The USA moved on to the last eight of the FIFA under-20 World Cup and will play Austria. If you want to see why a team should play to the last seconds o####ame the Americans illustrated it tonight. For although the statistics show that Uruguay enjoyed less possession than the USA, the quality of their possession was much better for large stretches of the game.
When Uruguay took advantage of a ball that slipped from the grasp of stand in keeper Brian Perk to take the lead with only 17 minutes to play this game looked as if it would go down as another disappointment for the US.
But Coach Thomas Rongen threw on Ferrari as an extra forward with around ten minutes left as the US rolled the dice. Seven minutes later the gamble paid off as a Freddy Adu corner from the right found an unmarked Danny Szetela at the back post. Szetela showed great composure before driving a cross #### shot across the Uruguay penalty area.
Andre Akpan – an early second half substitute for what looked to be a badly injured Jozy Altidore – drove to net forcing Mathias Cardaccio into an own goal.
As the game moved into extra time Uruguay began to lose their shape as Edinson Cavani found himself more and more isolated. Dax McCarty had reverted to an auxiliary right back after the equalizer and pushed forward at every opportunity.
The momentum was clearly moving in the USA’s favour and Uruguay coach Gustavo Ferrin must have been regretting the decision to take off goalscorer Luis Suarez with seven minutes of normal time left.
Suarez has been a thorn in the side of the US and once he had been substituted Uruguay lost a key attacking option.
The winner came as the game moved into the last fifteen minutes and another corner for the USA led to the winning goal. This time Michael Bradley was on hand to redirect a shot high into Uruguay’s net.
As Uruguay desperately sought an equalizer there were a few nervous moments left for USA fans. But the USA goal survived intact and the Americans were left to celebrate an epic win.
It’s difficult to single out any one player but my man-of-the match would be Nathan Sturgis. He may not be the fleetest of foot but he can read a game and his positioning is outstanding.
As for Uruguay let's just say that they blew their chance of the Fair Play Trophy.
I will heading to the stadium in the next hour or so and I will not be able to "live" blog during the game because of FIFA rules. Feel free to post your thoughts pre-match, match and post game thoughts.
I watched the Spain - Uruguay game again on the plane this morning and the South Americans looked very good in going 2-0 up. But after that they really did show signs of falling apart and I don't think they have come close to playing that well again in the games against Jordan and Zambia.
Based on what I have seen during group play if the USA can control Uruguay's big guns Edinson Cavani and Luis Suarez then I can't see how else Uruguay can beat them - with the one proviso that they don't come to the game over confident.
Internet Broadcast FIFA announced on Thursday that all 52 games of the under-20 World Cup will be available over the internet to a wide-array of European countries. Highlights, goals and other features will also be accessible at the official FIFA site.
Ticket Sales Ticket sales are now approaching 1,000,000.
Group B (Vancouver, Victoria) Spain, Uruguay, Jordan and Zambia
Spain is the class of this group and should progress comfortably. The European Champions have skill at every position and a top four finish is a strong possibility.
Coach Gines Melendez won the European under-17 title in 2003 and some of the same players will be with him in Canada. Juan Mata and Alberto Bueno (Real Madrid) can both create and score goals with midfield club mate Javi Garcia running the show in midfield. In defence, Gerard Pique has spent the last season on loan at Real Zaragoza from Manchester United and is normally rock solid.
Mata has been with Real Madrid since he turned 15. He scored a hat trick against Turkey in European qualifying and has drawn comparisons with Real Madrid captain Raul. He is described as possessing excellent vision with a beautiful left foot and an ability to play equally effectively on either side of the attack or through the centre. Spain plays their opening game against Uruguay.
Uruguay made it to the finals by finishing third in South American qualifying. The 1997 runners-up will look to defender Martin Caceres (Defensor Sporting) and striker Edinson Cavani (Danubio). Some considered Caceres the best defender at the South American tournament although it was noted that he had problems with “physically powerful strikers”. He is also described as quick, hard and adept at bringing the ball out of defence. He has been linked with a summer transfer to Villarreal of La Liga.
Edison Cavani scored seven goals for Uruguay in Paraguay and can finish well with either foot and is also strong in the air. Uruguay can be expected to play a 4-3-3 system.
Jordan pulled off a shock win over China in the quarter final of Asian qualifying in order to qualify. All the Jordanian squad is home based which calls into question their overall experience. Midfielder Addallah Salim and striker Loiy Al Zaideh are reputed to be the two players to watch out for.
Zambia grabbed the final African qualifying place after beating Egypt and Cameroon along the way. It will be Zambia’s second appearance at the under-20 finals. The first game for Zambia is critical in that they will be facing the other group outsiders Jordan.
Team Notes Desmond writes to say that we should keep an eye on Fwayo Tembo, Sebastian Mwansa, Cliff Mulenga and Simmon Lupiya of Zambia.
And staying with Zambia, last Monday a Richmond City youth team got a real thrill when they proved the opposition for a warm-up game against the Zambians. The score finished up 10-0 but the crowd on hand and the Richmond players will probably be cheering a bit louder for Zambia when Group B qualifying kicks off on Sunday.
Canada received a boost on Tuesday when Simeon Jackson was granted Canadian citizenship. Jackson plays for Rushden and Diamonds on the Nationwide Conference in England. The Rushden and Diamonds site will be keeping track of the youngster’s progress at the Under-20 World Cup.
The planned friendly between New Zealand and Toronto FC has been cancelled as it would have contravened FIFA Under-20 regulations.
Portugal has been allowed to replace the injured Amaury Bischoff with Zezinando. The same right has been granted to Japan. Toru Hasegawa has been replaced by Kazushige Kirihata.
You can send any information (fsr@mts.net) about the twenty-four countries and I will post a regular selection. If you have a FIFA Under-20 blog go ahead and post your link under comments.
I am the soccer analyst for the Fox Soccer Report and appear twice a week - every Monday and Friday at 10:00 EST. I have also been a regular contributor to the Fox Soccer Channel website since the summer of 2004. Over the last twenty years I have contributed to various radio and television programs throughout North America as well writing about the game for newspapers, magazines and websites.
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