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Carleton, Akinola shine again as U.S. U-17s cruise past Turkey

Photo via U.S. Soccer.
Photo via U.S. Soccer.

The attacking trio for the U.S. Under-17 Men’s National Team impressed again in the Nike International Friendlies, but a pair of forwards were particularly impactful.

Atlanta United’s Andrew Carleton and Toronto FC’s Ayo Akinola both had braces, Timothy Weah added another goal, and the U.S. U-17s defeated Turkey 5-1 on Friday night.

Turkey opened the scoring after just five minutes through Recep Gul, but Josh Sargent managed to set up Carleton after Akinola’s cross to level the match at 1-1 shortly thereafter. The Atlanta United youngster gave the U.S. the lead on the stroke of halftime after a defensive mishap from the Turks.

Sargent played the role of provider again in the second half as he assisted Akinola for his first goal. The 16-year-old completed his brace a few minutes later thanks to a brilliant run and composed finish. Weah rounded off the scoring right before the full-time whistle.

The U.S. has won both of its games thus far and will face Brazil in its final match on Sunday.

Comments

  1. In 2016, this team is 18-4-6 with most of the losses coming early in the year, the big exception was a 6-3 drubbing by Mexico in Mexico. The team looked unstoppable against Turkey and Portugal, teams the had lost to and tied earlier in the year. I thought the US looked thoroughly dominant, but were a bit inattentive on the defensive end, something that could give up goals to better attacking teams. Still, such a dominant and skillful performance by the forwards and midfielders is something the US has been lacking since Donavon and Beasley were on the U-17s. I believe all the members of this roster are eligible for the U-17 WC in 2017.

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