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U.S. Under-20s tie Mexico, fall in penalties

AgudeloVMexico (ISIPhotos.com)

Photo by ISIPhotos.com

For the second straight match, the U.S. Under-20 men's national team earned a tie in the Torneo de las Americas, and for the second match the Americans fell in penalty kicks.

Gale Agbossoumonde converted a rebound of his own saved header in the 70th minute to give the U.S. Under-20s a 1-1 tie against Mexico. The tournament format calls for all ties to be decided in penalty kicks, which Mexico won on Sunday, 4-2. Agbossoumonde and Alex Zahavi converted their penalties for the United States.

Here is the lineup that faced Mexico:

U.S. Under-20s: 18-Jonathan Kempin, 3-Korey Veeder, 19-Sebastien Ibeagha, 22-Gale Agbossoumonde, 5-Greg Garza, 21-Dillon Powers, 2-Amobi Okugo, 16-Sebastian Lletget, 17-Juan Agudelo, 10-Alex Zahavi, 9-Omar Salgado 
Subs Not Used: 13-Tristan Bowen, 15-Bryan De La Fuente, 24-Eduardo Fernandez, 14-Fuad Ibrahim, 7-Alex Molano, 8-Moises Orozco, 23-Conor Shanosky, 4-Parker Walsh, 4-Cesar Zamora 

 

The Americans also tied their first match of the tournament, a 1-1 draw against Colombia on Friday. Zahavi scored the lone goal for the United States, which lost in penalties, 3-1. Notre Dame midfielder Dillon Powers scored the only converted penalty.

Sporting Kansas City goalkeeper Jonathan Kempin started his second straight match for the U.S. Under-20s, as did New York Red Bulls striker Juan Agudelo, Duke University freshman Sebastien Ibeagha and Philadelphia Union midfielder Amobi Okugo.

The U.S. Under-20 national team doesn' return to official action until CONCACAF Under-20 World Cup qualifying in April in Guatemala. The Under-20 World Cup is set for July and August in Colombia.

Comments

  1. How long has Rongen been at the U-20 helm?

    I attended the 2007 U-20 WC and enjoyed his work but would like to see a new philosophy instilled following the ’11 WC.

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  2. I did not see the Mexico game but was at the Columbia Match. Here is what really stood out.

    Garza: For all the hype looked slow and out of position. It was hard to gauge the speed of the Columbians but Garza made it look elite.

    Lletget: Looked good but made some questionable decisions on passes that quick started Columbian counterattacks.

    Zahavi: Had great moments but does not have a lot of pace. When he was moved centrally he looked OK but did not have anyone to couple with.

    Powers: I thought was MoM in the Columbia game. Most balls ran through him and he shut down everything in the air through the middle.

    Molano: I thought Molano was good in transition and played well.

    Agudelo: Was not much of a factor but it was not his fault. He seemed deployed as a single striker much of the match. His runs were great but he got little or no service.

    The back 3 minus Garza: Did well, Okuga and Ibeagha were fine and Veeder calmed down after the yellow card.

    The goalkeeping left something to be desired. Too many communication problems. Almost took Ibeagha out on a ball he started to come out on, stopped and then continued without calling Ibeagha off. One rule of goalkeeping is that if you make a decision stick with it. Bad things happen when a GK changes their mind.

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  3. I do believe they do. How about reading comprehension? Unless I’m totally off, which could be the case being up all night at work, the previous poster offered a summary of the Columbia match, in which Boss didn’t play.

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  4. Followed PBP on BS and there was a lot of discussion based on the games. Guys who played well:

    Top Tier

    Zahavi

    Lletget especially in the second game

    Agudelo

    Second Teir

    Bowen

    Okugo

    Salgado

    The freshman from Duke at CB ?

    Molano

    Powers

    Boss OK but clearly not in form

    Bowen and Okugo were border line between first and second tier

    the rest

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  5. I saw the Mexico game Dillon powers is very good great vision and tough Omar is extremely raw but has good feet. Juan looked tired plus rongen didn’t Sub at all. The Guy from Duke wasn’t that good to me he gave the Mexican forwards too much space and was at fault for the first goal. I thought the game was even we looked tired there was to many times thought a simple pass was the best option and they were doing behind the back. Gale needs to control his temper he was ridiculous you can tell he hasn’t been playing. But I was most impressed with powers.

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  6. Boss didn’t even feature against Columbia. Okugo and Ibeagha played central defense, and from what I understand were very good. From reports I’ve read, Greg Garza was horrid. Saw good things said about Zahavi, Molano, and Veeder. Everyone else was so-so.

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  7. I can’t speak for the Mexico game because I had other obligations, but I can give my impressions of what I saw during the Columbia game.
    Agudelo is on another level. He didn’t get very good service, and had to come back to start runs up the middle or wide left, but he still gave those centerbacks all kinds of fits.
    Bowen played out wide right the majority of the time, in front of the fullback Veeder. Not one Columbian attack or cross into the box developed on that side of the field, and in fact it was Veeder who sent the cross into the box that an otherwise invisible Zahavi eventually finished off. Bowen made several runs up that right side without much help, and sent in several crosses and got a few corners as well.
    Ibeagha, Boss and Kempin all did really well for being so busy, because our central mids didn’t do much to slow down the Columbians attack. The goal the Columbians scored was in the 86th minute was difficult to see from my vantage, but it was clear Castillo probably made all those guys look silly on what was a beautiful display, basically walking it in from about 20-25 yards out and slotting it home.
    There were other players of course, but I need to get back to bed and I’ve covered the players that I noticed in a good way most often.

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  8. Bowen must have been hurt because he was the most dangerous looking player against Columbia, besides Agudelo, and came out in the early sixties.

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  9. I wonder whom had an impact in the game. not enough details to have an opinion except for the fact that these kids need to practice penalty kicks.

    Reply

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