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U.S. U-17s ease past hosts India to open U-17 World Cup

Facing off with the host country to open up a World Cup is always a tough task, but the U.S. Under-17 Men’s National Team took care of business on Friday in India.

Josh Sargent and Chris Durkin scored a goal in each half before Andrew Carleton iced the match with a third in a 3-0 win over hosts India to open the U-17 World Cup. The win puts the U.S. on top of Group A following the first round of matches.

Sargent opened the scoring in the 30th minute, firing home from the penalty spot to give the U.S. a 1-0 lead. Sargent earned the penalty as he was ripped down in the box after nutmegging his defender. The forward, who recently signed with Werder Bremen, stepped up to the spot and buried into the lower left-hand corner to give the U.S. a 1-0 lead.

It took a little longer than expected for that lead to be doubled, but it eventually came through Durkin. On a corner kick, the ball bounced in the box and fell to the feet of the D.C. United Homegrown. Durkin smashed a shot towards goal, and it deflected off a defender and in to provide much-needed breathing room.

Finally, Carleton put his stamp on the match with an 84th minute goal. Just moments after India rattles the crossbar, the U.S. broke free the other way on a great pass from George Acosta. Carleton was in all alone, and he rounded the goalkeeper before firing a simple finish for 3-0.

The U.S. was the dominant team from the opening whistle, even if clear-cut chances were hard to come by. Sargent had a one-on-one thwarted within the game’s first few minutes while Carleton proved dangerous with both his passing and runs into the box. Carleton had a golden chance early in the second half, but his shot was pushed away with a diving stop.

Defensively, the U.S. was rarely tested by an India team that struggled to maintain possession. The hosts pushed forward a bit as the match wore on, but never truly tested goalkeeper Justin Garces.

Next up for the U.S. is a match against a familiar foe in Ghana, who knocked off Colombia, 1-0, in their opener on Friday. The U.S. and Ghana square off on Monday before the U.S. rounds out the group stage against Colombia on Thursday.

Comments

  1. This team was less fun to watch than India. Just big, fast but not quick below average technique, Played like scunthorpe United.No creativity in misfield. Looked like college allstarts. kick and run.

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  2. I agree with J Thomas. The biggest problem was the midfield. They have to attack and dump off. Cant depend on long through balls all the time. Very much the same problem with the Sr. team. poor midfield play

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  3. Carleton struggled centrally. Good on coach for recognizing it and moving him to the wing where he was a better player. The team struggled to get Weah and Sargent the ball with Carleton central. It flowed better with Acosta central and connecting the midfield to the forwards.

    Sargent has physically matured. He’s a rare US talent at forward. The full national team needs to start calling him up.

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    • Check the brakes a bit. This game was against India and guys that have just started shaving (and that’s IF they even have). Sarg is obviously on a great trajectory and I wish him the absolute best, but let the guy actually do something with his club first (heck, he has to turn 18 before he can even take the pitch with them). Then, after he’s started to find his role on his club team, consider bringing him in for USMNT Sr. team camps and friendlies.

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  4. This match was reminiscent of a senior USMNT World Cup match of the past and hopefully not of the future. However, the roles were switched with the US being the dominant team physically, technically, and most of all dictated tempo. India saw little of the ball and even when they did the US was organized to block shots or simply win it back quickly. Even when the India had their brightest moment of the match and put one off the post. The US immediately countered and scored. The US was bigger, stronger,faster, but played quickly with the ball and were dangerous going forward. It will,be interesting to see what this team does against a quality opponent that is not pushed around and pushes back?
    India U-17’s are not very good in many respects and draw on little futbol success in the past or present.

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