Next week the US begins in Panama qualifying for the U-20 World Cup in Canada. The games will be available on GolTV in the US.

This is the roster coach Thomas Rongen selected,

Goalkeepers: Brian Perk (UCLA), Chris Seitz (Maryland)

Defenders: Quavas Kirk (L.A. Galaxy), Ofori Sarkodie (Indiana), Nathan Sturgis (Los Angeles Galaxy), Julian Valentin (Wake Forest), Anthony Wallace (South Florida), Tim Ward (Columbus Crew)

Midfielders: Freddy Adu (Real Salt Lake), Bryan Arguez (West Kendal Optimists), Tony Beltran (UCLA), Amaechi Igwe (Santa Clara), Danny Szetela (Columbus Crew), Jonathan Villanueva (Virginia)

Forwards: Andre Akpan (Harvard), Josmer Altidore (N.Y. Red Bulls), Robbie Rogers (Heerenveen, Netherlands), Johann Smith (Bolton, England), Preston Zimmerman (Hamburg SV, Germany), Sal Zizzo (UCLA).


Midfielder Michael Bradley, the son of US senior team coach Bob Bradley did not make the team because his Dutch club Heerenveen did not release him. He's needed for league play in Holland. His teammate at Heerenveen, Robbie Rogers, a reserve at the club, was allowed to join up with the US team.

Obviously Freddy Adu, playing in his third U-20 World Cup (!), will be the player upon whom all eyes will focus. Adu should get the chance to run this team and he will want to make up for a pretty disappointing tournament 2 years ago. I liked what I saw in the few glimpses I saw of Altidore playing for New York last year in MLS. I'd like to see what kind of onfield understanding Altidore and Adu can develop.

Those two also are I believe the only regulars among the professional players on this roster. The other pros are subs or play for their club's reserve teams. Although I think Columbus' Ward and Szetela see a lot of playing time in Ohio. In today's MLS draft Seitz, Igwe, Wallace and Arguez were all selected but the odds are, if the US qualifies for the U-20 World Cup in Canada, we won't see much of these players with their MLS teams until after the tournament in Canada.

With 2 out of 4 teams qualifying and the other three group opponents being Panama, Guatemala and Haiti there shouldn't be anything keeping the US from qualifying. Just make it through these three games then the coach can work on building a team for the world cup in Canada.

I'd agree that Haiti, Panama and Guatemala shouldn't provide too much competition for the US. But as stated before, afetr hsi disappointing 2005 U-20 tournament, Freddy Adu is going to have something to prove in this event. He and Altidore are from what I read the hot prospects from this group so I'll be curious to see how they play.

The US begins play on Wednesday at 6:30 pm ET, 3:30 pm PT on GolTV.

4-1 win for the US over an amateurish looking Haitian team. Andre Akpan was the US' mainstay in this one with two goals but the defending by Haiti was just atrocious. Hard to really judge much about this game. Guatemala and Panama drew 1-1 in the other game in the likely battle for 2nd place. A US win in their next match likely puts them through to Canada.

I'll agree with enagnche, Haiti were so bad and their defending so poor that you really had no way of judging how this US team is. Akpan scored twice but was wide open on both goals, it would have been harder to miss those than score them!

Hopefully Guatemala and Panama will give the US a better test.

0-0 between US and Guatemala. Another poor match from the US. If Panama beats Haiti in game 2 tonight then the US will need to not lose against host country Panama in the final game on Sunday. I expected more from this US U-20 team.

Against Guatemala yesterday the U20's were bad. Five major players played below their first game performances: Adu, Rogers, Szetela, Wallace and Akpan. In fact Adu and Rogers played unacceptably. Sal Zizzo improved his game - and Tony Beltran came into the starting lineup and played quite well.
The team was just dead on their feet.
Rongen seems not to be handling them well - he finally got Altidore and Zimmerman into the match late though Johan Smith didn't make it (of course he didn't distinguish himself against Haiti.) But then the mid-field was so out of it that those up front didn't have many chances.
That is going to make it very hard now - Panama, the home team, must be beaten on Sunday.
Merrill

Good comments Merrill. I'd agree with you, the US looked flat. Not what you'd expect in a qualifying game. Adu seems not to be improving as a player. I fear he may end up being yet another youth prodigy who does not develop into a good professional. He is very hesistant with the ball. In some ways almost like Landon Donovan is now with the senior team.

