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U.S. Under-20s rout Mexico, 3-0

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It wasn’t the familiar 2-0 scoreline, but 3-0 sounds even better.

The U.S. Under-20 national team scored three first-half goals to topple Mexico, 3-0, in a friendly in Laredo, Texas on Friday night. University of Michigan forward Peri Marosevic scored a pair while New England Revolution midfielder Brandon Manzonelli added a pair of assists.

The Americans dominated the match in front of the mostly pro-Mexican crowd of 4,000 in attendance, holding Mexico without a shot on goal all game. The match had its requisite feistiness, with three red cards issued, including one to Manzonelli.

Not a bad way for Americans to start off the same weekend we will see SuperLiga kick off.

What do you think of the result? Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. lol 6 yellows and 3 reds??

    sounds like the next bunch of yanks and mexicans are really pushing the rivalry forward 😀

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  2. Eugene- too true, i agree that i want to see the next age of U20’s… Altidore and Adu are done with the U20’s, seeing PT for the nats… ontop of that i dont want them being removed from their club team… thats more impt at the moment…

    i would love to see Bernardo get the call up, but only for impt games and tournys… the guy is working his way through the Napoli rankings, and doesnt need to be pulled for meaningless friendlies when he should be training with his club….

    00—00

    phillypride- Manzonelli is with the Revs, so tack him onto the MLS players playing….

    00—00

    either way, we should look to much into the scoreline… be happy we won…. but i want to see hightlights, or how some kids did… how did Shea look? im glad to see Manzonelli pick up a brace of assists, and hope he excells with the revs (that hurts as im a fire fan)… how did we possess the ball??

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  3. BTW, I also don’t expect Mexican players like Vela, Dos Santos and Villaluz to be in this cycle either, since they “graduated” from the last one.

    Just to reiterate, this cycle is preparing kids for the 2009 U-20 WC in Egypt. Kids who are already playing for their full national teams are unlikely to play for U-20s teams because the U-20s are an oppty for the next round to establish themselves and showcase their talent to the top European clubs that watch this tournament. So I really don’t see what kids like Adu and Altidore, or Mexico’s Vela and Dos Santos, would get out of participation in this cycle, despite their ages, since they already are where they need to be in the respective stages of their development post the last cycle. They’ve made their important European transfers.

    I would much rather see the next round of kids like Vincenzo Bernardo, or Alex Nimo or Matt Kassel play in an attacking mid slot for the US U-20s than see Freddy Adu reprise his role. (not that I’m at all certain that all of those kids or any of those kids are in contention for that spot in Rongen’s estimation)

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  4. I think some of you guys are reading too much into this match. This was an opportunity for Rongen to look at more players in this cycle’s player pool and to evaluate depth while the Europe-based players were out. A win is great and shows that this particular team had a lot of heart, but the result is just a friendly game in the middle of a 2-yr cycle.

    I’m sure Rongen’s Mexican counterpart, who is also a very good youth coach and has helped Mexico develop great youth players, is likewise just evaluating available players in this cycle.

    The most important takeaways from this game are not the scoreline but rather things like who played well, who didn’t, where the team was strong (set pieces), where they were weak (with the ball at their feet), and lots of other things that are visible when people are watching a match but are invisible to the score and stat sheets.

    Is there anyone reading this who watched the match and can comment objectively on what the US strengths and weaknesses were? I’d be curious to hear that perspective since I wasn’t able to watch the game.

    Its also going to be very interesting to see who from this group Rongen will take the Milk Cup in Northern Ireland, which will be televised/available on the internet.

    Having followed this cycle and last, I’m excited about how this cycle is developing and I think the player pool overall is more talented and well rounded than last cycle’s, even if currently its missing stand out players like Adu and Altidore (who almost certainly WILL NOT be playing in this cycle, since they have “graduated” from U-20s). Even so, we’re really far from Egypt 2009 and I think only a few players so far (Felix Garcia, Jorge Flores, Kyle Davies, perhaps Brian Perk and Josh Lambo) could be called core to the team.

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  5. @ Lee: The US had more shots, more corners, and apparently controlled 2nd half possession. We also scored a goal directly in the run of play. One is more than zero, so that would’ve been enough.

    If you’re an American fan, stop looking for gloom and doom and savor the win.

    If you’re a Mexican fan, shut up and look out for Honduras or you won’t hold on to #2 in CONCACAF.

