Photo by ISIPhotos.com
By DAN KARELL
U.S. Under-17 Men’s National Team midfielder Alejandro Zendejas showed on Friday evening exactly why FC Dallas snapped him up as a Homegrown Player signing.
In the first half of the U.S. U-17s 2-0 victory over Canada in the Panama U-17 International Tournament, Zendejas took a pass 30 yards from goal from Pierre Da Silva, dribbled past one defender, cut in between two more, and then fired a quick strike home to give the U.S. the lead.
U.S. forward Haji Wright scored his 15th goal of 2014 and fourth goal of the tournament in the second half with a close-range header off a Da Silva corner kick, to ice the match and seal the victory over Canada.
With two wins in the tournament, the U.S. have the opportunity to bring home another title when they face hosts Panama on Sunday evening.
Watch the match highlights after the jump:
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What do you think of this result? Think this U.S. squad has what it takes to compete at the World Cup? Do you expect them to breeze through qualifying?
Share your thoughts below.
I thought Zendejas and Wright looked pretty sharp on the highlights, penetrating Canada’s fearsome “Traffic Cone” defense.
Remember when Canada was a formidible foe? Remember they actually qualified for a wc ahead of the U.S. in 86? Now the tiny countries of Costa Rica, Panama, and Trinidad and ,Tobago are more formidible
Just an FYI… Trinidad & Tobago isn’t (aren’t) as much of a joke as you’d think.
They have a relatively high GDP per capita (more than, for instance, Chile, Argentina, Panama, Uruguay, and others), and >1 million inhabitants (vs. Antigua & Barbuda, with 1/3 the size of Uruguay who manage to be perennial contenders despite their small population.
T&T also has the opportunity to poach some UK players who will never sniff the pitch for England but are theoretically good enough to be internationals.
Given the right circumstances, T&T could easily return to being a contender for the Hex in CONCACAF. Not saying they are world-beaters, but they’re a tier above Barbados & Antigua/Barbuda.
Just an fyi . . . no one called T&T a joke
You do realize that T&T made it to the ’06 WC in Germany?
LOL @ Canaduh
Are there games when Wright doesn’t score? I’m not sure if it’s just his physical advantages, but he seems like a varsity player going up against the JV (or whatever the right comparison is).
He’s got height, but he doesn’t look like he’s carrying a lot of muscle. It will be interesting to see if he still performs this well once he’s playing with more physically mature players.
+1 Wright is scoring at a freakish rate and I will not conceal my excitement. But it’s hard to know what we’re really talking about until he fills out a bit. I have every confidence he is in good hands.
Heh, Canada. Terrible goalkeeping on the Haji goal. These U17’s are machine like