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Rongen Out…..Ramos In For Now! Thomas Rongen is out as the United States Under-20 Men’s National Team coach. The team will compete in an upcoming tournament in France under the direction of former U.S. international Tab Ramos, who joined Rongen’s staff last year as an assistant. "US Soccer will not be renewing Thomas Rongen's contract when it expires at the end of the year," said US Soccer media representative Neil Buethe. "Tab Ramos will be leading the team during their trip to France. Tab was selected because he was an assistant with the team during the last cycle and is familiar with the players and the program." The decision to replace Rongen comes one month after the USA’s disappointing failure to qualify for the 2011 FIFA Under-20 Men’s World Cup, losing in the CONCACAF quarterfinals to Guatemala, 2-1. US Soccer will continue the search for a permanent U-20 coach in the weeks and months ahead. Rongen has a long history with US U-20 national team, having coached the team for nine of the last ten years with mixed results. The Dutch manager took the reins in 2001 and has continued with the team ever since, with the exception of a brief stint at the helm of Chivas USA in 2005 a period in which Sigi Schmid led the team. The manager, a veteran of four MLS clubs, led the US U-20s to the World Cup quarterfinals on two occasions, in 2003 and in 2007. He was also panned in many circles for not including Borussia Dortmund's Neven Subotic to the 2007 World Cup team, a decision many have felt have led to the highly-rated Chelsea defecting to Serbia's national squad. The 2009 team was a disappointment after crashing out in group stage of the World Cup. However, the failure of the highly-rated 2011 squad to qualify out of CONCACAF may have been the death knell for Rongen. U.S. U20s Lose Shocker, Will Miss World Cup Tabbed as one of the most talented U.S. teams ever assembled and loaded like never before with pro players, the U.S. under-20 national team won't be going to the world championships. Guatemala, host of the Concacaf Under-20 Championship, pulled a stunning upset when it beat Thomas Rongen's Americans, 2-1, at Estadio Mateo Flores in Guatemala City. Sloppy play contributed to both Guatemala goals, but it can't be said that the Guatemala win was a fluke. It had its share of chances against a U.S. team that didn't live up to its hype -- and certainly appeared to suffer from overconfidence. Gale Agbossoumonde, the most experienced player on the team, was quoted as saying Rongen said that "even our B team is going to be the best team we are going to play." But it couldn't even beat Guatemala, which had not beaten the USA at the U-20 level in 47 years and will be going to the Under-20 World Cup for the first time. The USA was playing without Juan Agudelo, who has been called up to the senior national team since last summer, and several other highly touted U-20s remained with their clubs in Europe or Mexico. It had some bad luck when Bobby Wood, who debuted this winter for German Second Division club 1860 Munich, limped off early in Saturday's game against Panama and didn't suit up for the Guatemala game. UCLA's Kelyn Rowe, the lone collegian in the U.S. starting lineup, missed a hat trick of early chances, and Gerson Lima put Guatemala ahead in the 33rd minute when he beat U.S. goalie Zac MacMath to Kendel Herrarte's corner kick. Derby County's Conor Doyle equalized in the 66th minute with a nifty chip over Guatemala keeper Jose Carlos Garcia, but Henry Lopez put Guatemala back ahead three minutes later when he fended off a weak challenge from Agbossoumonde and beat MacMath easily to the far post. Having already coached the USA to the Under-20 World Cup quarterfinals in 2003 and 2007 but coming off a two-year cycle in 2009 that featured one of the weakest U-20 teams ever assembled, Rongen had left no stone unturned before picking this year's team that features several players with the potential to contribute to the senior national team. Unfortunately, the Dutchman couldn't get the U-20s over the hurdle in the one game that mattered, and it almost surely will mean his tenure as U-20 coach will be over. “Obviously we are extremely disappointed by this result,” said Rongen. “If you look at the game, you have to take your hat off to Guatemala. The home team came to play. They had a good game plan. We have to move on, and I firmly believe that within this group we have very capable players who will move on to represent our team at the senior team or Olympic level, but today wasn’t our day. It was a good host team and our team wasn’t able to click on all cylinders.” Guatemala joins Mexico, Costa Rica and Panama as the four Concacaf representatives at the 2011 U-20 World Cup. April 6 in Guatemala City Guatemala 2 USA 1. Goals: G.Lima 33, Lopez 69; Doyle 66.?Guatemala -- Garcia, Moreno, Ramirez, Enoc, Del Aguila, Ceballos (Norales, 73), Castillo, Lopez (Bonilla, 79), Herrarte, Lemus, G.Lima (C.Lima, 46) USA -- MacMath, Valentin, Kitchen, Agbossoumonde (Orozco, 82), Hernandez, Lletget, Okugo, Rowe, Garza (Salgado, 77), Doyle, Gyau.?Referee: Roberto Garcia (Mexico).?Att.: 13,805. U.S. U-20 MNT Advances To CONCACAF Quarters GUATEMALA CITY, Guatemala (April 2, 2011) – With a
