By FRANCO PANIZO
It took 90 hard-fought minutes, an opportunistic finish, and a clutch save late, but the U.S. Under-20 Men’s National Team has made it through to the quarterfinals of the World Cup.
Rubio Rubin scored a goal against the run of play and Zack Steffen came up with a clutch penalty kick save in the 83rd minute to help the Americans top Colombia, 1-0, in their Round of 16 match on Wednesday.
The Americans finished the match at Wellington Regional Stadium with 10 men after Kellyn Acosta was sent off with a second yellow card, but were able to hold onto their lead to reach the quarterfinal round for the first time since 2007.
The U.S. will now meet Serbia, which defeated Hungary, 2-1, in extra time earlier on Wednesday, in the quarterfinals. That game will be played on Sunday (12:30 am ET, Fox Sports 1) at North Harbour Stadium in Auckland.
Rubin found the winner for Tab Ramos’ side in the 58th minute, blasting a deflected shot that fell into his path into the top corner of the net. The goal was the forward’s second of the tournament, and came on a quick counterattack that caught Colombia by surprise.
Things nearly went south for the U.S. in the 81st minute, as left back Acosta was booked for the second time after being called for a foul on Rodin Quinones in the penalty area.
Steffen came to the rescue on the ensuing attempt, however. The U.S. goalkeeper dove low and to his right to stone Jarlan Barrera and prevent Colombia from finding an equalizer.
The Colombians nearly scored again seconds later, but American midfielder Paul Arriola managed to head an accurate shot away from just in front of the goal line.
While the match ended positively for the Americans, it started out in a rough manner. Bradford Jamieson was involved in a collision three minutes into the game, and remained motionless before being stretchered off and replaced by Jordan Allen in the 11th minute.
In the 41st minute, Colombia nearly found the opener. Some quick combination passes carved open the left side of the U.S. defense, and the ensuing cross was cleared away just before it could reach Barrera in front of goal.
Barrera also had a good look in the 53rd minute that he wasted, curling a shot inside the penalty area wide of the U.S. frame despite having space.
Colombia almost scored on a couple of occasions earlier in the second half, but Steffen was up to the task both times. Steffen first did well to poke away a ball 30 seconds after the intermission, and also blocked a Jeison Lucumi effort in the 50th minute.
The U.S. had one moment of solid build-up in the 26th minute, and it led to a header from Paul Arriola that was mishit and went well over the crossbar.
It ultimately did not matter. Rubin was opportunistic with his chance two minutes before the hour mark, and Steffen was heroic on Colombia’s late penalty kick attempt.
Serbia do Washington!
I wonder if Joel Sonora will ever get minutes, that kid is quality. Imagine a midfield of Canouse, Zelalem, Hyndman, and Sonora…. Phew…
He would have to replace Arriola or perhaps Allen/Thompson.
Marco Delgado is absolute poo, i expect Serbia to completely overrun our midfield. I don’t understand Acosta is a defensive midfielder… JUST PLAY HIM IN DEFENSIVE MIDFIELD. I’m glad Requejo finally got minutes btw.
Lineup for Serbia
Steffen
Payne, Carter Vickers, Miazga, Requejo
Delgado
Arriola, Hyndman, Zelalem, Thompson
Rubin
Another seemingly simple thing that needs to be said to this group “when someone passes you the ball, don’t just stand there and wait for it; come to the ball!” There were way too many times that Colombian defenders ran around a stationary US player got in front and intercepted a pass
Luckiest win I have ever seen in my life. But they are through. In these youth tournaments you can make a deep run like that.
Where was all the good luck for the U.S. last night? Player injured in the first ten minutes, player sent off, penalty conceded. You can argue that they won even though they were outplayed, but that happens all the time in sports. Steffen and the backline were outstanding and Rubin scored a great goal against the run of play. Those guys left everything they had on the field, and ultimately made big plays when needed (the goal, the PK save, Arriola’s clearance off the line) and played very bravely. Don’t discredit that effort by just calling it ‘lucky.’
