(Soccer) USA In U-20 Youth World Cup

[SirFozzie]

Huge win for the Young Yanks today in Holland, as they won their first game in the group stage, 1-0 over Argentina, despite Scooby Adu missing a PK (clanger off the post).

Freddy did play great otherwise tho, and USA fully deserved the win.

Their remaining two games are against Germany and Egypt

[marshall881]

Wow! Excellent start for the young guys!

[Young Drachma]

Glad Freddy is finally getting to play. Unlike w/Peter Nowak and Co.

[MIJB#19]

He missed a penalty kick, Adu is doomed for failure! :P

Actually, the game was not in Holland (don't let the people in Enschede hear you speak of Holland!). The tournament organization decided to only use stadiums in the rest of the Netherlands, meaning the USA games are all far away from my home, making it harder to attend games (I really wanted to, especially so I could see your American soccer phenomenon Adu in live action).

[MalcPow]

This is great news. You have to feel good about the future of US Soccer when things like this happen. Hopefully Spector is alright, he's a big part of that back line and the future, playing in Man U's youth system seems to have done a lot for his development. Which makes you wonder about Freddy's choice, I live in DC and it looks like MIJB has got a better chance of seeing him live anytime soon.

[TroyF]

Adu is just an incredible player. He made a few passes yesterday that were simply beautiful to watch. His penalty hit the post. The USA keeper had a terrific game as well. Great win and a good start to a tough group.

[Galaxy]

When do you see Freddy going to Europe?

[Young Drachma]

Originally Posted by Galaxy

When do you see Freddy going to Europe?

Soon than later if DC United keeps messing with him.

[Desnudo]

I caught a DC United game where he came on as a sub and looked great. He constantly pressured the other team with his dribbling and passing. I don't understand the resistance to playing him more.

[daedalus]

Slightly off-topic but did you catch Quincy with the Dutch team, Matthijs? How do you rate him? Obviously going against Japan isn't the same as going up against Argentina but I heard he did well. I read that he was on the left wing instead of his usual position with the Gunners up front, though.

[Young Drachma]

Originally Posted by Desnudo

I caught a DC United game where he came on as a sub and looked great. He constantly pressured the other team with his dribbling and passing. I don't understand the resistance to playing him more.

Apparently, it's all Peter Nowak, the DC coach. And since MLS is single-entity, there isn't an "owner" of sorts to just say "put him in or else.." like in other leagues. I think that's the #1 reason why MLS still has failed to prove it's big-time in the league.

[Galaxy]

He couldn't play first-team football until he hits 18, couldn't he? When does he contract expire?

[Easy Mac]

Originally Posted by Dark Cloud

Apparently, it's all Peter Nowak, the DC coach. And since MLS is single-entity, there isn't an "owner" of sorts to just say "put him in or else.." like in other leagues. I think that's the #1 reason why MLS still has failed to prove it's big-time in the league.

Its failed to succeed because a coach doesn't want to play a player he doesn't think is ready for the full 90 every game? If only all teams had such meddling owners.

I've seen a few DC games where Freddy has started, and he has some nice stretches, but he also looks completely lost for large stretches of the game. He needs to be a sparkplug off the bench for this team right now, and he needs to accept that.

[moriarty]

Originally Posted by Dark Cloud

Apparently, it's all Peter Nowak, the DC coach. And since MLS is single-entity, there isn't an "owner" of sorts to just say "put him in or else.." like in other leagues. I think that's the #1 reason why MLS still has failed to prove it's big-time in the league.

Nowak doesn't want to burn him out. He prefers to use him in a sub position and as occasional starter, but not an everyday starter. It's not an uncommon phenomenon (at least in Europe) to trot an extremely talented youngster for everyday play only to see him burn out and never reach his potential. Besides, Adu is still a small dude in a 16 year old body, and you could make the case that he can't take the pounding from starting everyday yet.

I'd love to see Freddy play more, but I can't really fault Nowak for being cautious with him. On a side note - I'd love to see Arena include him on the 2006 world cup team (although Arena seems extremely reluctant to do so). He's not really ready yet, but I think he'd gain some invaluable experience just travelling with that group.

Freddy will likely go overseas sometime between the ages of 18-21. I'd like to see him wait until he's about 21, but my guess would be he'll go at 18.

[moriarty]

Originally Posted by SirFozzie

Huge win for the Young Yanks today in Holland, as they won their first game in the group stage, 1-0 over Argentina, despite Scooby Adu missing a PK (clanger off the post).

