross on the ground to Heath, who was making a run to the near post. Heath’s back-heel attempt at goal hit of the shin of Congo goalkeeper Mamie Buazo. The ball came back to back to Heath, who played a quick touch to Rodriguez in the middle and the U.S. forward slammed her shot at the net from just seven yards away. The ball hit Buazo in the leg and then was pinned on the goal line by a sliding Congo defender before Buazo jumped on it. TThe USA continued to pepper the Congolese goal and finally broke through in the 33rd minute. O’Hara took a thread pass from center midfielder Allie Long and whirled toward goal. Finding no defenders close, she wound up and smacked a dipping drive from 28 yards out that flew into the lower left corner. It was O’Hara’s ninth international goal at the U-20 level. The pressure paid off in the 65th minute as the Americans earned a throw-in deep in the Congo half on the left side. It was taken quickly to DiMartino, who plowed into the left side of the penalty area and then crossed into the middle. Long won the bouncing ball, but with her back to the goal, she was bowled over as Nanouche Lumbu ran up her back. Rodriguez drilled her penalty shot straight up the middle as Buazo moved to her right away from the ball. The USA then put together a remarkable flurry over the next few minutes, remarkable in the amount of opportunities created in such a short time, and in that none were put away. Just seconds after the Congo kickoff, Rodroguez got in on a breakaway, but it was saved by Buazo. One minute later, Amanada Poach had a breakaway after a nifty Rodriguez back-heel, but hit it wide left of the goal. Nogueira then had two golden chances, the first of which she fired straight at Buazo and second of which she pounded off the crossbar from just inside the penalty area. Congo pulled a goal back in the 70th minute on a mistake in the back by defender Stephanie Logterman, who otherwise played a rock solid match. Logterman passed the ball straight to an African midfielder, who quickly played Tresorine Nzuzi behind the U.S. defense. Stephanie Lopez and Hardy almost recovered to deny her shot, but Nzuzi pulled off a fine dribbling move to avoid the challenges and bent a ball past Haig into the lower left corner form 17 yards out. Nzuzi celebrated the goal with a cartwheel flip, but it would be the lone score for the Africans. Haig came up with a fine save in the 76th minute, pushing a 25-yard Congo free-kick from Kuyangisa over the crossbar to preserve the victory. When Nogueira hit the crossbar again in the 74th minute, DiMartino shot an open volley wide left from 10 yards out, and O’Hara blistered a dipping volley over the crossbar in the 82nd, it was clear that it wouldn’t be the Americans’ day. The feisty O’Hara earned Women of the Match honors and pestered the Congo defense with her running all match long. Heath also had a fine match at left back for the USA, moving into the midfield on numerous occasions to bolster the U.S. attack. The USA will next face Argentina, who lost 5-0 to France, on Monday, Aug. 21, at Torpedo Stadium. In the other matches on the day, Mexico picked up a big 4-2 win over Switzerland, but the shocker of the competition so far, and perhaps one of the biggest upsets ever in a FIFA women’s tournament, saw North Korea shutout defending champions Germany, 2-0. U.S. UNDER-20 WOMEN'S NATIONAL TEAM GAME REPORT COD: 1-Mamie Buazo; 2-Pitshou Tezi, 5-Guyssie Kiuvu, 6-Nanu Mafuala,
7-Oliva Amani (8-Olga Wadio, 86), 14-Odile Kuyangisa; 11-Nanouche Lumbu,
15-Christine Bongo, 4-Tresorine Nzuzi, 9-Annette Nshimire, 12-Mify Zenga
(17-Yvonne Malembo, 51). Statistical Summary: U.S. U-20 Women’s National Team Quote Sheet Top of PageU.S. U-20 Women Ready For Russia The United States under-20 women ended seven months of training, breaking camp Saturday and flying to Russia for the Under-20 Women's World Championship which will be competed at four stadiums in Moscow and one in St. Petersburg from Thursday to September 4. The U.S. will play all of its Group D matches of the 16-nation event in Moscow, starting Friday against the Democratic Republic of Congo, followed by Argentina next Monday and France on August 24. The Americans have played more than 50 matches to get ready for this tournament. All 21 U.S. women play college soccer and could miss as much as two weeks of the NCAA Division I season which commences August 25. Goalkeeper Val Henderson and striker Danesha Adams recently played for the U.S. under-20s who placed second to Germany at the Nordic Cup in Norway. Two years ago, the U.S. finished third in the Under-19 World Championship, with the age group bumped up one year for this rendition. Since January, the American under-20s played 50 games against senior, under-21 and U-20 national teams, as well as club, amateur and college sides. The U.S. went 12-2-1 in international competition, scoring 50 goals -- 3.33. per outing -- in those games. Overall, the U-20s scored 160 goals in the 50 matches. "I know we're ready," Schulz said before departing. "We've had a lot of games and I'm very pleased with the progress. We have numerous players that can perform in different positions and the chemistry on the team has been excellent. I know the team is very excited to get to Russia and get the tournament started." Jessica Rostedt is the leading scorer in all matches with 22 goals, followed by front line mates Lauren Cheney with 21 and Kelley O'Hara with 18. Amy Rodriguez knocked home 14 goals in just 20 matches after missing much preparation time because of academic commitments and duty with the full U.S. women's team. Midfielder Tina DiMartino leads the team in assists with 20 and also has found net herself on 10 occasions, while Adams has 15 goals and midfielder Jordan Angeli 14 tallies. Defenders Stephanie Lopez and Stephanie Logterman are the most capped Americans at the under-20\under-19 level with 34 and 29 international appearances, respectively. The players with the most career international goals at this age group are Cheney (nine), Rodriguez (nine), Rostedt (eight) and O'Hara (eight). "We've been together for seven months, but I can really see the
team coming together and finally starting to click," said Rodriguez,
who along with Lopez, Rostedt, Logterman, defender Nikki Krzysik
and goalkeeper Kelsey Davis played in the 2004 U-19 world
championship. "We have a lot more confidence in each other and we
are just starting to peak, which is the perfect time as the World Cup
is right around the corner." Friday, August 18 -- vs. Congo at Torpedo Stadium in Moscow, 8 a.m. The roster for the United States under-20 women. Each player's name is followed in parentheses by her hometown and college team: Goalkeepers (3): Kelsey Davis (Thousand Oaks, Calif.; Portland), Joanna Haig (Inver Grove Heights, Minn.; Louisville), Val Henderson (Orinda, Calif., UCLA). Defenders (6): Carrie Dew (Encinitas, Calif., Notre Dame), Erin Hardy (Costa Mesa, Calif.; UCLA), Nikki Kryzsik (Clifton, N.J.; Virginia), Stephanie Logterman (Austin, Texas; Texas), Stephanie Lopez (Elk Grove, Calif.; Portland), Sara Wagenfuhr (Colorado Springs, Colo.; Florida State). Midfielders (8): Danesha Adams (Shaker Heights, Ohio; UCLA), Jordan Angeli (Lakewood, Colo.; Santa Clara), Brittany Bock (Naperville, Ill.; Notre Dame), Tina DiMartino (Massapequa Park, N.Y.; UCLA), Tobin Heath (Basking Ridge, N.J.; North Carolina), Allie Long (East Northport, N.Y.; Penn State), Casey Nogueira (Cedarburg, Wisc.; North Carolina), Amanda Poach (Bowie, Md.; Santa Clara); Forwards (4): Lauren Cheney (Indianapolis, Ind.; UCLA), Amy Rodriguez (Lake Forest, Calif.; Southern California), Kelley O'Hara (Fayetteville, Ga.; Stanford), Jessica Rostedt (Kent, Ohio; Virginia). Note: Kelsey Davis transferred from UCLA to Portland
