photo by John Dorton/ISIphotos.com
By FRANCO PANIZO
Two days after posting a 2-0 win over Canada, the U.S. U-20 national team finished its 2010 schedule by defeating its northern rival again. This time by a much larger margin.
A new set of starters took to the field for the Americans in Sunrise, Florida on Saturday afternoon as the United States defeated Canada, 5-0.
The five goals came from just two players. Joshua Gatt scored twice and Joe Gyau grabbed a hat-trick. Gatt was involved in all the goals as he assisted on all three of Gyau's.
The Americans enjoyed a stronger first half than they did on Thursday, out-shooting the Canadians 6-1 in the opening 45 minutes on a wet day in South Florida.
The first goal came in the 12th minute when Gyau flicked the ball in at the near post after getting on the end of a cross from Gatt.
It took until the second half for the United States to score again. In the 64th minute, Gatt volleyed a shot past goalkeeper Julien Latendresse-Levesque after receiving a cross from Zarek Valentin.
The last 15 minutes saw the Americans turn the 2-0 affair into a rout. Gatt recorded his second assist in the 75th minute as he ran down the left side and crossed to Gyau. Gatt then scored his second goal after playing a give-and-go with Kelyn Rowe nine minutes later. The scoring was capped when Gatt crossed a ball from the left to Gyau, who one-timed it in in the 88th.
United States' lineup:
Zac MacMath; Zarek Valentin, Gale Agbossoumonde, Perry Kitchen, Greg Garza (Korey Veeder, 60'); Amobio Okugo, Dillon Powers, Kelyn Rowe, Joshua Gatt, Joe Gyau; Conoy Doyle.
Canada's lineup:
Julien Latendresse-Levesque; Ashtone Morgan, Derrick Bassi, Sean Hart (Sven Arapovic, 45'), Roger Thompson (Kevin Cobby, 50'); Nicholas Lindsay, Ethan Gage, Jonathan Osorio, Matt Stinson (Jerome Baker); Massimo Mirabelli (Niall Cousens, 45'), Jaineil Hoilett.
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What do you think of the 5-0 win? How far could you see this U-20 team go? Expecting more performances like that from Gatt and Gyau.
Share your thoughts below.
Don’t kid yourself about Lleget. He didn’t play well in the first game but was a factor in the second game. Also keep in mind that he was out a long time with Mono and even at West Ham has just started to build on his playing time.
Gatt wasn’t necessary an unknown but there was a lot of talk about his decision to go to Austria. He was known and hyped for his speed.
Maybe the Austrian 2nd div. is not the best league, but it’s still grown men as opposed to U19 teams in Mexico, Germany, etc. Also, Altach has a decent shot at promotion. So, if Josh continues to work hard and perform well he’s definitely in the mix for the U20 WC.
As someone from Michigan, I’m thrilled to see Gatt playing well. And Soony Saad scored in the first game.
And here’s hoping Casey Townsend, junior forward for Maryland, gets taken in the top-ten of the MLS superdraft — he’s from near my hometown. (Depends on if he gets a Generation Adidas spot, and he’s right on the edge.)
Way to go Michigan!
Sure he does. Missed out on Neven Subotic…but found Mikkel Diskerud. Had Juan Agudelo as a top player for his team from the beginning (for context: Cabrera was bringing him off of the bench in the u17 World Cup.). Brought in Adrian Ruelas, who’s now impressing at Celtic.
Rongen knows his attacking talent. It’s fashionable to insult everything related to U.S. Soccer, but he’s gotten good results–he’s only missed the knockout rounds once and gotten to the quarterfinals twice–while playing an attractive style that’s gotten his players lucrative transfers up. To me, that looks like a good record. Is Rongen the ideal coach? No, but he looks pretty good to me.
Thanks for the info. Go Gatt!
I’m pretty sure that, like Conor Doyle, Gyau and Gatt’s club teams denied them for the torneo de las americas. And Gyau’s club team didn’t allow him to go to the milk cup. Lletget didn’t even get into a U20 camp until this Nov. and by all accounts didn’t exactly star in the games he played, yet you still consider him as A team? I’m not hating on Lletget or you, I just think you should give a little more credit to where credit is due. Both Gyau and Gatt have stayed put with their clubs to this point and developed their skillsets. And now will be getting much more opportunities for club and country.
Plus, Josh Gatt was unknown until he made that move the the Austian 2nd league and began starting and tearing up other Defenses. Who knows how successful he would’ve been in College soccer but the fact that he made the move to Europe made people notice.
And Rongen has such a sterling record at separating the seemingly good from the budding stars doesn’t he? Or…not so much.
