By DAN KARELL
For the second consecutive year, England was no match for the U.S. Under-17 Men’s National Team.
The U.S. U-17s scored early and cruised to a 3-1 victory over England’s U-17s in both teams’ opener in the Nike International Friendlies on the Premier Sports Campus in Lakewood Ranch, Fla. The USA win followed Brazil’s 4-0 rout of Australia to open the tournament.
The U.S. didn’t need much time to get on the board. In the 11th minute, Alejandro Zendejas combined on the left wing with Josh Perez. Perez waited before sending in a bullet cross that Zendejas redirected for the opening goal.
In the 40th minute, a cross from right back Matthew Olosunde was handled in the penalty box, leading to a penalty kick for the Americans. Christian Pulisic scored from the spot, sending England U-17 goalkeeper Alfie Whiteman the wrong way to put the USA up 2-0.
Pulisic added his team’s third just three minutes into the second half when he dribbled toward goal and at the top of the box fired a quick shot home that found Whiteman’s left corner. Zendejas picked up an assist on the goal as well. England saved themselves from a shutout when Daniel Wright scored in the 90th minute, finishing a pass from Layton N’dukwu.
Here’s a look at the USA and England lineups from the match:
USA U-17: 1-Kevin Silva; 2-Matthew Olosunde (19-Tyler Adams, 46), 3-John Nelson, 4-Alexis Velela, 6-Eric Calvillo (capt.), 7-Haji Wright, 8-Luca de la Torre (16-Thomas McCabe, 84), 9-Alejandro Zendejas (17-McKinze Gaines, 83), 10-Christian Pulisic (20-Keegan Kelly, 84), 11-Josh Perez (18-Pierre Da Silva, 66), 14-Daniel Barbir
Subs Not Used: 5-Hugo Arellano, 12-William Pulisic, 13-Logan Panchot, 15-Tanner Dieterich
Head Coach: Richie Williams
ENGLAND U-17: 13-Alfie Whiteman; 2-James Yates (12-Kyron Stabana, 80), 3-Adetayo Edun, 4-Tom Davies (capt.) (20-Daniel Wright, 80), 6-Cameron Humphreys-Grant, 7-Nathan Holland (17-Ike Ugbo, 70), 9-Lukas Nmecha (8-Adam Phillips, 61), 11-Layton N’dukwu, 15-Danny Collinge (5-Reece Oxford, 70), 18-William Patching, 19-Jahmal Hector-Ingram
Subs Not Used: 1-Paul Woolston, 10-Marcus Edwards, 14-Trent Arnold, 16-Easah Suliman
Head Coach: John Peacock
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What do you think of this result? Do you see Pulisic leading the USA to another title? Like how Zendejas has been playing?
Share your thoughts below.
No, these results ultimately don’t mean anything and it is all about development. But the group the US has between the U17 and U20 range (and especially with this U17 group) is most definitely encouraging, and the fact that results like this are more of a baseline than a “wow, look what we did!” kind of result is certainly nice. Players like Pulisic, Wright, de la Torre (if Pulisic is the steering wheel for their offense, Luca is the engine. So smart in the center of the midfield) and now Zendejas, da Silva, and Perez need to keep pushing to avoid the pitfalls that seem so easy for most American youth players to fall into (which most seem to be doing, trying to get overseas and Zendejas already signing a pro contract with FC Dallas). One last thing: any word on Joe Gallardo? Broke his leg with the U17s back in the summer. Curious as to how his recovery is going. He was a force in the Nike Friendlies last year.
Zendejas should be okay at Dallas. If anyone is gunna give a young guy a chance it will be Pareja.
Good stuff. Nothing bad about pumping confidence in our youth.
I learned along time ago not to look too much in to these results.
true, but these results have been a baseline for this group. Not a peak these are expected