THis US U-20 team doesn't look to be as good as other recent teams in this category.

The US and Panama qualified without even kicking a ball as Haiti beat Guatemala 2-0 in the opener. Without any pressure on them the US then went out and were hammering Panama 5-0 before I turned it off. Bright side, the US didn't lose any games and only gave up one goal via penalty kick. Dark side, the team didn't play well in Panama until the pressure was off. That won't be the case in Canada. In my opinion Rongen has his work cut out if he's to get this team playing better.

I only saw bits and pieces of the game but it seemed like Rongen was sand bagging by holding this forward Johan Smith out until the last game. He showed an acceleration on the right that nobody else on the US team had. Plus Adu played closer to goal and was more effective, in addition to scoring two goals.

I think you can expect a much different team in Canada. In the Qualifying Round, Altidore -- the team's best forward -- played primarily as a sub, apparently due to a lingering injury. The integration of Michael Bradley and Johann Smith into the team will also help considerably.

This is a talented group of players, and while I wouldn't expect them to win the competition, they certainly have the potential to win a few matches.

You're probably correct Gunners. I was wondering why Altidore, of whom much was discussed about leading to the qualifying tournament, showed little. Now I know why. But it was Smith and his acceleration which really caught my attention. He and the centerback Sturgis were two US players who stood out for me besides the already well known Adu who was up and down in these qualifying matches.

US u20s are playing Haiti's senior national team in Dallas today before the USMNT faces Guatemala. I kind of fell asleep on this one as I noticed the USSoccer.com website was offering streaming video of it at 6 pm (5 pm Central) but had thought they were just rebroadcasting an earlier match from the u-20 WCQs.

Rongen has brought in Italian/American MetroSt/ampdoria forward Gabriel Ferrari into the fold and says he will start him alongside Altidore.

If Robert Ziegler's (gersman on BS) interview with coach Thomas Rongen is correct we can expect the following lineup for the US:


----------------------------Seitz

Ward-----------Sarkodie----Igwe-----------Wallace

-------------------------Szetela

----------Zizzo---------------------Rogers

-------------------------Adu

---------------Altidore--------Ferrari

I may have gotten Zizzo and Rogers on the wrong sides.

Here's the link to Ziegler's article on TopDrawerSoccer:

http://topdrawersoccer.com/articles.aspx?article=2216

Thanks garbaggio for providing the link to that site. That was a pretty comprehensive interview. And if you follow the link there to youth national teams you can read a story on the US U-20 team's 2-1 win over Haiti's senior squad last night. Or I can make it easier and give the link here!

http://topdrawersoccer.com/articles.aspx?article=2217

Game winner in injury time by Gabriel Ferrari, a reserve team player from Sampdoria. That probably wasn't Haiti's full team but still for an U-20 team to beat an older group is a good result.

That is a good result. Ferrari really does seem like a promising talent. Although I don't think he's made an appearance yet, he is with the first team now and recently has made the bench in a number of matches.

Ferrari played for Sampdoria as a late sub in a Coppa Italia game against Inter in a game that wound up on Telemundo. As I recall the score was tied when he came on but the series was pretty much settled because Inter had won the 1st leg 3-0. That may may have been his only appearance with the senior team so far.

I watched most of the US-Haiti game on US Soccer's webcast (a 2 1/2" X 4" inch window on my PC screen) the other night. I missed about the first 10 or 15 minutes of each half, but from what I saw, the US looked pretty good. The game's flow was helped by the fact that neither team was bunkering (unlike the Guatemalan Nats would do an hour later on the same field).

The US attacking players looked good and seemed to combine with each other well but didn't finish very well. Ferrari looked good and took on defenders and knocked in a ball in the goalmouth to win the game in stoppage time. But he also had a bad backpass that caught the US defense flatfooted and sprung Haiti's Eliphin on a footrace where he beat Seitz for Haiti's goal.