Congrats boys. Great accomplishment under tough circumstances . Losing a key player and burning a sub at 8′, then going down to 10 and hanging on. That’s the type of American character we can be proud of.
Now the trick will be not getting drained by the emotional high – and coming back focused without a let down.
There’s a lot of Delgado CDM negativity on here, but they just kept a clean sheet finishing the match down a man. A disciplined CDM performance is critical to that result. Maybe Tab knows what he’s doing. Marky has been a pro for a while now and might be bringing important experience and shape-keeping role.
Agreed, Serbia is beatable so the key is getting everyone focused on the next task at hand. Great result though.
Duh, a third grader would have arrived at the same conclusion. Time to get that GED?
Time to see a therapist to address your self-loathing.
I disagree with slow about many things, but you, El Comandante, have single-handedly made reading the comments on SBI a significantly less pleasant experience.
You being born is an even more despicable act.
A disciplined CDM? What the he…
No, we need a CDM THAT CAN PASS THE BALL, and a CDM that can destroy counter attacks and win the ball back.
I can live with the result as ugly as it was. The most misleading stat in this game is that Rubio scored the goal. . This guy can’t hold the ball if his depended on it. Even at tje end in stopage when he should’ve run to the corner he tried to nurn the keeper from the middle of tje field. Wondo comes to mind.
Rubin was in the middle of the field all alone surrounded by four Colombian players. How exactly was he supposed to get to the corner without turning it over? He did what Michael Bradley should have done in the Portugal game at the World Cup – he booted it long, wasted more time, and most importantly didn’t turn the ball right back over to the opposition in midfield.
Nah. He had the nearly impossible task of playing as a lone forward – not the role he’s suited to – against a supremely physical Colombia side. I thought he was tireless and did a great job of tracking down balls, beating guys, and setting up shop in enemy territory. For a smaller guy, he had virtually no service that wasn’t a clearance. I thought he was our second best player on the night (after Steffen, of course).
This dude is still upset that Mexico flopped at this tournament. Serious replies to his comments are unnecessary.
This coward really thinks he is smart.
Even your womens team suck, get outta here.
Even your mother sucks, mojado.
Ignore this clown, he’s been poison in the StarsandStripesFc comments.
I am your Comandante. Get out of my country, mojado pendejo.
A little off topic, but I think Herzog should seriously consider pairing Miazga and Carter-Vickers together in Olympic qualifying. Their partnership has been really impressive, both in Jamaica and now in New Zealand. They are better than any CBs I’ve seen recently with the U-23s, and Miazga is getting more pro minutes than most of those guys anyway.
walker zimmerman has looked great. he’ll probably be one of the starters in the back.
I like Miazga (Red Bull fan) but I have to agree with Paul6 about Zimmerman who has also been playing well this season
“… alas the U.S. Under-20 Men’s National Team is through to the quarterfinals at the World Cup.”
Alas?! Is Franco sad/disappointed that the U.S. won?
Lol, I noticed that too. Maybe Franco is Colombian?
+1
Haha Not of Colombian descent, but I do get that a lot.
Wrong phrase there. I’ll blame it on being up at 6am.
For next game, Allen needs to work on taking defenders on. After the 8th time he ran out of ideas, ran into the defender, fell down, and didn’t receive a call, I found myself screaming not to pass it to him anymore.
I think Thompson should get the start over Allen if Jamieson can’t go. Allen has not impressed me that much, and I am starting to question the decision to take him over someone like Gall.
+1. I thought Thompson would at least come on as a late sub. I like the energy he brings. I’ve seen him play for San Jose a couple of times and I’ve been impressed.
I’ve questioned that since day one, we lost a huge scoring outlet.
I think we need to have one of the disputed World Cups moved there based on our historical youth team results in all tournaments there.
That is meant to be hosted in New Zealand.