and must sit out the 2006 (From www.SoccerTimes.com) Top of PageU.S. U-20s Seeded At World Championships The United States has been drawn into Group D of the Under-20 Women's World Championship which will be played August 7 through September 3 in Russia. In the draw held at Moscow City Hall, the U.S. found that it will meet Argentina, France and the second-place team from African qualifying in the first round. "I know all the girls are excited to finally find out who we will be playing," said U.S. co-captain and defender Nikki Krzysik. "We've been working so hard for the past two-and-a-half months and to have a clear picture of who and when we will be playing will make us work even harder. I was on the last U-19 team (at the 2004 world championships) in Thailand and I know how intense and tough all the games will be. The older players on this team will make sure we educate the new players about the challenges we will face in Russia." The Americans, Germany, China and Russia were awarded tops seeds in the four groups of the 16-nation event. The top two finishers in each of the four groups will advance to the quarterfinals when the tournament turns to single elimination. "We are just digesting the draw and there are some very good teams up there (on the board)," U.S. coach Tim Schulz said in a press release. "It is nice to see that there is some parity in the groups. Now we are going to go back to our rooms to start formulating our plans, just like all the coaches." The U.S. will open the world championship tournament August 18 against the runnerup from African qualifying at Torpedo Stadium in Moscow. The Confederation of African Football representatives will not be determined until June. Three days later, the Americans face Argentina at Torpedo Stadium, then will close group play August 24 against France at Podmoskovie Stadium in Shchelkovo in the Moscow region. "You are looking at some very contrasting styles," said Schulz of the U.S.'s group opponents. "Certainly, I would imagine some of that culture from the men's games carries over onto the women's, so you could see some of those same styles of play in our opponents. (The American group) is actually pretty fun to see. There's an African team in there and France is always a good contender. Then Argentina, if they bring the (same qualities) as the men's side to the game, they will have a lot of flair and hardness. I've actually seen France and Argentina play on tape and they are very good teams." Group A is includes Russia, Brazil, New Zealand and Australia. Group B has China, Finland, the top entry from Africa, and Canada. Group C is headed by defending U-19 world champion Germany, along with Switzerland, Mexico and North Korea. This is the third world championship for this age group with the first two competitions being for under-19 teams. The U.S. won the world championship in 2002 in Canada and finished third at the 2004 tournament in Thailand. The field was expanded to 16 nations after the first two world championships had 12 teams each. Teams from the same confederation could not be drawn together into the same preliminary group, except for those from Europe, which has five representatives competing for the world title. Group C turned out to be the group with two European squads in Germany and surprising Switzerland. Host Russia will take on Brazil in the tourney opener at Petrovsky Stadium in St. Petersburg. In all, the event will use five venues -- four stadiums in Moscow (Dynamo, Lokomotiv, Shchelkovo and Torpedo) and Petrovsky in St. Petersburg. In an interesting development, Australia, which left the Oceania Confederation
for the Asia Football Confederation, plays former Oceania foe New Zealand
in the opening Group A game for both countries. Group A - Russia, Brazil, New Zealand, Australia. U.S. schedule August 18 -- vs. Africa runnerup at Torpedo Stadium in Moscow, 8 a.m.
(ET). Top of PageU.S. Women Qualify For U-20 World Championship The U.S. Under-20 Women’s National Team got two spectacular goals from midfielder Brittany Bock, including a stunning diving header that sealed the match, to defeat Mexico, 3-0, in front of a boisterous crowd to qualify for the 2006 FIFA Under-20 Women’s World Championship in Russia. Bock’s two scores, her first international goals, were sandwiched around a goal from forward Amy Rodriguez, her third of the tournament. The victory in the second semifinal of the 2006 CONCACAF Women’s Under-20 Final Round Qualifying Tournament earned the USA one of three coveted berths to the 3rd FIFA championship for youth women. Canada secured its place with a hard-fought 2-1 victory over Jamaica in the first semifinal. Mexico and Jamaica will meet in the third-place match on Friday, January 27, with the winner earning the final CONCACAF berth to Russia. The USA and Canada will meet in the regional championship game on Friday. Kickoff is at 3 p.m. local time / 4 p.m. ET and fans can follow the action live on ussoccer.com’s MatchTracker. The U.S. team had most of the possession in the match and created quality chances throughout the game. In just the second minute, Danesha Adams got her head to a cross, forcing Mexican goalkeeper Anjuli Ladron de Guevara to push the ball off the crossbar before grabbing it. Defender Jordan Angeli powered a 25-yard rocket in the 11th minute, but it was right into the hands of Guevara. Seven minutes later, flank midfielder Tina DiMartino got behind the Mexican defense in the right side of the penalty area, but spun her left-footed shot straight at de Guevara who had come out to cut down the angle. It took some Rodriguez dribbling magic to break down the feisty Mexicans as the U.S. forward ran out of a jersey-grab on a dynamic foray to goal, only to be chopped down 22-yards from the net, just left of the penalty arc. Bock stepped up and hit a thundering Roberto Carlos-esque free kick with the outside of her right foot into the left side of the net to open the scoring. Most of the danger created by Mexico came from U.S. turnovers in the midfield and a few quick counter-attacks that were well defended by the U.S. back line, but the hosts did have a handful of chances to score. In the first half, Rebecca Mendoza got her head to a cross from the right side that bounced just past right post from close range, while Christine Nieva chipped a free-kick from 20 yards out that landed on the top of net. The majority of the attacking, however, was done by the Americans, who out-shot Mexico, 18-7 for the match. Three minutes before halftime, Lauren Cheney took off on a solo run, beating at least four defenders on the dribble before drifting a bit left of the goal inside the penalty box. She then sent a delicate chip across the frame that flew over de Guevara and hit the underside of the crossbar, bounced down in front of the goal and was cleared by the Mexican defense. Schulz sent on Amanda Poach and Kelley O’Hara at halftime, moving to 4-3-3 formation, with the 17-year-old O’Hara joining Rodriguez and Cheney up top. The youngster made an immediate impact, getting around the right side of the defense on numerous occasions to send in dangerous crosses. Mexico showed some fight early in the second half, earning two corner kicks and hitting two shots in the first 10 minutes, but Rodriguez doubled the lead in the 59th minute. The goal sequence started with Kasey Moore sliding to win a ball just over the half line rolling it straight to Allie Long, who played a stellar