Freddy Adu was the best player overall and won the PK that opened the score early in the 2nd half. Robbie Rogers and Sal Zizzo both looked pretty good outside (nice crosses from Zizzo) yet also both managed to badly miss shots when they found themselves in front of goal. Rogers missed a point blank attempt after a cross from Altidore was either dummied or slightly redirected by Rossi. Zizzo's embarassing moment was when he blasted a shot from outside the area that was so inaccurate it may have gone out for a throw-in. But the main thing was both players looked good on the flanks.

The winning goal in stoppage time was nothing spectacular but it did cross the line. Someone (maybe late sub Blake Wagner?) made a cross from the left to Dax McCarty at the far post and he nodded back across goal for Ferrari to bundle in.

It was hard to clearly identify many of the players on such a tiny screen but the US moved the ball well, players supported each other, made good runs and seemed to have a good understanding of what their teammates were trying to do.

I watched that Coppa Italia game where Ferrari entered as a late sub. Andres Cantor didn't mention anything about him being a US citizen but Telemundo's new policy is if it isn't Mexican it doesn't matter. Cantor kisses so much Mexican ass on Telemundo's broadcasts his nose must smell like jalapenos now!

Back to Ferrari it is good that Rongen is giving him a chance with the U-20 team. He seems like an interesting prospect and I'll be curious to see if he gets any playing time with Sampdoria in what remains of the season. If not with the first team does Ferrari play with Sampdoria's youth or reserve team?

I was also gladdened (is that a word?) by garbaggio's description of Adu being the best player on the field in this latest U-20 game. He's being given the keys to run Salt Lake and that should give him more confidence.

:lol:

Pretty good one rosarino, but it is all because of demographics. Telemundo knows what gets them ratings. Cantor does get on your nerves though no matter where you are from. Norberto Longo could keep Cantor's huge ego contained but since Longo's death, Cantor's arrogance has just increased. I can't stand listening to him.

Sorry for the side track on the topic here. My question is if the US plays with a forward and two wingers like they did in qualifying, can Adu then be effective as an attacking midfielder? Seems to me the wingers would have to do a lof of defensive work. But if Adu is given a chance he has the passing and dribbling skills few, if any, US players have ever possessed. His growing into the role as the U-20 team's playmaker will be fascinating to track.

Don't know if this should be a seperate thread (though it's probably easier for Merengue to split rather than merge, so please do so if you wish) but Rongen has named his roster for Canada.

USSF release made a big deal about how this team has more pros (13) than any previous U-20 roster. But, how many of those 13 are seeing significant first-team minutes?

Very good point shelsoccer. Off the top of my head I can think of Adu, Altidore and McCarty as regular starters with their professional clubs and Bradley and Sturgis as top reserves who see a significant amount of minutes. Then of course you have the recent addition of Bradley now becoming a regular with the senior national team too.

I always enjoy watching the U-20 World Cup but in a summer with the Gold Cup and Copa America it is taking a backseat, at least in my attention but it should be interesting to see what the US can do with this group of players.

At least in the last two KC-NY games, BA hasn't started Josy. Why, I'm not sure.

Ward and Rogers got starts in Columbus' game at NE this weekend, but I think consistent minutes have been few and far between for these two.

Another thing that worries me about this team is its lack of height, particularly in the back. They're also in a very tough group, if I remember correctly.

I'd like to think this team can make some noise, playing close to home and all. I just don't have a lot of confidence that this roster is going to get in done, nor do I have a lot of confidence in Rongen.

Hope I'm wrong.

Sturgis and Adu are the only full-time starters.

Guys who get regular pro minutes:
Seitz
Ward
Bradley
McCarty
Altidore
Ferrari
Rogers
Smith

I think you're right to be concerned about height in the back, though both Sarkodie and Sturgis (the presumptive starters) are tough as nails and smart to boot. Much good may it do them if they run up against another Graziani Pelle buzzsaw, though.

Even though I like some of the players here I still don't hold out much hope for this team. Of course, a frontline pair of Ferrari and Altidore is nothing to sniff at on the U-20 level, so perhaps we're in for a pleasant surprise.

This U-20 World Cup will be Freddy Adu's chance to show a world audience he is ready to move to a European team. He certainly should be motivated but where does he play on this US U-20 team, behind the two strikers or out on the left?

US beat Chile today 2-1 in the Meadowlands in a U20 tune up.

Some very strong US performances in a feisty, somewhat ill-tempered game.