I am curious what the overall PK conversion rate for this tournament is thus far, particularly after seeing Senagal’s keeper make a mockery of Ukraine in their shootout. Quite possibly it is hovering around 50%. Clearly, it seems the pressure is getting to a lot of these youngsters.
I didn’t think it was possible, but somehow Colombia’s PK taker looked even more nervous than Hyndman did the other day. Of course Steffen deserves plenty of credit for a very clutch save (which probably kept us in the tournament), but it was hard not to feel confident about his chances when looking at the Colombian kid’s face.
I agree with everyone about Delgado. He has not looked good this entire tourney. Donovan was brought in as a replacement for Conouse, so I am going to assume he could play d-mid if needed. Maybe he could bring more of a physical presence to the center of the park, which I think the team needs going forward.
I thought the entire backline with the exception of Acosta played really well. Hyndman was solid, good control in tight spaces, makes good decisions with the ball, and continues to show maturity beyond his years, as does Rubin who I really think could be something special. Zelalem was iffy, on one hand he’s very smooth dribbling the ball, on the other hand he can be a bit too casual and tries to be too cute sometimes. Overall a good performance from the team though.
IMO, I think Gideon really needs to bulk up some. He is young, and it is part of the developmental proces, but I think he would really benefit from an addition 15 pounds. Especially since it is his tactical skill that seems to beat people, and not his physical abilities. He just seems to get pushed off the ball way to easy.
He’s only 18 he still has time to put on a few pounds
No he doesn’t, what he needs to do is to continue to work on his technical abilities. In 2018 and 2022 we’ll need players that can pass the ball not bench press 220. Plus he’s 18, he’ll still grow into his body and the worlds best midfielders aren’t physical specimens. He has a low center of gravity once he gets experience on loan away from Arsenal he can learn to use it and embrace it just like Zidane, Iniesta, Modric, and Kroos do.
Did I not mention that he is young and that it is part of developmental process?
Plus, since when does adding a few pounds have a negative correlation to a players touch or technical skills? I could see if you were arguing it would take away from his speed, but that obviously isn’t a big part of his game at this point.
Your point is irrelevant to the original comment.
What a nervy game. The ref let Colombia get away with a lot of physical play, and had some questionable calls/no calls against the US. Losing BJ4 hurt us a lot. Allen seemed like a significant step down, especially offensively. Also, do we have no one better to play defensive mid than Delgado? I panic every time he gets the ball.
I don’t understand why Ramos insists on playing Acosta at LB. He looks great at D-mid for FCD and would be a huge upgrade over Delgado at that position in my opinion.
Couldn’t agree more! Especially with Canouse out and two outside backs sitting on the bench it just makes sense.
Maybe Acosta is a better LB than the two on the bench. And they won didn’t they?.
Maybe Requejo is actually decent and Tab is just stupid.
+1. Unfortunately, we will have to find our way past Serbia without Acosta at all. But you’re right, Delgado looks like a panic attack out there, while Acosta has looked calm and composed Isn’t this exactly what we are looking for in that part of the park?
Probably see Shaq Moore at RB and Payne move to LB for the next game. Maybe Tad will try EPB or someone else at DM…Delgado is inconsistent to say the least
We’re now short four key players. I guess that’s why you bring a roster of 23 but when two of the ones you lose are forwards it kinda…alters things.
I do think a 4-5-1 is almost a necessity now.
Good result, though Colombia was probably a little better on the night. No doubt they were more technical and bigger than us, though their conditioning was a little suspect…the Colombians really looked flat and sorta leggy through most of the second half and were getting outhustled and when it came time to drop the hammer once they went a man up they never really swarmed the goal to any overwhelming degree or generated any truly quality chances.
Good experience for our guys, regardless. Hopefully they’ll still have something in the tank for Serbia. Like to see ’em keep rolling as far as they can go.
What 4? There are 3: Tall, Acosta and BJIV. Unless you are counting Canouse or Novakovich who weren’t even on the roster.