+1
nice! So when all of our yanks abroad are interviewed and they say “well for some players it’s good to develop at home, and for some of us, it’s better to develop in europe…” he’s the latter. I guess with our country being as big as it is, there really is no 1 correct decision as long as you make the right one for you… (I’m thinking dempsey and holden for home, and lichaj and a myriad of our U-20s abroad… here’s hoping that at least 1 or 2 of them can be international studs!)
It’s great that they’ve done well; it helps our team’s depth immensely. It’s just that, based on what we’ve seen, based on Rongen’s previous actions, and based on their club pedigree, these players appear to be closer to the bottom of the totem pole than the top. Doesn’t mean those who are last will always be last–in fact, experience should indicate the contrary. Just that, right now, they’re probably not the best team we can put on the field.
Gyau and Gatt were available for the Milk Cup; weren’t called. They might have been available for the Torneo de las Americas or Cuadrangular Tournament; weren’t called, weren’t (as far as we know) even considered to be called. (By contrast, we know guys like Bobby Wood couldn’t make either of those tournaments, though Rongen tried in both cases). And, at any rate, 2 goals and three assists or a hat trick might actually be a fluke: how’d that Sasha Kljestan hat trick work out for him? That was probably his best-ever game in the USMNT uniform.
So: cool that they did it against a CONCACAF minnow, but if they want to make the team for the u20 World Cup, they’ve got to repeat and extend that form.
Props to MV with the knowledge on Gatt
Curious. Were any of you at the games over the weekend? I was, saw both matches. You have a guy who accounts for ALL the goals and another guy who when given the opportunity, puts three in the net. Gatt can flat out fly, especially when carrying the ball. There was not a player on either team that can control the ball as well as he can at full speed. And Gyau has some major quickness and speed as well. And to say these guys are the B team. Well I tell you what, these “A” players better walk on water because 2 goals and three assists is no fluke. A hat trick isn’t either.
He also turned down a scholarship to Indiana to sign with Altach, looking like a great move. Yeah its the Austrian 2nd division but he’s doing well.
I would say results do matter somewhat. Rongen’s job isn’t just to find prospects. He’s also supposed to create prospects. Some like Gyau have already been discovered by foreign clubs based on strong U17 showings. Others are hoping this go-around will be a showcase for them — get them contracts with Euro teams.
As it happens, this is what the USSF happens for these players, too. If the team gets results, those deals are much more likely. Look what happened for Donovan, Beas and Gooch after their great run with the U17s. So, Rongen should be concerned with getting the best out of hte players and getting results.
Not too busy. Actually, he was struggling at Hoffenheim, by all accounts — but, he’s been in a good patch lately, which got Rongen’s attention.
There was a great profile on Gatt and Gyau earlier this week on the MLS site.
Gatt felt he was being overlooked @ Michigan, so he took a chance, left school and went to Austria. He says he found he was behind the other players there, so he’s had to work extra hard to catch up. He’s scored some goals there and is really making a mark on a team that’s fighting for promotion.
I don’t believe Gyau has been on the bubble based on talent, he’s been too busy with Hoffenheim to be called into camp until now.
Gyau was hurt for a while, but I think yor’e confusing him with Renken, who also went to Hoffenheim. Renken is the one still struggling to return from injuries, having done both his ACLs.
I think it’s safe to say at this point that Agudelo is no longer “missing” from the U20 team, although eligible based on age, but that he will probably be called up to the senior team. I would expect to see him at both the upcoming camp and in the Gold Cup.
And Luis Gil is young for this group, so he’s not really missing either.
Results do not matter at all. It’s all about finding prospects both domestically and internationally, properly evaluating talent, and getting dual citizens to play for us.
With guys like Diskerud, Hurzeler, and Salgado choosing the US, often after talking with Rongen, one would have to be crazy or uninformed to not be satisfied with the current state of our U20 team.
In regards to this particular group we actually have enough depth to field 2 teams that could compete. The number of fowards and MF’s is amazing.
and wasn’t Gyau injured or considering not playing any more of something? good to see the youth stars continuing on!
I’d say the B-squad designation is fair. It’s an A-squad in back and like a B- squad in attack: Doyle, while good, probably isn’t on the same level as an Agudelo, Ruelas or Zahavi; Gyau has been on the bubble for the u20s, and there’s no Lletget or Orozco to conduct the attack. It
Except Rongen gets these kids what–maybe one month at most out of the year? The clubs are doing the development of these guys, not Rongen.
At any rate, the question of Rongen’s results is kind of odd: he’s made the quarterfinals twice, the knockout rounds once and bombed out in the first round with inferior talent. Rongen gets very good results; unless your proposal is to get Jose Pekerman to coach our u-20s, which I’m sure practically every sentient USMNT fan would agree with.