Freddy did play great otherwise tho, and USA fully deserved the win.

Their remaining two games are against Germany and Egypt

Dola,

Great win for the youngsters. I thought they played great at times, but really probably should have given up a goal in the second half as Argentina really started to controll them. Messe (sp?) for Argentina was a force ... not sure why he rode the bench at the start.

I thought Adu played ok. He made some highlight reel plays, but tried to go one on one unsuccessfully a few too many times for me (he seemed like he was forcing it a bit). Eddie Gaven was a disappointment. I haven't seen him play much but I was expecting him to be more of a force.

A good sign for the US - they're very fast and big/tall. Apart from Adu (who's pretty tiny) I was impressed with the fact that they were physical presences on the field ... but agile as well. Watching Wyne (sp?) sprinting down from his right back position and constantly outrunning the entire Argentinian team was very impressive.

I haven't seen the U20's much, but i was quite impressed. If we could just maintain a little more possesion in the midfield ...

[MIJB#19]

Originally Posted by daedalus

Slightly off-topic but did you catch Quincy with the Dutch team, Matthijs? How do you rate him? Obviously going against Japan isn't the same as going up against Argentina but I heard he did well. I read that he was on the left wing instead of his usual position with the Gunners up front, though.

I haven't seen much action of this tournament yet.
I may catch up, but it's unlikely to happen. There are not much games aired and usually I got better things to do at nights.

Quincy played on the wing, but given the rest of the squad it makes sense a bit. Ryan Babel (Ajax) and Collins John (Fulham) already played for the 'real' Oranje squad. But partially because Quincy never played in the Dutch league, I understand the fans are wow-ing over this guy.

[Critch]

Originally Posted by daedalus

Slightly off-topic but did you catch Quincy with the Dutch team, Matthijs?

I caught the Netherlands v Japan game, Quincy looked good. Played on the wing, but was pretty free to roam through the middle too. Good ball control and good strength, one of the Dutch goals came from him combining skill with strength to dribble and strongarm his way through half the Japan team before setting up Babel to score. Quincy and a guy called Afellay (I think, I can't check the website cos I've got last nights Brazil v Nigeria game TiVoed so can't risk seeing the result), were the picks of the Dutch attacking players.

Dutch looked good early, took an early 2-0 lead and seemed to hold it pretty easily til late on when they conceded a goal and ended up lucky to hold out against the late Japan attacks. Some good finishing and Japan could have sneaked a point that they wouldn't have deserved over the full 90.

Good game though.

[SirFozzie]

USA's next game is against Germany tuesday (on Fox Soccer Channel). A win will pretty much guarantee a spot in the knockout rounds (six groups of four, top 2 from each group, + top 4 third place finishers).

They want to avoid playing a group winner, however, and they'll need to win the group for that. The good news is that ARG-GER will be the final game of the group, while USA faces Egypt.

[SirFozzie]

dola:

Spector is considered doubtful for the game with a thigh contusion, they might hold him out for egypt.

[moriarty]

Originally Posted by SirFozzie

USA's next game is against Germany tuesday (on Fox Soccer Channel). A win will pretty much guarantee a spot in the knockout rounds (six groups of four, top 2 from each group, + top 4 third place finishers).

They want to avoid playing a group winner, however, and they'll need to win the group for that. The good news is that ARG-GER will be the final game of the group, while USA faces Egypt.

Yeah, big game for us. I'm stoked that FSC is apparently showing all the US games. My Tivo is set and ready to go.

[SirFozzie]

Cool thing is that in three of the six groups, the winners of the first round of games are playing each other (US-GER is one of em). If there's a clear winner in any of the games, the winner is guaranteed a spot in the knockout rounds.

[Critch]

Originally Posted by moriarty

Yeah, big game for us. I'm stoked that FSC is apparently showing all the US games. My Tivo is set and ready to go.

They're showing a lot more than just the US games, they've got pretty good coverage. A live game most days, 2 live games some days for the group stages, plus all the games when it gets to the knockout stages. Not bad at all.

[wbatl1]

Originally Posted by Critch

They're showing a lot more than just the US games, they've got pretty good coverage. A live game most days, 2 live games some days for the group stages, plus all the games when it gets to the knockout stages. Not bad at all.

