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Shea leads USA U-23s to win over Silverbacks

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photo by John Dorton/ISIphotos.com

Brek Shea led the U.S. Under-23 men's national team to victory in their final tuneup before Olympic qualifying, scoring two goals in a 3-0 victory over the Atlanta Silverbacks.

Shea scored his brace against the NASL club in the first half of the closed-door scrimmage played at Lipscomb University in Nashville, Tenn. on Sunday night. Michael Stephens capped the affair with a goal in the second half.

The U.S. team opens its Olympic qualifying campaign versus Cuba on Thursday, March 22 in the nightcap of a Group A doubleheader in Nashville.

What do you think of the United States beating the Silverbacks? Expecting Shea to carry this scoring momentum into Olympic qualifying?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. Why would we want this game to be closed from the public. Soccer needs as much exposure as possible here in the U.S. while the game is growing.

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  2. It is hard to know exactly how good this Under 23 team is relative to their likely competition should they qualify.

    Mexico fielded a talented group of players but that does not mean they were a good TEAM.

    It looked to me like thay had not played together very much or that they weren’t taking the game very seriously.

    The US probably has a good shot at Qualfiying but if they do so, they will probably meet a much higher level of competition than the glorified scrimmages they’ve played to this point.

    JK seems to think the competition will be quite fierce as he seems to be lowering expectations regarding how far they will get in the Olympics, should they qualify.

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  3. Why do people keep bringing up Klinsmann in relation to everything?

    1) Claudio Reyna’s plan calls for using the 433 throughout the youth levels. This was released well before Klinsmann took over.

    2) Porter uses a 433.

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  4. Does anyone know if the 433 is just Porter or if Klinsi has the U23s (and maybe younger age group teams) implementing a 433? Because we’ve had this debate about an American style and (a) is this where Klinsi wants to go, ie, a senior 433, or (b) is he allowing stylistic heterodoxy where we still won’t have a system that develops youth to fill specific senior team spots and needs?

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  5. i saw some highlights actually. shea had two really, really nice individual goals and set up the other for michael stephens with a beautiful run from the right to give him an easy finish

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  6. Well after everyone saying the defense was going to be the weak spot on the team,and the team would have to score a ton of goals. I think it bodes well for the defense that they have only let in 1 goal; regardless if they games have been televised or not. Lets not forget that they dhut down a talented Mexico team as well. But your sarcasm is well noted.

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  7. Really excited about this group. If Porter chooses to use a 4-4-2 sometimes, I’d like to see Shea paired with Boyd up top, and Gyau on the left.

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  8. Shea is a gold machine in these scrimmages and practice friendlies… But he seems lost in the final third when it comes to competitive international matches.

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  9. How dare you not be convinced that the defense is stupendous after 4 mostly UN-televised scrimmages? THIS IS AN OUTRAGE!!!!

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  10. i second that, how did shea score, was stevens a nice goal or a tap in. how did the mid field looked with Okugo instead of Morales. Did our backline made any errors to mentioned?

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  11. I am pretty sure it will be on CONCACAF tv as well. Which is internet based, and will be free. Good thing I discovered I get USN!

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  12. It it looks like the defense is turning out to be clearly not as weak as most people thought. 1 goal given up in teh last 4 games. And that 1 goal was given up when teh U-23 team was playing with 9 men against Dallas reserves. And what 10 goals scored in 4 friendly matches thus far. Yeah, looking like a really, really good u-23 team. As for who replaces Gatt it’s looking like Sheanon Williams will not be selected. I would look for Ibeagha to be called in.

    I have also been critical of the Michael Stephens selection, but him scoring a goal today has shut me up about that.

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  13. Yet again. Not a very full report. Who were the starters? What were the stats? Anyways good to see Shea scoring goals because Agudelo and Bunbury sure don’t do a good job of it. Good thing Boyd will be with the team on Tuesday. Shea has scored the most goals for this Olympic team. Neither Agudelo or Bunbury have been very good in that department, but Agudelo is far better at holding the ball and bringing in players compared to Bunbury. Boyd should be the starter come tournament time.

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  14. I’d like to note that the backline, which supposedly lacks depth, hasn’t given up a goal since the FC Dallas friendly? This team is ridiculous.

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  15. I think the USA U-23 team is the best in the world. They will win 2 gold medals at the Olympics, one for winning the tournament and one for Caleb Porter being a tactical genius. Caleb Porter is a better coach then Joe Mourinho and Barcelona sucks compared to these guyz. There, I said it. Im not drunk.

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  16. The scrimmage was closed door, so I’m refusing to believe this post is anything more than pro-U23 propaganda. Down with fascism!!

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  17. Ives, will any of the qualifiers be televised at all?

    i’m not expecting ESPN or anything to show it but that would be nice if FSC or a Spanish channel showed them

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  18. What do I think? i think beating a college team is a lot better than losing to one. Otherwise, it’s a scrimmage.

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