Chile will be without standout striker Sanchez and sweeper Martinez for the U20 opener and so they started the first half without them and Godoy. I thought Chile was the better team early, but were impatient. Their passing and movement was giving them space against a very good US midfield, but as soon as they looked to have options going forward, they hit balls over the top and bypassed Vidangossy.

The US opened the scoring when Altidore took a long ball, turned Suarez and then drew Isla the sweeper over before cutting it back to Adu who had time and took a touch before beating Toselli the Chilean keeper.

The Chileans made a lot of changes in the second half and though they added Sanchez (who was dangerous) they were second best the rest of the way. Robbie Rogers capped a MOTM performance (IMO) with a great shot as he blew one by Tosseli after taking the ball on the left. Adu hit a backwards flick header that went off the bar a minute later.

Sanchez scored on a PK (Sturgis with the foul, though I really couldn't tell how valid the call was on the small streaming video) as he literally dribbled it up the middle past Seitz. At the centre circle one of the Americans said something to him and he shrugged and 'stubbed' his toe into the turf. But I don't think he mis-hit it because of the FieldTurf, I think he knew what he was doing.

Which leads to the other point — this Chilean team really tried to intimidate the US. Vidal, their hard man in the middle punched the ball out of a US player's hands after he picked it up for a throw in about five mins in. Any time a US player wasn't retreating fast enough, a Chilean gave him a forceful two-handed push. I couldn't decide if they were a bunch of loose cannons or if they were cagey professionals in complete control and pushing the line on a ref who didn't punish them (though he threw cards out like crazy later). They also went down easy a couple of times.

I wonder how they and Canada cope with the spotlight on them in front of a full BMO Field house on Canada Day. The style of officiating could be very important.

Will Johnson going head-to-head with Vidal (who is an excellent player, if not a first rate punk) will be interesting.

I was really impressed with Rogers. I thought Dax McCarthy played really well and I have no idea how Danny Szetla doesn't play more for the Crew. Throw Bradley in there (and I thought he had a fabulous first half v Canada and his old man did him a disservice, by not taking him out about 15 minutes before he was sent off. You could see the match was getting away from him a bit and he was running around too much).

I don't see Adu internationally much and I'm really not sure how much progress he's made. I look forward to seeing him in the tournament when it counts to really judge his progress, but I didn't think he was any better than Vidangossy. I thought Altidore was solid and Smith gave them troubles with his speed down the right flank. How fast is Smith? I'm not sure how I want you to quantify that, but I couldn't tell if he was beating Suarez because Suarez was succeptible to pace or if Smith is just damn fast.

With Canada using Jaime Peters down that flank, that looked to be their weakest link.

I've read that Chile feel they have a legitimate shot at winning. I wouldn't say that they don't, but I think they fall into the same category as the US as a darkhorse favourite who look like a solid QF team, but have flaws and question marks that the favourites don't seem to have. They looked good, but beatable on the day.

cheers,
hobbes

Thanks for the rundown on the game Hobbes. Both Sanchez, a forward and defender Vidal are on Chile's senior team but they asked off the Copa America team so they could compete in the U-20 World Cup. I believe that both Colo Colo players have been sold and Vidal is headed to Bayer Leverkusen and Sanchez to Udinese. Vidangossy is also off to Europe to play for Villarreal I believe.

After all the publicity I think most are very curious to see how Freddy Adu will handle the pressure of this tournament. I'd like to follow up on enganche's post here and ask you where Adu plays on this U-20 team?

As for tournament favorites I think there are Argentina and Brazil then there's everybody else. Although Mexico's U-20 team led by Dos Santos and Vela making the jump up from the U-17 World Cup winners also will be a team to watch.

To answer Enganche's question, a little of both.

Adu lined up as the left forward in a 4-3-3, with Altidore up top and Smith more on the right (I'm pretty sure, at times it was hard to tell them apart). Smith went down the right flank and tried to beat the leftback, but Adu rarely if ever did that on the left, he was tracking back more and cutting more into the middle and it was Robbie Rogers who was getting deep down the left. He had pretty free reign and was active.

Martin you are correct on all of the Chilean transfers and those are definitely the big three for them.

I rate Brazil, Argentina and Spain as the three favourites with a real expectation to win this.