Yeah, I'm liking this fox soccer channel thing alot right now. In the past, when they were fox sports world, they would be showing australian rules football or rugby right now

[SirFozzie]

Originally Posted by wbatl1

Yeah, I'm liking this fox soccer channel thing alot right now. In the past, when they were fox sports world, they would be showing australian rules football or rugby right now

They still air Rugby (both codes, Rugby Union and Rugby League.. now that's bizarre ) and Aussie Rules.

Don't be messin with my Rugby and Aussie Rules

[Galaxy]

Originally Posted by moriarty

I'd love to see Freddy play more, but I can't really fault Nowak for being cautious with him. On a side note - I'd love to see Arena include him on the 2006 world cup team (although Arena seems extremely reluctant to do so). He's not really ready yet, but I think he'd gain some invaluable experience just travelling with that group.
.

Don't you have to be 18 to play in the WC?

[GoldenEagle]

Originally Posted by Galaxy

Don't you have to be 18 to play in the WC?

No.

[ISiddiqui]

I may be in the minority, but I din't think Adu did that great. He had a few good runs, but on the whole, meh. Barrett played better IMO, but I was really impressed with the teamwork of the American side. Somewhat rare in an international squad.

The BEST player on the pitch, though, was Messi of Argentina. WOW, he's going to be a great one!

[MalcPow]

Originally Posted by ISiddiqui

The BEST player on the pitch, though, was Messi of Argentina. WOW, he's going to be a great one!

Barca is very excited about this kid, he's gonna be something.

[KevinNU7]

Adu gets plenty of playing time on the development teams in the D.C/N.C area. IMO he doesn't start everyday for United because the coach doesn't want to wear him out for all the time he spends with the development teams. I think they are treating him right.

[TazFTW]

What position does Adu play on the U-20 team? Haven't seen much of DC United but I seem to remember him playing as either a forward or a midfielder last year.

[ISiddiqui]

He plays Forward on the U-20 team. IMO, Adu's best position is MF, not forward.

[MalcPow]

Originally Posted by ISiddiqui

He plays Forward on the U-20 team. IMO, Adu's best position is MF, not forward.

I agree, from what I've seen of him he comes to deep as a forward anyway. He likes to be in space and try and make things happen, he seems best suited in the hole as an AM. Because he doesn't seem to have the strength to be a true MC.

[moriarty]

Originally Posted by ISiddiqui

He plays Forward on the U-20 team. IMO, Adu's best position is MF, not forward.

He's actually listed as a midfielder on the team, and I'm pretty sure he played in the midfield in the warmup against China. We'll see where he plays throughout the tournament.

[kingfc22]

FIFA World Youth Championship 2005 on Fox Soccer Channel
Date	Group/Round	Teams		Kickoff (ET)
Jun. 10	A	Holland	Japan	2 p.m.
Jun. 11	D	Argentina	United States	11:30 a.m.
Jun. 12	F	Brazil	Nigeria	5 p.m.*
Jun. 14	D	Egypt	Argentina	11:30 a.m.
Jun. 14	D	United States	Germany	2:30 p.m.
Jun. 15	F	Switzerland	Brazil	11:30 a.m.
Jun. 17	C	Spain	Honduras	11:30 a.m.
Jun. 17	B	Turkey	Ukraine	2:30 p.m.
Jun. 18	D	United States	Egypt	7:30 a.m.
Jun. 18	F	Brazil	South Korea	10 a.m.
Jun. 21	Round of 16	TBD	TBD	11:30 a.m.
Jun. 21	Round of 16	TBD	TBD	5 p.m.*
Jun. 22	Round of 16	TBD	TBD	11:30 a.m.
Jun. 22	Round of 16	TBD	TBD	2:30 p.m.
Jun. 24	Quarterfinal	TBD	TBD	11:30 a.m.
Jun. 24	Quarterfinal	TBD	TBD	2:30 p.m.
Jun. 25	Quarterfinal	TBD	TBD	9:30 a.m.
Jun. 25	Quarterfinal	TBD	TBD	2:30 p.m.
Jun. 28	Semifinal	TBD	TBD	11:30 a.m.
Jun. 28	Semifinal	TBD	TBD	2:30 p.m.
Jul. 2	3rd Place	TBD	TBD	11 a.m.
Jul. 2	FINAL	TBD	TBD	2 p.m.
* Delayed coverage (All other games LIVE) This week's LIVE and premiere soccer broadcasts on Soccer's American Home.

[kingfc22]

US game is about to start on FSC.