game in the center of the U.S. midfield. Long turned toward goal as she collected and played a perfect thread pass to Rodriguez at top of the box. The U.S. forward held off a defender and let the ball run across her body as she powered into the penalty area before unleashing a shot from 16 yards. De Guevara got a hand on it, but couldn’t keep it out of the net as it bounced across the goal line. Two minutes later Rodriguez almost scored again as O’Hara blazed to the end line and cut back a short cross on the ground, but she cut her shot just wide of the left post from six yards out. The capper came in the 71st minute after Angeli was fouled from behind near the left sideline. Moore sent a perfectly driven cross to the far post that was met by the flying Bock, who went horizontal to power her diving header back across the goal and into the left side netting. One minute later Angeli skipped a free kick off the top of the crossbar from 19 yards away, but by then, the match had already been decided. U.S. goalkeeper Kelsey Davis made three saves to earn the shutout, the toughest of which came in the 74th minute when she had to dive to her left to snare a shot from Norma Mendez. The USA and Mexico also met in the semifinal of the 2004 CONCACAF Qualifying Tournament, then a U-19 event, with the Americans coming away with a 6-0 victory and a berth to the 2004 FIFA U-19 Women’s World Championship in Thailand. The U.S. team then fell to Canada in the title match, 2-1, and will be looking to reclaim the regional title on Friday. Rodriguez played the whole match after missing the USA’s final group game against El Salvador while serving a suspension for a red card received against Surinam. The U.S. team made it through the first four matches with no players receiving more than one yellow card and will go at full strength against Canada on Friday. Canada earned its berth to Russia with goals from Selenia Iacchelli just before halftime and Lisa Collison in the second half soon after Jamaica’s Kimmia Parker had equalized with a free-kick blast from 40 yards. Jamaica had a golden chance to tie with one minute left, but goalkeeper Erin McNulty saved a near post shot from six yards out to preserve the victory. U.S. UNDER-20 WOMEN'S NATIONAL TEAM GAME REPORT Match-up: USA vs. Mexico Scoring Summary: USA – Brittany Bock (unassisted) 22nd minute. Lineups: MEX – 1-Anjuli Ladron de Guevara; 2-Marisol Arevalo,
3-Nancy Gutierrez, 4-Leticia Villalpando, 5-Isabel Valdez, 6-Rebecca Juarez
(9-Verónica Charlyn Corral, 57), 7-Maria De Lourdes Gordillo-Capt.,
8-Christine Yvette Nieva, 15-Rebecca Mendoza, 11-Tania Paola Morales (13-Norma
Mendez, 32), 18-Nancy Gandarilla (19-Monique Cisneros, 76). Statistical Summary: USA MEX Misconduct Summary: Officials ussoccer.com Woman of the Match: Brittany Bock CONCACAF U-20 WOMEN’S FINAL QUALIFYING TOURNAMENT January 27, 2006 2006 CONCACAF Women’s Under-20 Qualifying Tournament
U.S. HEAD COACH TIM SCHULZ “I think we will try to go to our bench a little bit more. I am happy that a few players got to rest tonight. Truly I don’t know what my top 11 are yet, so some of the girls who were on the bench today will get some playing time, maybe start. We are experimenting with two formations in the 4-4-2 and the 4-3-3, so maybe we even introduce a third formation.” On the CONCACAF championship vs. Canada: On Mexico: On Brittany Bock: On the road ahead: U.S. MIDFIELDER BRITTANY BOCK On her second goal, a diving header: U.S. DEFENDER AND CAPTAIN NIKKI KRZYSIK On Brittany Bock: U.S. FORWARD KELLEY O’HARA On the next game vs. Canada: U.S. FORWARD LAUREN CHENEY Top of PageThe U.S. Under-20 Men’s national team couldn’t hold on to a 1-0 halftime lead over Italy and were eliminated in the FIFA World Youth Championship 3-1 in the second round. The young Americans had won their group by beating Argentina and Egypt by 1-0 scores and drawing with Germany 0-0, but lost to Italy, which had finished third in group play. The U.S. took a 1-0 lead on Hunter Freeman’s penalty kick in the first half. That came after Freddy Adu had missed his second PK of the tournament, but the referee ruled that the Italian goalkeeper left his line early and Freeman made good on his attempt. The U.S. defense melted down in the second half and two Italy’s goals were off American players. The equalizer was off defender Jonathan Spector, and after Graziano Pelle had scored the game-winner, the third was an own-goal by U.S. substitute Sasha Kljestan. “The guys, including myself, we relaxed a little bit,” said
Adu. “We figured Italy was not going to be as good as they really
were. U.S. coach Sigi Schmid said of his 16-year old midfielder, who did not have a good tournament, “I didn’t think he showed up today.” Adu concurred by adding, “I was terrible in this tournament.” All three of Italy’s goals came in a 20-minute span in the second half. The U.S. Under-20s finished their two-year cycle with a 16-6-4 international record, with 13 of the 16 victories coming under the direction of Schmid who took over in November of 2003. The U.S. will finish the tournament no lower than 14th place and no higher than 10th, depending on the other four results in the Round of 16 that will be played on Wednesday, June 22 in Holland. Top of PageU.S. U20s Beat Egypt, Wins Group The U.S. Under-20 Men’s National team pulled off their third consecutive shutout to advance to the second round of the FIFA Youth World Championships in Holland. Arguably placed in the most difficult four-team group, the young Americans won the group with seven points after a 1-0 win over Egypt on a goal by Jacob Peterson, a striker from Indiana University, in the 56th minute. Argentina beat Germany 1-0 in their final game to finish second in the group with a 2-1 record, while Germany was third at 1-1-1. The U.S. upset Argentina 1-0 in the tournament opener, and then played Germany to a 0-0 draw. The U.S. will now meet Italy, the third-place team in Group E, in the second round. That game is set for Tuesday with an 11:30 am ET kickoff. Argentina will play Colombia and Germany will play China in the Round of 16. Peterson head in a deflected shot from Freddy Adu for the only goal of the game, and the defense held Egypt to just one shot for the entire 90 minutes. It marked only the 12th time in WYC history that a team has posted three shutouts in group play, and the even points is the most ever earned by a U.S. U-20 team in group games in 10 tournament appearances. The back-to-back-to-back shutouts in the tournament’s toughest group marks one of the greatest national team accomplishments in U.S. Soccer history. The U.S. came out with a completely different line-up than they used in their first two games, allowing a number of players to rest, including left back Marvell Wynne (UCLA) and attacking midfielder Eddie Gaven (MetroStars), who were both holding yellow cards. A total of six players earned their first start of the tournament, four of which were seeing their first minutes overall. Nathan Sturgis (Clemson) was the defensive leader, providing another impressive performance from his central back position. Sturgis, who came on for regular starter Jonathan Spector in the early stages of the opening match, was a calming influence in the back with good positioning and well-timed tackles to kill Egypt’s offensive pressure. “We’re very proud to win the group, to get seven points and to have three shutouts in a difficult group,” said U.S. coach Sigi Schmid, who’s international record with the Under-20s now stands at 13-1-1 since taking over the team last year. “We didn’t play all that well today, but sometimes it can be a good sign when you don’t play well and can still come out with a victory. We’re pleased we were able to rest some players today and not risk those players that had yellow cards. Now we are just looking forward to Tuesday.” - U.S. U-20 MNT Game Report - ROUND OF SIXTEEN Top of PageUSA U-20 Beat Argentina, Tie Germany The U.S. Under-20 national team drew 0-0 with Germany in the second game in pool play to remain unbeaten at the World Youth Championship in the Netherlands. The tie comes on the heels of the 1-0 win over Argentina to open the tournament. The U.S. now has four points after two games in Group D ahead of Argentina, which earned three points after its 2-0 win over Egypt. The U.S. and Germany are tied in points, but the Germans has a plus one goal advantage after a 3-0 win over Egypt. The draw marked the first-time ver the U.S. has come away with at least
