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U.S. U-23s draw, lose in final camp friendlies

U.S. Soccer Federation

While the U.S. senior national team was busy getting a result in Slovenia, the U.S. Under-23 side training in Germany played to a draw and lost in a pair of friendlies against Bayer Leverkusen reserve and youth sides.

A few days after topping VfL Bochum's reserve team and drawing against Azerbaijan's U-21 side, the U-23s jumped out to a lead on a team comprised of Leverkusen's reserves and U-23s but settled for a 1-1 draw.

Terrence Boyd, who tallied a goal against Bochum, scored the lone goal for the U.S. U-23s, finishing off a flick from Mixx Diskerud from short range to give the Americans the lead in the 72nd minute. Leverkusen, which had U.S. senior international David Yelldell start in goal, found the equalizer with a late free kick.

The United States, fielding a mostly U-20 side, dropped a 3-0 result to Leverkusen's U-19 team after being scoreless at halftime in the second match of the day.

Here are the starting lineups for the two matches according to U.S. Soccer:

USA U-23s vs. Bayer Leverkusen's U-23s/Reserves

———————————David Bingham——————————-

–Sheanon Williams–G. Agbossoumonde–R-D Fennel–Zarek Valentin–

————–Amobi Okugo——-Jared Jeffrey———Dilly Duka———-

——Tony Taylor————Andrew Wooten——–Juan Agudelo———

USA U-23s vs. Bayer Leverkusen's U-19s 

———————————–Cody Cropper———————————

—-Caleb Stanko—Perry Kitchen—John Anthony Brooks—Greg Garza—-

———–Sebastian Lletget———Luis Gil———Jose Villarreal————

——-Jerome Kiesewetter—–Jack McInerney——Tyrone McCargo—–

——————–

Overall, the U-23s went 1-1-2, scoring four goals and conceding four in its friendlies. All four were scored by the side comprised of older players. Boyd — a Borussia Dortmund reserve forward — tallied two goals, while Taylor and Duka scored the others.

Here's a video from the U-23 camp, which will conclude on Wednesday:

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NhrWynoRQzw]

————-

What do you think about the latest results? Who from this player pool do you want to see more of as Olympic qualifying approaches?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. ussoccer_ynt
    Looks like there was a starting lineup change too. Packwood out, Lletget in. Reshuffle: Kitchen to CB, Stanko to RB , Lletget in MF

    Reply
  2. There are tons of talented guys on this roster, but the ones to really really be excited about in my opinion: Boyd, Diskerud, Gil, Brooks, Kitchen. Duka of all people is working his way up that list. And this Sean Johnson kid is not bad, between he and Hamid you can’t be too worried about our post-Howard future.

    Reply
  3. Kitchen is a DM. His future at DC United is as a DM. Last game, he played as a DM. This game, he was supposed to start at DM. Will Packwood got injured at the last minute and Kitchen slid over to CB. That’s not him being misused, that’s versatility.

    Reply
  4. A lot of people are down on Gale, but in his current situation I think his game will improve and he will re-emerge as one of the top CB,s. The talent is there no question about it.

    In the German – system i.e. JK I could see Gil playing behind LLetget in a 4-3-3. Gil as a DM – play maker and LLetget as the AM

    Reply
  5. You gotta remember guys like Villyan Bijev and Marc Pelosi are with their clubs, they were U-17 and U-18 team members this year. Both are part of Liverpool and from what I remember, Bijev is in Germany on loan right now to get 1st team action from one of the top teams in Germany’s 2nd Division Bundesliga 2.

    We also have guys like Charles Renken, Adrian Ruelas, Alex Zahavi, Joseph Gyau, Bobby Wood etc that would be part of the U-20 and some of the U-23 if it weren’t for their club duties.

    The U-17 had some good prospects. Gil will thrive when you put Gyau, Wood and Lletget next to him. I still have hopes we get Hurzeler since we lost Dustin Correa to El Salvador who I’m sure will call him to the Senior team soon. Also there was a kid who was in a Arsenal Club of some place here in Soutehrn California and he would be an option but is not a citizen as of now, it would be funny if he turns out to be a Mexico U-20 star… lol

    Reply
  6. Up top they may be weak but I dont see how you can call the entire lineup such. I’d argue the CB pairing may be more talented than the first as well as in midfield. With Salgado, McBean, Saad to name a few, there’s certainly talent to even out the attack. Salgado, if developed properly, will shine as a target striker in a 4-3-3.

    Reply
  7. i think jk should seriously look at terrence boyd and possibly call him up for the senior squad instead of agudelo. Boyd is on fire with Dortmund II and u-23s already off to some goal scoring streak,

    Reply
  8. Boyd, obviously. It will be very interesting to see how the forward pool pans out, there should be good competition.

    I’d like to see Luis Gil play more with the older players. It seems that him and Lletget are in competition for the #10 position.

    More than anything, though I want to see the central defense worked out. I’ve never been sold on Gale Agbossoumonde, not sure where the hype comes from.

    Reply

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