[MalcPow]

Originally Posted by kingfc22

US game is about to start on FSC.

I'm at work, anybody know of any kind of webcast/scoretracker/anything that can keep me somewhat posted on this game?

[SirFozzie]

bigsoccer has a pbp thread. Youth National Teams

[MalcPow]

Originally Posted by SirFozzie

bigsoccer has a pbp thread. Youth National Teams

Thanks, fifa.com has a "live scoreboard" but it's not loading.

[SirFozzie]

halftime, won't reveal the score, but FSC is 10-15 minutes behind

[kingfc22]

Well, I think it is safe to say that we have controlled this first half, but just like the main club we need to work on your finishing.

[SirFozzie]

0-0 Final. Dominated the First 70, average at best the last 20.

It pretty much puts USA through to the knockout rounds, however

[MalcPow]

Anyone else see the score of the Spain-Chile game? A 7-0 smackdown by the Spaniards, that must have been ugly.

[Critch]

Originally Posted by MalcPow

Anyone else see the score of the Spain-Chile game? A 7-0 smackdown by the Spaniards, that must have been ugly.

Hmmm, so Chile beat Honduras 7-0, then Spain beat Chile 7-0. Spain v Honduras still to come, live on FSC. Should be a few goals in that one

p.s. Somebody remind me not to look in threads when I've got games TiVoed. I guess I can skip the US v Germany one.

[moriarty]

Originally Posted by SirFozzie

0-0 Final. Dominated the First 70, average at best the last 20.

It pretty much puts USA through to the knockout rounds, however

I'm beginning to thing we have a fitness problem. That's two games in a row where we were much better in the first half and near collapse at the end. Still, a good result (damn Germany has some big dudes).

Couple of random thoughts:

Thought the defense was solid (especially without Spector) other than the last 15 minutes. Freeman looked more confident. Tough to pick out any good performances other than Eilhaber (sp?) in midfield. He was everywhere.

Freddy seemed more muted, less one one one attempts. He clearly is our playmaker and I was suprised to see him subbed ... maybe his back/kidney area were tightening up. My only complaint is alot of his runs seem poor. He seems to run straight w/out the ball rather than making some of the angled runs into space.

Someone who watches Gaven alot, please convince me he's a good player. I thought he was supposed to be the star of this tournament, and I really try to like him, but he hasn't shown me anything. He looks like a tall dorky dude, who can't get more than two inches off the ground, consistently gets muscled off the ball, and gives it away needlessly way too often.

We seem to lack some speed up front. Ochoa isn't as fast as I hoped, and Barrett looks more like a target guy. It's probably not a good thing our fastest player is at the right back. BTW - I have a bad feeling one of these times were going to get caught on counterattack when Wynne makes his runs up.

Speaking of Wynne ... have you ever seen anyone with a longer thow-in?

And since I'm rambling ... anyone know anything about this high school kid they threw in at the end (Lee Nguyen)? Pretty cool to get an appearance as a high schooler.

[Ajaxab]

I've also been surprised at how poor Gaven has been given that the commentator who did the Argentina game marked him as one to watch. Moriarty hit the nail on the head.

Wynne looks like he has a great future ahead of him. He's got a lot of pace, his headers are always powerful, he seems very strong and appears to make good decisions. I could definitely see him getting a look from European clubs.

[Desnudo]

Gaven seems to prefer diving to fighting for the ball in the penalty area.

[GoldenEagle]

Is Nguyen in the residency program? It is good to see some defenders developing into nice players. I think there was a few players who were left off the squad who could make an impact in the future. We have some concern about up type, but the US and MLS have been developing some nice strikers lately.

[moriarty]

Originally Posted by GoldenEagle

Is Nguyen in the residency program? .

Apparently he was Gatorade National High School POY in 2004 (playing currently as high school senior at Plano East in Texas), and headed to Indiana University. Oh, he has a 3.8 GPA for what that's worth.

Text

[Mr. Wednesday]

Originally Posted by moriarty

I'm beginning to thing we have a fitness problem. That's two games in a row where we were much better in the first half and near collapse at the end. Still, a good result (damn Germany has some big dudes).

I don't know how Germany's lineup compared, but I understand the U.S. basically played the same eleven as against Argentina; Bruce Arena avoids that strategy in tournament play for good reason.

[Desnudo]

Anyone catch the 30-yard blast from Freddy Guarin? I love seeing FM players on tv.