Chile, South Korea, US, Mexico and Portugal are I think darkhorse favourites who will be looking to get a SF spot, but have some question marks.

After that I figure Canada, Czechs, Scotland and any of the African teams have the potential to go deep, but are likely doing well to make the QFs.

Montreal's Olympic Stadium has just had a problem (and anyone who knows anything about the Big O this comes as no surprise). Their real grass on a tray system failed FIFA inspection and so they're going to install FieldTurf (a Montreal company) at the 11th hour at a big cost. Which is only fitting for a stadium that cost $1.47 Billion dollars to build.

cheers,
hobbes

Results implied ...



Anybody watching? Comments on how bad/lucky the US apparently was in their tie vs. S. Korea and then their demolition of Poland?

I think you need to give ROK credit. They played their butts off. Maybe they ran out of gas vs. Brazil. Also, Brazil was ready to get some payback. Unfortunately for ROK it was them. Then the Yanks turned it up a bit vs. Poland. Great performance, but can they keep it up??? Can the Yanks do this vs. Argentina or Mexico??? I guess you will need to follow this tourney a bit closer now. If you get a chance, checkout the right side of the US's formation. I like what I see from Beltran & Zizzo. These guyz are unsung heroes for the US. The first goal for the US was a cross from Beltran. The next two I believe came from awesome runs by Zizzo. Here is a link if you want to check them out.

Didn't see the S. Korea game, but did just watch the US beat a very physical Polish team by an astounding 6-1.

Adu played forward alongside Altidore. Szetela and Bradley played behind them. Zizzo on the right wing was an eye-opener with his quick movements and solid passes

Freddie has three in this game, including two of the best finishes we have ever seen from a US national. The first was a shot taken from the right corner of the box. It was a curling masterpiece into the far side of the goal giving the keeper zero chance.

I was as much excited by his second, albeit an easier chance. He received a ball, from Zizzo I think, that was pulled back from the end line to Freddie at the top fo the box. He turned and fired a curling shot from eighteen yards into the side netting. How many chances of this caliber have we seen Donovan, Dempsey and Johnson miss? Freddies' finish on this one was clinically perfect.

His third goal was not without skill as he broke past the backline, around the keeper deep into the box from the left and scored from a tight angle.

By the way, this is the same Polish team that beat Brazil the other night. Still, we do have to play Brazil, but with four points and a big goal difference, we could easily go through as one of the top placed third place teams.

As was stated above, it is still too early to get giddy about our chances, but this was a game to thrill the heart. Poland, as they proved earlier, are not chopped liver.

For those in the US I thought it was a misprint in the morning TV listings but there's been a late schedule change and ESPN not ESPN U is showing the US v Brazil game live now.

Well I watched the Glory unfold on ESPNU. Thank God for the US U20. Those boyz play made me totally forget about the messed up Copa America deployment by the Yanks. One thing I hope Brazil can take away from this match during their long flight back, "GET SOME GAMEMANSHIP!!!". Man, the Brazilians showed soo much happiness when they scored against the Yanks. It should have been the other way around, but that image alone let you know how good the Yanks are. I don't know if they can win the whole thing, cause I am not real keen on their coaching decisions (Rongen). He looks like he came from the Bruce Arena academy of coaching. Slow w/ substitutions <_<

RESULTS BELOW:*****************************************















USA 2 Brazil 1 (Altidore 25th, 81st). US wins the group and advances. Depending on the Poland/ROK match, Brazil may be going home.

By all accounts (I don't get it here on TV), the U20s are looking amazing and Adu is marketing himself to the big European clubs with aplomb. Good for Altidore as well. He is The Goods.

That was an entertaining game between the US and Brazil which could have gone either way but the US made the big plays to decide the match. Adu poked a ball away from Renato Augusto to Altidore who scored the opening goal then after US goalie Seitz, in one of his rare errors, couldn't hold onto a shot Brazil tied it up by putting in the rebound. Then Adu again made a telling play, he lifted the ball over a defender, ran onto it inside the right side of the penalty area but his shot on goal was blocked by a defender and fell right to Altidore who didn't hesitate in knocking it in. Towards the end the US survived Brazil pushing for the tying goal as they held on for a big win to finish first in the group with Poland finishing second while Brazil has to nervously await other group results to see if they finish among the best third place teams.