a point in its second match after winning its opening game at a World
Youth Championship. The U.S., which has opened four previous Youth World
Championships with a win only to lose in the second, had the better of
play in the first half, but started to fade midway through the second
and held on as Germany took over the game in the final 20 minutes. "We obviously would have liked to come away with more as I'm sure Germany is too," said U.S. coach Sigi Schmid, "but we are satisfied with one point. In our last game against Egypt we need to find the back of the net to try and win the group. But I'm very pleased with how our team played over the first 60 minutes.” German coach Michael Skibbe, complimented the young Americans as he said, “Congratulations to the USA, they played very well for 55 to 60 minutes and put my team under much pressure. We could have easily conceded a goal.” The U.S. win over Argentina in the opening game has proven to be the upset of the tournament. Chad Barrett’s header in the 39th minute was all the U.S. needed. Freddy Adu had a chance to put it away with a penalty kick in the second half, but played it off the post. The game was not without a loss as defender Jonathan Spector went off with a first-half leg injury, and was replaced by Clemson’s Nathan Sturgis, who played very well. Spector, who plays for Arsenal in the English Premier League, did not play against Germany. The win was the second straight over Argentina for the U.S, which beat
the South American power 2-1 in March in South Korea. Top of PageU.S. Under-20s Go For World Title In Holland While the U.S. Men’s National Team continues its quest to qualify for the 2006 World Cup in Germany, the next generation of national team stars prepare for the challenge of the FIFA World Youth Championship in Holland. U.S. coach Sigi Schmid has picked his team, about evenly split between young professionals and college players. The tournament, June 10-July 2, has the U.S. team in a difficult group that incudes Argentina, Germany and Egypt. The top two teams from each of six groups, plus the top four third-place teams, will advance to the Round of 16. In 2003 in the United Arab Emirates, the U.S. won its group for the first time in a World Youth Championship, and advanced to the quarterfinals before losing 2-1 to Argentina in overtime. The best finish ever for the U.S. came in Saudi Arabia in 1989, when the U-20s, led by current MNT goalkeeper Kasey Keller, advanced to the semifinals before falling to Brazil in the third-place game to finish fourth. Schmid, the former UCLA and MLS Los Angeles Galaxy head coach, took over the Under-20 coaching duties last October when then-head coach Thomas Rongen was named coach of MLS expansion Chivas USA. Schmid’s team has posted a 10-1-0 record since last fall, including wins earlier this spring against Egypt and Argentina, two of the three teams the U.S. will face in Holland. Schmid’s 21-player roster includes 15 who were part of the squad that finished first in regional qualifying in January, as the U.S. made the tournament field for the fifth consecutive time. Six players selected were members of the U.S. team that competed in the FIFA Under-17 World Championship in Finland, including D.C. United’s Freddy Adu. At age 16, Adu will be making his second appearance in a FIFA World Youth Championship, starting three matches in 2003. Eddie Gaven, the MetroStars striker, is one of the most experienced players on the U.S. roster. The third-year pro has two caps with the full national team. “Over the past seven months these 21 players have demonstrated to me and the rest of the coaching staff that they belong on this roster and are ready to compete at the World Youth Championship,” said Schmid. Among the other MLS professionals taken are Danny Szetela (Columbus), Chad Barrett (Chicago), Hunter Freeman (Colorado), Will John (Chicago) and Tim Ward (MetroStars). Three other pros play outside the U.S. Goalkeeper Quentine Westberg plays with ESTAC Troyes in France and is expected to start for the U.S. in Holland. The other two, defender Jonathan Spector and forward Sammy Ochoa, have never played for the U.S. U-20 national team. Spector, once a striker on the U.S. U-17 team, signed with English Premier League club Manchester United where he has risen as a defender. He has seen time with United’s first team at left back. Ochoa plays with Tecos of Mexico, and was outstanding in an earlier U-20 training camp in February. Among the college players selected by Schmid are UNC goalkeeper Justin Hughes, who is expected to play a backup role, and defender Nathan Sturgis from Clemson. Freeman, a Colorado Rapids rookie, played collegiate soccer at the University of Virginia. The U.S. will open the tournament on June 11 against Argentina, and takes on Germany on June 14. The Americans will close out group play against Egypt on June 18. The tournament is not scheduled to be televised by an English-speaking network, but most games will be televised in Spanish by Galavision. A selected group of games will be televised by Telefutura and Univision. Television schedule information will be available online at www.ussoccer.com throughout the tournament. Every U.S. match can be followed live via Match Tracker, from the ussoccer.com site. U.S. Under-20 MNT World Youth Championship Roster Top of PageU.S.
Go Undefeated and Win CONCACAF CARSON, Calif. (January 16, 2005) — Already qualified for the 2005 FIFA World Youth Championship, the U.S. Under-20 Men’s National Team claimed the top spot in Group A of the U-20 Final Round CONCACAF Qualifying Tournament with a 2-0 victory over Costa Rica at The Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif.
With the victory, the U.S. finishes atop the group with nine points, marking the first time the U.S. has gone undefeated and finished in sole possession of first place in CONCACAF qualifying. The U.S. finished tied for first place on points two other times in 1998 and 2001, both times with Costa Rica, with tie-breakers needed to determine the final standings.
The USA’s 2-0 victory also was celebrated by Panama as their 3-1 victory over Trinidad & Tobago in the early match allowed them to leapfrog Costa Rica and finish in second place to secure the second spot in the world championship from Group A. Panama and Costa Rica both finished with four points, but Panama advances with a superior number of total goals scored (4 to 3).
The U.S. scored 90 seconds into the match when Chad Barrett collected a Sacha Kljestan pass, dribbled past four defenders and slipped a low drive past Costa Rica goalkeeper Keilor Navas. Danny Szetela provided the second strike for the U.S. in the 38th minute when he buried a pass from Charlie Davies about 12 yards out.