Under Rongen, the boys have always played “the dutch system.” What this boils down to, in our case, is all our best talents told they can do anything they want in the attack (see Rogers, Adu, Eddie Johnson) and all of our defenders exposed in a system that doesn’t really value defense.
I love the dutch style of play, but we play a sloppy, unsophisticated version of it, lacking discipline, and it doesn’t help anybody in the professional world. Let’s learn to play like professionals at the youth level, and maybe we’ll actually have some at the highest level.
It’s important to note how many of our talents are raised outside of the program, who actually have a winning combination of skill and integrity.
Who exactly are you referring to about having “sloppy habits and overgrown egos’? At this level it is not the coach’s job to develop players. Rongen does not have them in practice enough for that and he has spoken about it in recent interviews.
Oops- meant to say watch out for Gil for the ’13 U20 team.
Gil was never really in the mix for this cycle (watch for him for the ’11 U20 team). The others you mentioned are all in the mix, but so many others are playing well that it’s so difficult to pin down an “A” team. They were also missing Kofi Sarkodie, who is probably the likely starting RB.
I agree that youth programs are held back by results in regards to focus on speed, athleticism, and mindless running, for the US to be truly respected (and for our players to be bought by more sincerely interested clubs), we need this one age group to ante up the good.
Also, why would it be so bad to make Rongen a glorified scout and get someone who actually can mold these performers? It seems that a lot of sloppy habits and overgrown egos come out of his system.
Missing: Lletget (by far the most talented U.S. midfielder), Juan Agudelo, Cody Cropper (Ipswich), Alex Zahavi (Macabi Haffai), Bobby Wood (1860 Munich), Hurzeler (Bayern Munich), and possibly Luis Gil (depending on when they decide to play him)
I would say its more like our B+ team
I agree with anon and Second City to a point. However, I guess I also wonder to what extent we hope that working at the youth levels in our NT system also helps identify and develop *coaching* talent. Everyone could use some top-notch coaching.
Jason- not sure how you call this our B squad with Agbossomunde,Garza, Kitchen, MacMath in goal, Connor Doyle and Gyau starting. If this isn’t an A team it’s a 1-A team.
Thank you very much MV… I follow all of the prospects, but that’s the first that I’ve heard of Josh Gatt. Love it when there’s news stories about people I’ve never heard of before.
Yup. He was scouted on the Discover Elite tour and was signed shortly thereafter. I know a kid who went on it this year and played against Altach and said Gatt was very good, particularly his control and skill at full speed.
Precisely, anon.
While I mean no disrespect to wilyboys opinion, that same viewpoint has consistently held back youth development all across our country for decades.
If Canada has this much trouble with our B squad, I would hate to see when happens when we have our A Team out there.
He’a an 18 yr. old from Michigan who signed with Austrian 2nd Bundesliga club, Altach this summer. He bided his time on Altach’s bench for awhile as he’s adjusted to the professional game. But over the last two months he’s solidified himself as a starter and has burst onto the scene. Gatt’s scored 4-5 goals and assisted on another 3-4 since he became a starter for Altach. Arguably he’s be the important clog as they are table toppers vying for promotion. This was his first introduction to the national team, I believe. Look for him to continue to be included in Rongen’s plans.
Why do we care if he gets results? Don’t we constantly say that results don’t matter? As long as he recruits/retains talent–as he has with Hurzeler, Ruelas, Salgado, etc.–and makes them play in a reasonably attractive style, I don’t really care what his results are.
Who the heck is Joshua Gatt??? Anyone have any details/background about this kid? I follow all of the USMN teams but I don’t think I’ve ever heard of this guy!
Rongen does not have any excuses this time around. If he can’t find a balanced lineup from this group, we need to replace him stat.
His eye for talent isn’t the issue, just his ability to coach an effective team.
Hoffenheim
They both went on trial at Arsenal, but I believe they ended up in Germany. Maybe Frankfurt? Help me out, SBI.
Again zarek valentin, stepping up. The kid has immense potential, top notch talent. National championship last weekend, assiting goals for the US this weekend. Impressive. Wonder whats next?
This cycle appears to have depth at midfield and forward. Rongen will have some tough decisions to make come qualifying in April.
Josh Gatt is having a great year for his club and now for the U20s good for him!
for canada, lindsay and morgan are signed with TFC
Jaineil Hoilett is brother of Blackburn Rovers forward David Hoilett. Jaineil plays for FSV Mainz 05 in Germany, I believe. Probably in the reserve squad alongside US players Jared Jeffrey and Preston Zimmerman.
How about a story on who all of the Canadian U20s are – are they affiliated with any of the MLS squads?
thanks.
Isn’t Gyau a really awesome talent that is being looked at by some club in England? I thought him and C. Rekken were part of some really super tandem in some past tournament.
Well done to them! Do you have lineups or subs?