I enjoyed the US play in this game. Adu controlled the pace of the game, the right wing Zizzo was quick and very active the defensive midfielders hawked the ball well and the defense was solid with a pretty good goalkeeper behind it. And don't forget Altidore who is a forward with presence in the penalty area and pretty good skills. But most importantly he and Adu seem to work well together. robdog is right after watching a lousy performance from the US in Copa America, these youngsters give you renewed hope about US futbol as they know how to play the game, have good technical skills and are well organized.

There also is a discusison going on in the general Soccer Discussion Forum about the U-20 World Cup for those interested. Like others I was impressed with the US' overall play in this game, they defended well, knew what to do with the ball and in Adu there is a player with a very good soccer brain who does, as rosarino noted, control the tempo well. Plus Altidore is the type of forward the US has needed for years. A quick, strong guy with a good finishing touch.

As for Brazil, well 2 losses in group play is a disaster for them. They have individual skills but it doesn't seem to be much of a team concept on this Brazilian U-20 team.

Just wanted to thank Martin for the info. I don't get ESPNU, but popped over here at halftime (from watching on the computer) and saw that post. Really appreciated!! And what a wonderful display by the US youngsters. Terrific, exciting, well-played game. (Though it didn't result in a goal, my second favorite moment, after Freddy Adu's moves just prior to the gamewinner, was earlier in the 2nd half when he and altidore combined so beautifully it was almost breathtaking.) And Seitz really came through with some great saves. Overall, what an antidote to the Venezuela experience!

Didn't see Martin's post about the switch to ESPN until it was too late, and I don't get ESPNU. So, I haven't seen any of the games and that makes it difficult for me to decide how optimistic I should be.

I keep thinking back to the last two U-20s when we also won our group. Two years ago, we were promptly eliminated in the second round and in 2003, we were done after the quarters.

I'm also not a particularly big Rongen fan, so I'm trying to temper my excitement.

Having said that, it would appear that we'll have a winnable second-round match. As it stands right now, North Korea would probably be the toughest team we could draw.

Somebody give me some reasons to get really excited.

Speaking of tempered optimism, I saw a funny post on Big Soccer after the demolition of Poland.

The poster asked if anyone could identify Chris Faklaris and why he was relevant.
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Until Freddie's hat trick against Poland, Faklaris was the last American U-20 to do that -- 1993 in a 6-0 demolition of Turkey. Faklaris, who was playing collegiately at the Univ. of South Carolina at the time, never amount to a hill of beans at the next level (played a few years in the A-League).

Not comparing Adu and Faklaris, but it was a reminder of the screwy kind of stuff that can go on at this level.

shelsoccer is right to temper his optimism because so far there do seem to be a lot of good teams in this competition: Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, Mexico, Nigeria, Spain and Portugal to mention a few so whichever team emerges from this all will have earned it. But winning such a competitive group is a real accomplishment for the US. Shelscocer asks to give him something to be optimistic about, well how about after watching a Gold Cup where Bocanegra and Onyewu were simply booting the ball away and were afraid to play with it on the ground, this US U-20 team has defenders who aren't afraid to play the ball out of the back, after seeing both Howard's and Keller's shaky distribution as goalies, there is Seitz who looks very comfortable coming off his line and can kick or throw the ball out well. This U-20 team has wingers who aren't afraid to go after a defender and can get a cross in. After seeing so many goal scoring opportunities escape in both the Gold Cup and Copa America, there is a forward like Altidore who, as we say in Spanish no perdona, that is he doesn't forgive, he'll pounce on a chance and put the shot away. And finally Thomas Rongen has understood what Adu's MLS coaches apparently haven't, that his best position is as a withdrawn forward where his passing ability, all around technical skills and eye for goal can best be taken advantage of.

There is a long road ahead of this team in this championship but so far so good and the fact there are some promising young players coming up should give any US fan hope.

Encouraging stuff, Merengue. Thanks.

A number of positive attributes. Perhaps the one that sticks out to me is your assessment of our two wingers. I can't remember a US team at any level that had guys on both flanks that could beat defenders and cross.

My understanding is that the US is playing a 4-3-3, so I'm wondering how Zizzo and Rogers would measure up as true wide midfielders in a 4-4-2. Can they play any defense?