“We started a number of new players, but I was confident they’d be able to get the job done and they did,” said U.S. Under-20 head coach Sigi Schmid, who is now 7-0 since becoming the USA’s U20 National Coach. “While qualifying for Holland was our first objective, winning the group and going undefeated is a testament to how hard the players have worked over the past few months. Now we will concentrate on preparations for Holland over the next five-and-a-half months. ” The U.S. opened the U20 qualifiers with a 6-1 win over Trinidad & Tobago. Eddie Gaven had a three-goal hat trick for the U.S., along with single goals from Freddy Adu, and Will John. Adu and Jacob Peterson scored in a 2-0 win over Panama that clinched a berth in the finals.
U.S. head coach Sigi Schmid started six new players against Costa Rica compared to the first two qualifiers, but kept the backline of Hunter Freeman, Marvell Wynne, Patrick Phelan and Patrick Ianni. The backline was solid again, securing their second straight shutout of the tournament. The Under-20s set the record for the least amount of goals given up in CONCACAF qualifying since 1998 when the tournament was reformatted from to only two final groups of four teams.
Costa Rica was hoping for a win or a tie to secure a spot in Holland along with the U.S., but Barrett put those hopes on hold when he scorched the backline in just the second minute. Kljestan had the ball in midfield and found Barrett at the top of the box. With defenders on his back, the stout forward quickly turned towards goal, sliced through a crowd of four defenders and buried his shot past a helpless Navas. The goal was Barrett’s fifth international strike with the U.S. Under-20s.
Miscommunication between Phelan and goalkeeper Andrew Kartunen, who was starting his first game of the tournament, almost led to an equalizing goal by Costa Rica in the 21st minute. Phelan was running in front of Panama forward Franklin Chacon after a through ball into the box and expected Kartunen to come off his line and smother it, but the ‘keeper hesitated and Chacon tried to race in for the loose ball. Phelan was able to shield Chacon from the ball and the forward ended up falling to the ground looking for a penalty, but the referee waved play on.
Danny Szetela provided the U.S. with a two-goal lead. Arturo Alvarez served in a cross from the left flank that was deflected towards the endline to the left of the goal. Charlie Davies did well to track down and turn sharply past a defender, before slipping in a ball across the goalmouth past Barrett to a waiting Szetela, who buried his shot past Navas from 12 yards.
This is the fifth straight time the U.S. has qualified for the world championship and their tenth overall. The U.S. qualifying streak ties Mexico’s five straight (1977, ’79, ’81, ’83, ’85). The other two teams that will represent CONCACAF at the world championship will come from the CONCACAF U-20 Group B, which includes Honduras, Mexico, Canada and Jamaica. The tournament will be played in San Pedro Sula, Honduras from Jan. 26-30.
In Holland, the U.S. will look to improve on its impressive fifth place finish in the 2003 FIFA World Youth Championship, when they reached the quarterfinals before falling to Argentina in overtime. The 24-team tournament will take place at five venues in Holland with games in Doetinchem, Emmen, Enschede, Kerkrade, Tilburg and Utrecht.
Along with the U.S. and the host, ten other teams have already booked
a place at the world championship. Korea Republic, China PR, Japan and
Syria are the Asia qualifiers and Spain, Turkey, Ukraine, Switzerland,
Italy and Germany are in from Europe. Top of PageSchmid Names Team For U20 Qualifying United States Under-20 Men’s National Team head coach Sigi Schmid has announced the 18-man roster that will represent the U.S. at the CONCACAF Group A Qualifying Tournament at The Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif., from Jan. 12-16. Schmid brought in 22 players to the HDC on Jan. 2 and held one final week of training before making his final decision on which 18 would make the final roster. Of the 18 players on the qualifying roster, 13 are in college while five are professional players, four of which play in Major League Soccer – Freddy Adu (D.C United), Arturo Alvarez (San Jose Earthquakes), Eddie Gaven (MetroStars) and Danny Szetela (Columbus Crew). The final professional player is first-choice goalkeeper Quentin Westberg, who plays for ESTAC Troyes in the second division in France. The U.S., which will be attempting to qualify for their fifth consecutive FIFA World Youth Championship, will play the second match of three doubleheaders during the six-game round-robin tournament, with each team playing on January 12, 14 and 16. The U.S. will open up the qualifying tournament against Trinidad & Tobago on Wednesday, Jan. 12 at 8 p.m. PT before facing Panama on Friday, Jan. 14 at 8 p.m. PT. The U-20s wrap up the tournament against Costa Rica on Sunday, Jan. 16 at 2:30 p.m. PT. Tickets ranging in price levels from $10 to $24 are available online at ussoccer.com. U.S. Under-20 MNT Roster U-20 CONCACAF Final Round Schedule Top of PageU.S. U-20 Lose 2-0 To Brazil In Florida In a spirited and even match that saw both teams with good chances on net, the U.S. Under-20 Men’s National Team fell 2-0 to Brazil this evening in front of 7,849 fans at Lockhart Stadium in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. The U.S. actually outshot the reigning U-20 World Champions 10-7, but it was Brazil that was able to finish their few chances and come away with the victory. Both teams won’t get much time to rest as they leave for Busan, South Korea early Thursday morning to participate in the Busan Four Nation International Tournament from June 22-26. The U.S. will face South Korea in the opening match on June 22, before facing Brazil two days later and closing the round-robin tournament against Poland on June 26. The U.S. looked to be the superior squad during the first 10 minutes of the game, keeping possession and pushing forward into Brazil’s defensive third, but Brazil struck quickly in the 12th minute as Wagner headed home on their first shot of the night. The U.S. didn’t back down after the early goal though, continuing to turn half-chances into opportunities on goal, but never finding the back of the net. Brazil capitalized once more in the 77th minute, as Neto was able to put back a save by Quentin Westberg from close range. Both of Brazil’s goals were created by Brazilian right back Leo, who was the best player on the field during the match. Throughout the match, the speedy 18-year-old, who also gave the U.S. Under-17 MNT trouble in the quarterfinals of the 2003 FIFA U-17 World Championship, showcased his talents that led him to be signed by Olimpique Marseille of France’s Ligue 1. “We knew going in we were in for a good game and from the start I thought we played really well,” U.S. Under-20 head coach Thomas Rongen said. “I’m not pleased with the result, but over the full 90 minutes I was satisfied with our play. We were able to stand our ground, push forward and create some good chances, but we just weren’t able to finish.” The U.S. was the dominant team in the early going and the trio of Jamie Watson, Freddy Adu and Guillermo Gonzalez up front in Rongen’s 3-4-3 formation were able to put the Brazilian backline on their heels with darting runs and through balls. In the 8th minute, Arturo Alvarez provided the first reaction from the festive crowd as he cut inside from the left flank and fired a low shot towards goal that beat a diving Renan Soares before going barely wide of the right post. The U.S. didn’t back down after the early strike, keeping their composure and continuing to try and get through the Brazilian’s defense. But in the 23rd minute, Brazil almost put the game away early as Evandro did poorly