US U-17 (R)

The U-17 World Cup is starting this weekend in Nigeria and here is a pretty good preview of the US team:

http://sports.yahoo.com/sow/news?slug=goal...=goal&type=lgns

The roster is:

GOALKEEPERS (3): Keith Cardona, Earl Edwards, Spencer Richey
DEFENDERS (6): Zachary Herold, Perry Kitchen, Boyd Okwuonu, Tyler Polak, Jared Watts, Eriq Zavaleta
MIDFIELDERS (6): Marlon Duran, Luis Gil, Carlos Martinez, William Packwood, Nick Palodichuk, Alex Shinsky
FORWARDS (6): Juan Agudelo, Victor Chavez, Andrew Craven, Stefan Jerome, Jack McInerney, Dominick Sarle

And the author's projected starting team:

————————Edwards———————-

Zavaleta—Herold—Kitchen—Polak

Shinsky—-Duran—-Gil—-Martinez

———-McInerney——-Jerome———-

The author is pretty confident of this US U-17 team but does mention that there will be 3 significant absentees:

One of the big pre-tournament storylines coming out of the American camp involved three players—Sebastian Lletget, Charles Renken, and Joseph Gyau—who didn't make the U.S. roster. While Renken is still recovering from a knee injury and Gyau might not be good enough to crack the Starting XI, the absence of West Ham's Lletget raises some eyebrows. He was a force during the qualifying cycle, scoring goals against Canada and Cuba while helping to anchor the central midfield. Brent Latham at Yanks Abroad thinks the 17-year-old didn't want to leave his club side and Cabrera has said he would only include players who were willing to join the team. Back in May, however, Lletget expressed some dissatisfaction with the U.S. youth system as well as a desire to play for Italy if they came calling. It remains to be seen if he ever suits up for the Red, White, and Blue again.

Since I know next to nothing about any of these players, both those missing and those on the roster, I can't say what these absences will mean to the team. Anybody have any insight? After failing to get out of the group stage at this year's U-20 World Cup (a rarity for the US at the youth level) this U-17 team should at the least have bettering that as it's objective.

I recorded the US' opener against Spain and glanced at it while doing other things last night. It sure began well for the US, a 1st minute red card to a Spanish player for being the last man back and stopping a goalscoring opportunity. A goal a few minutes later when the Spanish goalie dropped a high ball and it was knocked into the net by the US' McInerney. Then Spain despite being a man down, took over and scored 2 goals after some nice buildup play and then hung on for the victory, 2-1. Not a good way to start a tournament, playing 89 minutes up a man and not holding onto the lead but Spain always looked the better team from what I saw. I also don't think any one US player stood out in this match but on paper the US' next 2 opponents should not be as strong as Spain so there is still a good opportunity to advance out of the group.

I watched the game and Yogi's synopsis is right on. Disappointing, but the next two games are winnable.

The US managed a 1-0 win vs. Malawi yesterday in a game that didn't exactly inspire a lot of optimism.

The game was more about Malawi's shortcomings than the Americans' ability. The lone goal came on a huge snafu by the Malawian keeper, who up until then had played well. The US had an edge in shots, but shots on goal were even at five each. The astounding stats were the US with 11 corners (to no avail) and an incredible 18 offsides by the Africans.

In yesterday's other group game, Spain beat the UAE 3-1 to clinch advancement. Spain leads the group with six points followed by the US and UAE with three and Malawi with a goose egg.

Both the US and UAE are even on goal difference, but the UAE has scored one more goal, which is the tie-breaker after goal difference. That means the US will have to win Sunday to be assured advancement (they could qualify as one of the third-place teams). Game time is at 10 a.m. ET Sunday on ESPNU. Remember to set your clocks ahead Saturday night.

It was an incredible slip up by Malawi's goalie, letting a weakly hit shot towrds his midriff lip through his hands and legs and into the net! But as shelsoccer also points out, Malawi were offside 18 times! Did Roy Lassiter ever father any children in Malawi?

It has not been a particularly inspiring fall for either the US U-20 or U-17 teams but this U-17 team do still control their fate and can advance into the second round.

Thank you for the reminder about turning the clocks back!

The way things are shaping, a draw could assist the Yanks into the next round. A win would totally guarantee it.

I did not see the match but the US with a 1-0 win over the United Arab Emirates to advance to the round of 16. There the US will face Italy who won their group. All of the pairings are listed here:

http://sports.yahoo.com/sow/news?slug=goal...=goal&type=lgns

Noteworthy is that Brazil and Netherlands failed to advance.

Well, after setting the table, I completely blanked out and missed the game. Wasn't due to the time change -- I simply forgot and was blissfully watching an EPL game and reading the paper Sunday morning.

The US benefitted from another goalkeeping error. General consensus is that the US defense has improved greatly during the tournament while the attack, though dominating possession, has had difficulty finishing.

US-Italy game is at 10 a.m. Wednesday on ESPNU. I'll try to remember!

PS: I think there's a replay of the UAE game on ESPN360.com.

Didn't see the match, but from the reports that I read, the Yanks had their chances for glory. Oh Well. Need to work on the youth in this country. I think trying to get to the best players is a priority.

2-1 win for Italy. I also ddin't see the game but here are a couple of reports from goal.com that may help give an idea to those of us who didn't see the game on how it went and which players stood out:

Match Recap: US vs Italy

Winners/Losers in US vs Italy

Player Ratings