2-0 victory against Panama, the U.S. Under-20 Men’s National Team
finished in first place in Group B of the CONCACAF U-20 Championship and
earned a spot in the quarterfinals. Match: U.S. U-20 MNT vs. Panama PAN: 1-Kevin Melgar; 4-Josue Flores, 7-Jairo Jimenez, 10-Josimar Gomez,
11-Javier Caicedo (17 – Gabriel Avila 34‘), 13-Oscar Linton
(8 – Paul Cordero 33‘), 14-Jose Pimentel (capt.) (3 –
Harold Cummings 60), 15-Roberto Chen, 16-Rolando Botello, 19-Algish Dixon,
20-Jose Diego Alvarez Stats Summary: USA / PAN The U.S. Under-20 women were upset in the quarterfinals
of the U20 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Germany, losing to Nigeria
in a penalty kick shootout. The U.S. U-17s were also eliminated in a shootout, falling to Canada in qualifying and failing to advance to the 2010 finals in Trinidad & Tobago despite a 38-0 edge in goal difference. July 25 in Augsburg U.S. U-20 Ties Ghana In U20 World Cup The U.S. Under-20 Women’s National Team opened Group D play at the 2010 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup with 1-1 draw against Ghana as forward Sydney Leroux scored in the 70th minute to answer an early goal from the Africans. Leroux’s goal came after Teresa Noyola stripped a Ghana player in midfield and sent Maya Hayes through on a long break-away into the right side of the penalty area. Hayes raced at the ‘keeper and then slipped a pass square to Leroux who slid to knock the ball into the open net from just inside the six-yard box. It was Leroux’s sixth goal in her U-20 Women’s World Cup career after scoring five during the 2008 tournament. The USA is now tied with Ghana for second place in the group behind the Korea Republic, which trounced Switzerland 4-0 in the other Group D match. The USA continues first round play on Saturday, July 17, at Rudolf-Harbig Stadium against the Swiss. The USA-Switzerland match will be broadcast live on ESPNU at 12 p.m. ET and fans can also follow along on ussoccer.com’s MatchTracker. The match was played in stifling heat that reached almost 90 degrees despite the 6 p.m. local kickoff. Even though seven players in the starting lineup had previous FIFA Women's World Cup experience at the U-17 or U-20 levels, the young Americans suffered from some early jitters when surrendering an early goal off a give-away in midfield in the seventh minute. That change in possession led to an attack down the right wing which was stalled by U.S. left back Kendall Johnson, but the Americans could not clear their own defensive third. The ball then dropped to Elizabeth Cudjoe, who took a touch forward and cracked an unstoppable shot from at least 30-yards that struck the inside of the left post and rolled around the back of the net. U.S. head coach Jill Ellis made one change at halftime, sending on the speedy Hayes for Vicki DiMartino, and then making another change early in the second half, sending on Noyola for Nairn in the 54th. Those changes would lead to the tying goal. Tony Pressley, Johnson, Zakiya Bywaters, Hayes and Noyola made their World Cup debuts, along with goalkeeper Bianca Henninger. It was the first time the USA has tied an opening match of a U-19/U-20 FIFA Women’s World Cup after winning four straight openers since the inaugural tournament in 2002. U.S. U-20 Women’s National Team Match Report Match: U.S. U-20 Women’s National Team vs. Ghana U-20 Women’s
National Team Scoring Summary: 1 2 F GHA – Elizabeth Cudjoe 7th minute Lineups: GHA: 21-Patricia Mantey; 4-Janet Egyir, 5-Rosemary Ampem, 12-Mantenn
Kobblah, 18-Edem Atovor, 6-Elizabeth Cudjoe (7-Samira Suleman, 67), 11-Deborah
Afriyie, 13-Mercy Myles (capt.) (8-Elizabeth Addo, 35), 15-Juliet Achempong,