with a well-placed service. Rafael was able to free himself on the right sideline and sent in a cross that skipped past defender Steve Purdy, falling to the feet of Evandro. With just Westberg to beat from six yards out, the Silver Ball winner the ’03 U-17 World Championship couldn’t get a foot to it as it bounced directly in front of him. Dodging that bullet, the U.S. looked to get an equalizer. In the 28th minute, Sturgis found Gonzalez at the top of the box and the L.A. Galaxy forward quickly turned and pulled the trigger with his deadly left foot, but his attempt went over the bar. The U.S. was able to keep it in the Brazilian final third for the next few minutes, winning a couple corners and dangerous free kicks on the right flank. Adu also caused some havoc with some nifty dribbling and well-timed runs. In the 30th minute, Adu tried his luck with a 20-yard shot on goal, but it was easily snagged by the ‘keeper. Brazil started to gain some momentum during the final 15 minutes of the first half, and put the U.S. under a bit more pressure as it won some deep free kicks and found a few gaps in the backline, but couldn’t create anything too dangerous. The start of the second half was much of the same as the U.S. came out early and attacked. In the first few minutes, the U.S. won a corner kick on the left side that Adu sent in to the back post. Gonzalez was able to get free in the box and tried to knock the ball on frame out of the air with a half-volley, but he wasn’t able to get a good strike on the ball as it spun off his foot and wide right of the target. Adu came close to giving the U.S. an equalizer a short time later as he got free at the top of the box and ripped a low screamer that went just wide left of the post. Later in the match, Adu dove to get his head to a Kamani Hill cross, but it was blocked by a Brazil defender and cleared out of danger. Brazil was able to create some chances as well, and finally got some breathing room in the 77th minute. Leo dribbled up the right flank and curled in a weighted ball to Evandro inside the box. The forward ripped a 12-yard shot right at Westberg, who tried to punch it clear only to see it fall to the feet of Neto at the six-yard box. With Purdy on his back, Neto was able to hold him off and then roof his shot into the top of the net. In the final five minutes, the U.S. generated two more chances. Hill broke free on the left side and cut into the box before firing a shot on goal, but Renan did well to smother the opportunity. A few moments later, Charlie Davies intercepted a pass and raced up the left flank. He crossed in a high ball to a wide-open Adu near the top of the box, but put a bit too much air under it, allowing Renan to snatch it up. Notes: Freddy Adu, Eddie Gaven, Craig Capano and Arturo Alvarez will not travel with the team to Korea as they will had back to their respective MLS teams ... Patrick Phelan, who was on the original camp roster, went back home on Tuesday after an ankle injury he had suffered a few weeks earlier was determined by the U.S. medical staff to still be too severe for him to play against Brazil or travel to Korea.
Participants: U.S. Under-20 Men’s National Team vs. Brazil BRA – Wagner (Leo) 12th minute Lineups: BRA – 1-Renan Soares; 2-Leo, 3-Halisson (14-Levi,
82), 4-Edcarlos, 6-Felipe Soares (16-Andre, 67); 5-Rafael, 17-Tiago Matos
(8-Jose Antonio Junior, 67), 7-Rodrigo (18-Ernane, 59), 10-Wagner; 9-Evandro
(19-Vinicius, 79), 20-Neto.
Misconduct Summary: U.S. Head Coach Thomas Rongen On Leo, Brazil’s right fullback… On the team… On what he got out of this game… U.S. Midfielder Freddy Adu On why he played better this time… On Brazil’s first goal… On Brazil’s defense… On his shot that went just wide of the goal in the second half… U.S. Midfielder Danny Szetela On how the U.S. played...
**************************************************************** Top of PageD.C. United's Freddy Adu is one of five MLS players called in by U.S. U-20 coach Thomas Rongen for a June 16 friendly against U-20 world champion Brazil in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. Adu will not, however, accompany the squad to South Korea for Busan Four Nations International Tournament where the U.S. U-20s will play South Korea, Poland and Brazil in a round-robin format -- nor will the MetroStars' Eddie Gaven, San Jose's Arturo Alvarez and Chicago's Craig Capano. The other pros on Rongen's roster are Guillermo Gonzalez (Los Angeles Galaxy) and goalkeeper Quentin Westberg (Troyes, French Second Division). U.S. U-20 Roster: GOALKEEPERS DEFENDERS MIDFIELDERS FORWARDS Top of PageU.S. U20s Lose To Argentina In OT The United States under-20 men came within moments of advancing
to the semifinals, but were stunned when midfielder Javier Mascherano
tied the game in the fourth minute of injury time and striker Fernando
Cavenaghi put away a penalty kick 10 minutes into sudden death, sending
Argentina to a 2-1 triumph at the FIFA World Youth Championships at Mohammed
Bin Zayed Stadium tonight. Top of PageBy Robert Wagman Top of PageU.S. Drops Second Game To Germany 3-1 The U.S. Men's Under-20 National Team fell to Germany 3-1 on Tuesday at Al-Nanyam Stadium in Abu Dhabi in the team's second match of the FIFA World Youth Championship in the United Arab Emirates. The loss puts the U.S. at 1-1-0 with three points and an even goal differential as all four teams in Group F are now even with three points each (following Paraguay's 1-0 victory over South Korea). The U.S. will next face South Korea in their final group game on Friday, Dec. 5 at 8:30 p.m. local (11:30 a.m. ET) at Al-Nahyan Stadium in Abu Dhabi. The match will be televised tape delayed on Galavision at 1:30 p.m. ET & PT, but can be followed live on ussoccer.com's MatchTracker, presented by Philips Electronics. The U.S. will know what result is needed in the match, as the game kicks off almost three hours after Paraguay-Germany (8:45 a.m. ET kickoff). It was a tale of two halves, as the first 45 minutes was an even battle that only saw three shots on goal by the U.S. and Germany combined, while the second period was a wide-open, attacking game as four goals and numerous other near misses defined the half. Germany came out blazing in the first 25 minutes of the second half, scoring two minutes into the half, before adding two more in a four-minute span not long after. Despite being down by three goals, the U.S. was able to swing the momentum back to their side and peppered the German goal for the last 20 minutes, unlucky to only come away with only one goal. "We were pleased with the 0-0 score at halftime, but I think we just let our guard down early in the second half," said U.S. Under-20 head coach Thomas Rongen. "You have to give Germany a lot of credit as they were in a big pressure game. I'm disappointed we couldn't come away with any points, but now we'll just look ahead to South Korea and do our best to advance to the second round." After pushing forward directly from the opening whistle, Germany won a free kick in the 46th minute when defender Zak Whitbread was given a caution for a dangerous tackle on the right flank. Ioannis Masmanidis served in a dangerous free kick into the box, which was nicked by U.S. midfielder Ricardo Clark before going over the endline. On the ensuing corner kick, Masmanidis crossed in a tepid ball, which was headed out, only to fall to Piotr Trochowski, who fired a clumsy shot that was deflected high into the air towards the goal. U.S. goalkeeper Steve Cronin came out to try and stab it out of the air, but defender Robert Huth beat him to it and nodded the ball off the underside of the crossbar and into the net. The U.S. tried to keep up with Germany's pressure and got a chance of their own in the 51st minute. Clark quickly played a free kick from midfield up the ride sideline to Justin Mapp, who dished off to Convey