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Ebobisse, Zelalem shine as U.S. U-20s fall to Netherlands U-20s

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While a match to forget for the U.S. Under-20 Men’s National Team defense, forward Jeremy Ebobisse had quite a match to remember.

The potential No. 1 pick in the 2017 MLS SuperDraft shined in his start for the U.S. U-20s as they fell to the Netherlands U-20s, 5-3, in the Four Nations Cup.

The Duke product had a stunning performance, netting a brace in the first half and finishing off a third in the second half for a hat trick, assisted by Arsenal youngster Gedion Zelalem on the first two goals and by the Seattle Sounders’ Victor Mansaray on the last.

Zelalem’s free kick found his way to Ebobisse’s head as the striker slotted it past the keeper to put the U.S. up 1-0 early in the 9th minute. The Netherlands struck back quickly, scoring two to take a 2-1 lead that seemed safe heading into half time. But Zelalem once again set up Ebobisse with a cross that was finished off to level the score at 2-2 just before the whistle.

Ebobisse scored his third in the 58th minute to give the U.S. a 3-2 lead, assisted by Mansaray, but the defense wasn’t able to hold on as three second half goals saw the Netherlands take a 5-3 victory.

The U.S. U-20s play their next match on October 10th against the England U-20s.

Comments

  1. How can anyone shine when your team gets destroyed by five goals is beyond me. Ohhh I forgot, in Amerika everyone gets a trophy these days. And, lesvos who say they are man still play in the women’s league. This is bizarro world.

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  2. We can get the Womens U-16 international matches (which is great, we should get all levels of national team squads matches), but our U-20’s vs the Dutch (one of the best developers of WorldCup caliber players per person) is nowhere to be found. Our chance to see Zelalem’s playmaking technique and Arsenal skills is nowhere to be found so I have one thousand channels of crap plus a U-16W world tournament (do they call it a world cup at that age level?)? Come on USSoc some of us want to see these matches against nations with good reputations for strong youth development.

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  3. If Ebobisse works out, he could be tied to MLS for 5 years. From what I remember, rookie contracts have an option for the clubs to extended up to 5 years. Is that the case? I tried checking via web. That means he could tied down to the low salaries here until he is 25 unless a club meets whatever high transfer fee MLS sets

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    • Pretty certain no one held a gun to his head and forced him to sign. Usually, it’s 2 guaranteed + 2 optional by the team. However, bigger prospects have more leverage to negotiate better/more flexible terms. Yes, he could regret it by being tied up OR MLS could regret it because he could be a bust and be overpaid (example Danny Mwanga).

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    • Klinsmann; Suddoth, Robinson, Redding(c), Borges; McKinnie, Jones, Zelalem; Lennon, Ebobisse, Mansaray

      I think Redding has hit that rookie wall, and had a rough month or so. You see the grind of playing every week get to players.

      Reply

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