Top Stories

U.S. Under-17 vs. Brazil: Your Running Commentary

USA CrestBrazil Logo 

The Nike Friendlies conclude today with the marquee match we've been waiting for, the United States taking on Brazil (5pm, Fox Soccer Channel).

We weren't originally going to post a live commentary on this game, in part because I've just gone on vacation and nobody else is around, but with the United States up 3-1 at halftime and putting on a show, I'm sure there are plenty of USA fans eager to talk about the next generation of up and coming American stars.

If you are watching today's match, and want to talk about that first-half display, as well as the rest of the action from Florida, feel free to share your thoughts, opinions and some play-by-play in the comments section below.

Enjoy the action.

Comments

  1. I appreciate your effort to enlighten me about size but my question was rhetorical in nature. I know the answer but I disagree with it in so many cases. I’ve seen great athletes disappear because of the percieved size issue. Second only to seeing great athletes disappear because of a female… Lol

    Reply
  2. We had alot of possession in the first half. Good fluid passing and composure on hte ball, I like the style of play I saw.. congrats to the boys on a job well done

    Reply
  3. I hope I never hear another word from him about his own playing days. who cares ! Playing pro ball does not mean you know anything about the game. Commentary wise Wynalda or Harkes deserved to get fired and
    Conrad is from the same old school. They dont know the difference between a foul and a cynical attack like the foot to the stomach by the brazillian which should have been a red card in the first half People who have played on a high level should know the difference between a foul and an attack. Commentators should never glorify “tough” play. Conrad does.

    Reply
  4. This was a huge result for the US. Most of what i have seen up till now from the US has been ugly and primitive “get rid of it ” type soccer which is taught thruout the high schools of the nation.The US matched up psychologically eyeball to eyeball with Brazil, and Brazil blinked first. Great respect goes to the coaches who have been able to reverse the ugly, direct ball english mentality prevelent in youth soccer for so long. Going to play in college or MISL will only ruin these youngsters ability to progress. I agree that they should go to play in Europe with development teams.
    The commentary provided by the announcers on Fox was abysmally bad with no insight at all as to what was happening on the field. Acoording to them ,lack of size is a liability. So I guess that Iniesta and Xavi and Messi and Modrich and so on are not good enough to play for the U.S.
    The poor play and huge liability of number 4 Moore, Who played right fullback was never addressed. Brazil had no answer for the combination zone/man to man defense that forced them to alter their regular style of play. The self-discipline of the US kids was exemplary.
    I know of some superior kids in the NYC area whos fathers will not let them play youth soccer because of the ugly style that is prevalent. Maybe this US under 17 kids team will make them change their minds.

    Reply
  5. It doesn’t mean anything that they did well and won, but would have been a significant event if the played poor and lost. Very strange here, the logic escapes me.

    Reply
  6. Congratulations to Coach Wilmer Cabrera and his staff – most of all congratulations to the young men of the USMNT U-17 team.

    Well done gentlemen, well done. Outstanding! Strong work. A job well done. Hold your heads up and walk tall.

    I BELIEVE!

    Reply
  7. Judging potential with 15-15 1/2 year olds is a dicey proposition at best. I like the left back, Requejo, but that’s just my opinion. He may become a good pro, or… We’ll see.

    Reply
  8. because size can compensate for something. Maradona, Messi and the likes of the world, had something special, does Flores have it? too soon to tell.

    Reply
  9. Ives,
    Who are your favorite prospects on this team? Not necessarily the guys who performed the best in this torunament, but the players with the most potential…

    Reply
  10. size does NOT matter when skill and heart are at the core of the player. Why are we Americans so enamored with size? Basketball and football I get it but soccer… Sorry, an irrelevant arguement.

    Reply
  11. I didn’t see this game, but I saw the France and Turkey fixtures. The last time I saw passing like these kids from the senior team was for 30 minutes against Costa Rica in September. Before that… I can’t remember.

    The main problem with American soccer is that our players don’t develop a high level of soccer IQ at a young age. This tourney has shown that we’re making progress, and some of that will inevitably translate to higher levels.

    Reply
  12. The score reflected the game. Brazil tried to make a run in the second half, but the US withstood the rush and the Brazilians got tired. The Brazilian goal was a beautiful strike.

    Reply
  13. Who said lets not enjoy this. I am just stating.

    Its is great to show people that we do have a great youth set-up and that we can compete with teams like Brazil.

    Reply
  14. Meh. He’s a 10. He’s got great attacking instincts. There are many positions where his size might be a liability, but not his.

    Reply
  15. Not to be skeptical here but this is only u17’s. Didn’t we play the Dutch u17 team to a close match. Basically the under 17’s don’t give you that much of an indication of how this will help the Senior Team in the long run. I bet you by the time these Brazilians are like 20-21 some of them will be on the senior team while the rest of the seniors will be a mix of other talented players not scouted before in Brazil. Same thing with the USA. So ya it is brilliant that we won now 3-1 but what would the result be in a few years when these guys are seniors.

    Reply
  16. The US really was quite good in the first half. Nice to see guys that can trap and dribble, take people on and win. I was very impressed with quite a few of them.

    Second half Brazil woke up and started to take it to us more but we held on and almost scored a fourth. Junior Flores is quite good but unless he gets bigger, will have a tough time going very far. Junior Flores = Johnny Torres im afraid

    Reply
  17. This is such a joke. The game isn’t even listed in schedule on fox soccer’s website.

    Hopefully someone posts some good highlights. Really wish I could see this game.

    (SBI- I wrote this match up as the lead of This Weekend’s Soccer on TV AND mentioned it again in today’s Your Running Commentary. It wasn’t exactly a secret.)

    Reply
  18. Don’t know. We’re still waiting for a lot of our u-20/u-23 prospects to funnel through. Maybe MLS should be the chief destination. If the league gets better, European scouting gets better, and teams will have to commit a bit more money/interest to bring them on.

    Reply
  19. 3-1 over brazil, 2-1 over Turkey, 2-2 Tied with France. Thats some solid work by our up and comers… Hope their development continues. Personally i hope as many of them get over the Europe as quickly as possible. Not to be starters but to play for u-18 and reserve teams so they can develop an understanding for the European game.

    Reply

Leave a Comment