wide-open about 30 yards from goal. Bobby Convey collected the ball and tried from the long distance, but 'keeper Alexander Walke was able to drop to his left to collect the low drive. Germany had another good opportunity a minute later as Sebastian Kneissl's header from a Trochowski cross went barely over the bar, but for most of the next five minutes the U.S. began to look like it would find the equalizer. In the 57th minute, Mapp dispossessed a German defender 40-yards from goal, and then found Convey in midfield. Convey did well to push the ball around the last defender, but he put a bit too much on it, as Walke was able to beat him to it and deny a chance on goal. A minute later, forward Ed Johnson was stoned by Walke in a one-on-one opportunity. Defender C.J. Klass started the attack by putting in a swift ball from the backline to the feet of Convey at midfield. Convey turned and slotted the ball through the German defense straight-ahead to Johnson, who had timed his run beautifully. With just the keeper to beat, Johnson's shot couldn't find the back of the net as Walke's sliding save cleared the ball from danger. Germany solidified their lead shortly thereafter, getting goals from Trochowski in the 60th minute and in the 63rd from forward Sebastian Kneissl. Trochowski gave the German's a two goal lead with a blistering right-footed shot from the top of the arch that beat Cronin to his left, finding the lower-right hand corner. Three minutes later, the U.S. found itself in an even bigger hole when Matthias Lehmann collected the ball at midfield, raced towards goal and laid a through ball to his right for an onrushing Kneissl. The forward had found space between the defense and slotted the ball past Cronin from 12 yards out. Needing extra firepower to try and get back into the match, Rongen looked to his bench and brought on midfielder Ned Grabavoy to replace Klass (65th minute) and Freddy Adu for Mike Magee (73rd) up front. The U.S. changed to a 3-4-3, with defender Ryan Cochrane playing left back and Santino Quaranta moving up to forward from his right midfield position. The U.S. began to see instant results from the fresh legs, dominating play and putting the German defense on their heels for the rest of the match. In the 74th minute, Convey sent in a free kick from the right sideline that found defender Chad Marshall at the far post, but his header went wide left. Three minutes later, Adu's addition to the match bore fruit as the 14-year-old drew a foul from a German defender 35 yards from goal, setting up a free kick. Convey served in a low drive towards the near post finding Whitbread, who hit a one-timer with his left foot over the 'keeper and into the roof of the net. The goal was the first international strike for Whitbread with the U.S. Under-20 MNT. With the U.S. pushing for another, Germany came inches from swinging the momentum back to their side as they almost scored on a counter attack. With only Grabavoy back, Masmanidis found forward Alexander Ludwig all alone in the middle of the field. Ludwig raced in on Cronin and tried to chip the 'keeper, but he managed to reach up his left paw and collect the ball, while seated on the ground. The U.S. had one last chance a minute into extra time as substitute David Johnson put a through ball into the penalty area for Convey, who tricked the defenders into thinking he'd shoot before pushing it to his left to a wide-open Adu. Unfortunately for the U.S., Adu's attempt was cleared off the line by German captain Benjamin Wingerter. In the first half of play, the U.S. held Germany to only one shot on goal and had the better of opportunities to take the lead, including another shot that was cleared off the line by Wingerter. The best chance came in the 17th minute as Johnson provided Convey with
a ball down the left flank. Convey ran it down and put in an early service
right in front of the goalmouth that Magee lunged for, but couldn't get
a piece of. Mapp, crashing the far post, was able to collect the ball
and looked to shoot, but with no angle dropped it back to Magee, who put
a shot on goal that was cleared off the line by Wingereter. The ball fell
to Mapp again, but this time his drop pass intended for Johnson was picked
off. Scoring Summary: GER - Robert Huth (Piotr Trochowski) 47th minute Lineups: GER - 1-Alexander Walke; 2-Christian Lell (20-Alexander Ludwig,
46), 3-Alexander Meyer (18-Patrick Milchraum, 46), 4-Robert Huth, 5-Benjamin
Wingerter, 14-Malik Fathi (6-Michael Rundio, 72); 7-Piort Trochowski,
8-Christian Schulz, 10-Ioannis Masmanidis, 16-Matthias Lehmann; 9-Sebastian
Kneissl. Statistical Summary: Misconduct Summary: Referees: Nov. 29 Dec. 2 Dec. 5 Top of PageU.S. U-20s Rally To Beat Paraguay The U.S. Under-20 Men's National Team opened up the 2003 FIFA World Youth Championship on Saturday with a thrilling 3-1 come-from-behind win over Paraguay on goals by Eddie Johnson, Mike Magee and Bobby Convey. Julio Dos Santos, wearing the #10 shirt for Paraquay opened the scoring in the sixth minute when he split the U.S. wall with a low, curling strike from 20 yards after U.S. goalkeeper Steve Cronin picked up a yellow for a hard challenge at that spot. The U.S. then played out an even first half before coming out in the second half on fire. Santino Quaranta switched to the left side (moving Justin Mapp to the right) and assisted on Johnson's goal in the 53rd minute. Johnson set up the game-winner 15 minutes later dribbling in on the right side and taking a shot that was parried by the opponent's 'keeper right to the feet of Magee who drug the ball from behind him and into the goal. Convey added the insurance goal in the 81st minute with a world-class strike from the top of the box after an individual dribble effort found just enough space The U.S. will continue group play against Germany on Tuesday, Dec. 2, and complete group play against South Korea on Friday, Dec. 5. Germany and South Korea played their first group game against each other after the USA game with Paraguay was completed. The top two teams in each group will advance to the knockout round. The
win over Paraguay puts the U.S. is a positive position to achieve advancement
with a win in either of the remaining group games. Top of PageRongen
Selects 20-Man Roster for CHICAGO (Nov. 13, 2003) — United States Under-20 Men’s National Team head coach Thomas Rongen named his 20-player roster that will represent the U.S. at the 2003 FIFA World Youth Championship in the United Arab Emirates from Nov. 27-Dec. 19. Of the players selected, 15 were part of the squad that took second in Charleston, S.C., in November of last year to qualify for the USA’s fourth consecutive World Youth Championship. The team will travel to UAE on Saturday, Nov. 22 and conduct a week of training before the tournament, which will include a friendly against Panama on Tuesday, Nov. 25 in Abu Dhabi. The U.S. was drawn into Group F and will play all three of its games at Al-Nahyan Stadium in Abu Dhabi. The Under-20s will open the tournament on Nov. 29 against Paraguay, before meeting Germany on Dec. 2, and finishing group play against South Korea on Dec. 5. Every U.S. match at the World Youth Championship can be followed live via ussoccer.com’s MatchTracker, presented by Philips Electronics. All three U.S. games will also be televised in the U.S. on Galavision (see schedule below). “All of these players have worked hard to convince me and the rest of the coaching staff that they are ready to compete at the World Championship,” Rongen said. “We’ve been preparing for two years now and I believe this team is ready for the challenge they will be faced with in UAE. We have a mix of college and professional players that can hopefully lead us out of our group and towards our ultimate goal of getting to the final.” Rongen selected a squad with a large amount of professional experience, as