9-Florence Dadson, 17-Faiza Ibrahim (19-Candice Osei-Agyemang, 83) Statistical Summary: USA / GHA Misconduct Summary: Officials: ussoccer.com Woman of the Match: U.S. U20s Draw Ghana, Switzerland, Korea Republic CHICAGO (April 22, 2010) -- The U.S. Under-20 Women’s National Team has been drawn into Group D of the 2010 FIFA Under-20 Women’s World Cup , along with Ghana, Switzerland and the Korea Republic, and will be based in Dresden for its first two games before moving to Bielefeld to finish the first stage The U.S. will open against Ghana on July 14 before facing Switzerland on July 17, with both games taking place at the Rudolf-Harbig Stadium in Dresden, a newly built 27,000-seat venue that will also host games of the 2011 FIFA Women’s World Cup. The U.S. team will then travel to the recently renovated Bielefelder Alm Stadium, a 28,000-seat venue in Bielefeld, to conclude group play against the Koreans. “I think it’s an exciting draw because these are teams that we haven’t played,” said U.S. U-20 Women’s National Team head coach Jill Ellis. “It’s a bit of an unknown. That sometimes can be a negative, but for us, it’s a positive because I think we will be very motivated. There are no pre-conceived thoughts about these opponents. We know we have to prepare well and focus on ourselves. They are all very different kinds of teams from different regions and represent different challenges and different strengths. It will require us to perform very well each game.” The field of 16 teams was divided into four groups of four, with the host Germany, USA, Brazil and Japan earning the top seeds in the draw. The top two finishers in each group will advance to the quarterfinals. Should the U.S. advance out of Group D, they will face an opponent from Group C, which consists of England, Nigeria, Mexico and Japan. Germany, which was placed in Group A, will open the tournament on July 13 in Bochum against Costa Rica. France and Colombia join the hosts in Group A, which is the only group in the tournament that features two European teams. Group B appears to be the early favorite for the “Group of Death,” featuring Brazil, Korea DPR, Sweden and New Zealand. (Complete tournament schedule <http://www.fifa.com/u20womensworldcup/index.html> ) The USA’s first opponent, Ghana, will be participating in its first FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup. Ghana took down Congo DR (the USA’s first opponent at the 2006 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup) by a 5-0 aggregate score in its final round qualifying matches. Ghana is a rising women’s soccer nation in Africa, which has been dominated for years on the women’s side by Nigeria. The USA was guaranteed to get one European team in its group and it turned out to be the Swiss, who are led by 19-year-old Ramona Bachmann of the WPS expansion team Atlanta Beat. Widely hailed as the best teenager in the world, Bachmann scored the Beat’s first in club history goal in her first WPS match during a 3-1 loss to the Washington Freedom last weekend. The Swiss made their debut at the U-20 Women’s World Cup in 2006 in Russia but crashed out hard, falling to Mexico 4-2, losing 4-0 to eventual champion Korea DPR, and then 6-0 to the Germans. Switzerland qualified for the 2010 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup by making the final four of the 2009 UEFA U-19 Women’s Championships but gave up three goals in overtime to lose 5-2 to Sweden in the semifinal. The Swiss did pick up a 3-0 win against Germany during group play of that qualifying competition. The USA’s final opponent, the South Koreans, will be making their second appearance in this event, first participating in 2004 in Thailand, where they fell to the USA 3-0 in the opening match of the tournament for both teams. Korea Republic, which is generally seen as behind Japan, China and North Korea in the women’s game in Asia, nevertheless finished second at last year’s AFC U-19 Women’s Championship in China to ensure a return to this tournament for the first time in six years. The Koreans earned their berth to Germany by defeating the hosts 1-0 in the semifinal, but then fell 2-1 to Japan in the championship game. The USA and South Korea met in the quarterfinals of the 2008 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup in New Zealand with the USA coming away with a 4-2 victory, so many of the same players may meet again this time around. “It’s definitely an exciting time for us,” said U.S. U-20 WNT forward Sydney Leroux. “We knew going into the draw that every team we play is going to bring their best game against us, and that’s never going to change. I like the teams we got because it’s going to be a challenge and as a team we are definitely up for a challenge.” The United States has qualified for all five World Championships at this
level, with the first two tournaments held as Under-19 competitions. In
January, the U.S. won the CONCACAF Under-20 Women’s Championship
in Guatemala, defeating Mexico in the championship game 1-0 on a late
goal from Sydney Leroux. 2010 FIFA Under-20 Women’s World Cup 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). |
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