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  6. @Frank

    Try reading the recap that Ives links to above if you want the lineups for both teams. I don’t know enough about either team to know how close this is to their A teams, but it surely doesn’t include most players that featured in last year’s U-20 World Cup for EITHER team.

    Of all the starters on the US team, the only MLS pros are Wallace and Shea. Aside from that, Okugo plays for the San Juan Lightning Crew and Garcia plays for the PDL Laredo Heat. All the rest are college kids.

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  7. I had to go back and figure out what I contributed to the tragedy that was our misspellings. For those keeping score (might just be you Jamie) it turns out it was ‘cemetary’….should have been cemetery. I think the only time I use that word is referencing the Pantera song.

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  8. Scoring off of set pieces is part of the game my friend. I see more goals on corners anymore in the top leagues then the run of play. Besides, if I recall correctly, in 2002 WC both McBride’s and LD’s goals were in the run of play…

    Dominating…I think we are…when was the last time they won? They may dominate possesion (and tire themselves out), but I am pretty sure we are dominating where it counts (and hurts them the most).

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  9. Scoring off of set pieces against Mexico, what a surprise. Let me know when we actually dominate Mexico from the run of play like a real team; that would be something.

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  10. mike ruze, are you saying that this is the same US team that got trounced at the Toulon Tournament? I’d have to disagree, considering there is approximately 1 player (Brek Shea) that was on the Toulon team that was on this team. That was the U-23 “fringe” team, completely different than the U-20 team.

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  11. Vela is one too worry about.

    Dos Santos is the black Justin Mapp.

    Villaluz will be OK.

    But the US depth looks far superior.

    Is Manzonelli is the real deal?

    I look forward to Brek Shea and his 6’2 fram crashing into Guardado on a consistent basis.

    But I also wouldnt get worked up…not because it was “MEx B team”, but because this was the same team that got trounced in the Toulon Tournament

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  12. Before we get carried away, Mexico looked the more dangerous team throughout the 2002 WC match. Lets just be happy we won at their expense and whistle past the cemetary that is the new El Tri…I think the next 8 years or so are going to be real fun.

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  13. Cyrus, i think it’s held every 2 years for something like a quick graduation from them… they might go though… i dont really no what im talkin about, but if it makes any sense, your welcome…

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  14. @ Frank

    Ok make excuses for why you lost. Altidore and Adu weren’t near this game either. Anytime Mexico loses we hear how “they didn’t take this game seriously.” Sorry dude, excuses are for losers. Either bring your “A” game and let the results speak for themselves or get trounced. I guess Mexico just never plays seriously against the US, included WC2002 I imagine.

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  15. I could not find any reference to this game on the Mexican websites. That should tell you how importantly they took this game. I would like to see which players Mexico brought. I am guessing a bunch of nobodies. Remember that Vela, Villaluz, and Dos Santos are all still under 20 and were nowhere near this game. So even thought it was a win at home you should temper your excitement.

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  16. Just wondering, when we talk about the U-20s, can we include Altidore and Adu in the discussion too? Correct me if I’m wrong, but they should be eligible for the U-20 World Cup next year. Ives, should we expect them to play in it?

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  17. Just wondering, when we talk about the U-20s, can we include Altidore and Adu in the discussion too? Correct me if I’m wrong, but they should be eligible for the U-20 World Cup next year. Ives, should we expect them to play in it?

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  18. @ Brooklyn Zoo

    That game was incredible. First off, it was Altidore’s coming out party to the world. Second, except for the rebound goal he gave up, Chris Seitz had one of the best keeping performances I’ve seen at any level.

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  19. Oh Mexico, que lastima! I’m enjoying the integration of US latino players into the US national team program, the US U-20s really look like a slice of America. This bodes well for the future.

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  20. Great result. Rongen is really a good youth coach.

    Great to see Tab Ramos as an U20 assistant. Ives, you should try to get a comment from Tab.

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  21. Roengen is probably the best coach we have at any level of the nats right now. He’s done a great job, especially considering how transient his player pool is. Any highlights of this game? Until then, here are some full highlights of one of the best soccer games I’ve ever watched: U-20’s USA vs. Brazil:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EmExheyGwKs

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  22. its good to know that the phone lines from Mexico will be VERY quiet today…if the score went the other way, my 82-year old father-in-law would be lighting up the lines….

    Reply

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