eight players are currently playing in Major League Soccer and two players playing professionally in Europe. Additionally, exactly half the squad will bring world championship experience as ten players on the team participated with the U.S. in the 2001 FIFA Under-17 World Championship in Trinidad and Tobago. Leading the team is D.C. United midfielder Bobby Convey, who topped the U.S. Men’s National Team this year with 15 appearances and snagged his first goal of his career with a dramatic game-winning strike against Costa Rica in the Third Place match of the CONCACAF Gold Cup. Convey, who has played with the U-20s since 2000, already has experience in the FIFA World Youth Championship as he played in the tournament two years ago in Argentina. A pair of MetroStars, forward Mike Magee and defender Ricardo Clark, just completed their rookie MLS campaigns with impressive performances. Clark played in 28 of 32 games during the regular season to lead the MetroStars in minutes played, while also scoring three goals and notching one assist. Magee played in 29 games and finished tied for second in scoring with seven goals and two assists for 16 points. Both players have been instrumental to the Under-20 squad the past two years as Clark leads the team with 42 appearances and Magee leads the team with 18 goals, while also registering three assists for a team-high 41 points. Dallas Burn forward Ed Johnson is also expected to play a major role for the U.S. in the United Arab Emirates. Over the past two years, Johnson leads the team in international goals with eight in 16 starts. Johnson will not only bring a knack for finding the back of the net, but also a stack of experience as the forward participated in the 2001 Under-17 World Championship. The other MLS professionals include Justin Mapp (Chicago Fire), Arturo Alvarez (San Jose Earthquakes), Jordan Stone (Dallas Burn) and Santino Quaranta (D.C. United). Two other players are currently getting experience playing overseas in Europe as midfielder David Johnson and defender Zak Whitbread are young professionals with Willem II (Holland) and Liverpool (England) respectively. Both Johnson and Whitbread were part of the U-20 MNT roster for the L’Alcudia International Tournament in Spain this past August. Johnson led the team with two goals to help the U.S. secure third place in the tournament. Rounding out the rest of the nine spots on the U.S. roster is a collection of the top college players in the nation. Both U.S. goalkeepers, Steve Cronin (Santa Clara) and Ford Williams (UNC), have helped their schools push into the top ten rankings at some point this season. Cronin has been stellar between the pipes for the Broncos, recording eight shutouts and allowing just 10 goals in 17 starts. Over the past two years, Cronin has been the clear No. 1 ‘keeper for the U-20s as he has started in 34 of the teams’ 55 games, collecting a 14-9-11 record. The U.S. defense will be solidified by college standouts Chad Marshall (Stanford), Ryan Cochrane (Santa Clara), and Craig Jared Klass (University of Washington). All five defenders have been integral cogs in the U.S. Under-20 squad over the past two years as each player is near the top on the team in appearances and starts. The trio, along with defenders Drew Moor (Indiana) and Jordan Harvey (UCLA), has helped the U.S. secure 22 shutouts and post a 28-12-15 record over the past two years, outscoring their opponents almost two to one (94 goals for, 50 goals against). Two Big Ten standouts, forward Knox Cameron (Michigan) and midfielder Ned Grabavoy (Indiana), are coming off stellar college seasons as both were leading their respective teams in both goals and assists at the end of the regular season. Both players have been major contributors on the field for the Under-20s over the past two years, as Grabavoy leads the team with seven assists and Cameron is second with six assists to go along with his seven goals. Forward Clint Dempsey will also be looking to contribute in UAE. The Furman University standout has recorded 15 goals and 18 assists in three years of college, but has yet to notch a point in just eight international matches with the Under-20 MNT. The U.S. qualified for UAE ’03 by taking second place in Group B of the CONCACAF Under-20 final qualifying tournament in Charleston, S.C., in November 2002. The U.S. opened the qualifying tournament in Charleston with a 2-0 win against Haiti, and then secured its ticket to their fourth straight World Youth Championship with a 1-0 victory over El Salvador. The U.S. rested five players for their final match against Canada and fell 3-2, allowing Canada to finish as the group winners. The 24-team field at the FIFA World Youth Championship will be divided into six groups of four, with the top two teams in each group and the four best teams among those ranked third at the end of the first round qualifying for the Round of 16. All of the matches during the tournament will be played in Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, Dubai and Al-Ain. At the most recent World Youth Championship in Argentina ’01, the U.S. team advanced out of their group, but eventually fell 2-0 to a tough Egypt side in the Round of 16. The U.S. managed to finish second in Group C play with four points, despite falling to China 1-0 in its opening match of the tournament. Led by DaMarcus Beasley, who notched two goals, the U.S. beat Chile 4-1 in their next match, while Kenny Arena provided the team’s lone goal in its 1-1 tie with Ukraine in its final match of group play. The five goals in the final two games pushed the U.S. into the next round as it finished tied for second place with China with four points, moving on with a superior goal differential. Fans and media can follow the team’s journey through the World Championship by clicking on FIFA World Youth Championship at the competitions page of ussoccer.com. Top of PageAdu Makes First U20 Appearance The United States Under-20 National Team dropped a 2-1 decision to Japan on Wednesday in the team's final friendly before the 2003 FIFA World Youth Championship at The Home Depot Center in Carson, CA. The game-marked the debut of U17 standout Freddy Adu on the U.S.
Under-20 team. Top of PageU20 World Championships Rescheduled The 2003 FIFA World Youth Championship, postponed because of the threat of hostilities in Iraq, has been rescheduled. The tournament for under-20 men, originally scheduled for March 25-April 16 in the United Arab Emirates, will still be held in the UAE from November 27-December 19. The match schedule will be announced later The United States, one of 24 nations competing in the event, will meet Paraguay, South Korea and Germany in Group F. The U.S. is one of only five teams to qualify for the last four World Youth Championships, and along with Brazil, are the only teams to finish in the top 15 in each of those four events. "It is nice to have a target date to start preparing for again," U.S. under-20 coach Thomas Rongen said. "Our team was ready to play this tournament in March, and we will be ready to take the field in November. We are looking forward to the challenge of matching our abilities against the world's best." President Sepp Blatter, president of world governing body FIFA, made
the announcement. "I am delighted that FIFA will be able to hold
this major tournament in the UAE as originally planned," he said.
"The organizing committee has worked so hard to guarantee the success
of the event that it would have been unfair to move it elsewhere. Top of PageFUNCHAL, PORTUGAL (March 7, 2003) -- The U.S. Under-20 Men's
National Team used a goal from midfielder Mike Magee in the 87th minute
to edge Madeira Select 1-0 today at Estadio Dos Barreiros and finish the
7th Annual Madeira International Tournament with an undefeated 2-0-1 record.
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