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USMNT U-20’s roll to third straight Concacaf title in a six-goal romp

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The U.S. Under-20 men’s national team had three objectives heading into the 2022 Concacaf U-20 Championship and Mikey Varas’ side capped off its final objective in style on Sunday by claiming a third straight Concacaf title.

Paxten Aaronson scored twice to win the Golden Boot while Tyler Wolff, Jack McGlynn, Niko Tsakiris and Noah Allen also found the back of the net as the Americans rolled past the Dominican Republic, 6-0, to cap off an impressive run in Honduras.

The Americans’ early pressure paid off as Wolff headed home Jackson Hopkins’ cross from point-blank range. It was Wolff’s first goal of the tournament, which came at a perfect time for the Americans.

Aaronson continued his impressive tournament by scoring his sixth goal of the competition after cutting into the box and drilling a shot down the middle of Omry Bello’s goal.

Noah Allen added to the Americans lead before halftime by testing his luck at the top of the Dominican Republic box. Allen got a bit of help along the way as his shot deflected off of Miguel Vasquez and into the net for a 3-0 USMNT U-20’s lead.

Jack McGlynn entered the match to begin the second half and added his name to the scoresheet in the 53rd minute. McGlynn cut onto his left foot at the top of the Dominican Republic box before drilling a low shot into the bottom-left corner.

Aaronson leapfrogged club and international teammate Quinn Sullivan into the Golden Boot lead by scoring his second goal of the match in the 55th minute. Brandan Craig played Aaronson in towards goal on a set piece, watching as his teammate slammed home from point-blank range.

Niko Tsakiris added a sixth goal of the match in the 61st minute, rifling home from the middle of the box after the Dominican Republic failed to clear Caden Clark’s cross into the box.

The Americans posted their sixth shutout of the tournament while Aaronson won the Golden Boot and the Golden Ball awards. Goalkeeper Chris Brady won the Golden Glove award as the best goalkeeper at the tournament.

Comments

  1. When Pete Carrol was head coach at USC he would show his established players highlight reels of their incoming recruits to ensure that his established players felt the heat and did not grow comfortable. Gregg Berhalter should do the same and give these players as much opportunity to crack the squad as he gave to the last batch of young guns who currently make up our senior team. Nothing would be better if players like Musah , Scally, Pepe, Reyna had to work extra hard to ensure they were not “demoted” to the Olympic team.

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    • Too be honest none of these guys are close to NT ready at this point. The core of this group will be at U20 WC next Summer so it’s not likely they’d even be a part of the next GC. They need consistent minutes at the Pro level and with exception of Cowell and Clark that hasn’t happened yet. Alvarado I would think would have a chance at minutes with Vizela and Clark might get minutes somewhere in Europe in January. Philly guys should get more time but their first team is playing well right now. Ideally the U20s from 2019 would push the current group: Pomykal, Ledezma, Mendez, Llanez and the group who’s year got canceled Booth, Bassett, Kayo, Johnny, Otasowie.

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  2. Bigger news to me is that the Dominican Republic made it to the finals and have qualified for the U-20 World Cup. They have a Mexican in charge of the youth teams and the senior team and he’s stated his goal is to qualify for the 2026 World Cup. Seems like they’re headed in the right direction.

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    • They’ve started hitting their dual nats hard. Both Dominican Americans and Dominicans in Europe. Edison Azcona their best player who was injured yesterday plays for Inter Miami. I believe he’s US eligible but would have to file a switch, but I don’t think it’s likely.

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  3. Totally impressed by a couple of things. 1. Crisp and accurate passing where the ball remains under control and does not rebound 5 feet away, This has become more evident in the last few years with our players. 2. Field awareness. Seems like players are constantly aware of the position of their teammates which allows phenomenal quick interchanges to break open the defense and other times to get out of trouble in the defensive end. This is a very well coached and talented team.

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    • After watching several UEFA U-`19 games, I think this US team is equal to top European teams. I think Aronson and probably Sullivan will get offers to play in Europe.

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  4. Good job boys! Philly needs to get Paxton in that lineup. They played in a 2 forward setup and Paxton could definitely play that second forward role next Uhre.

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  5. US 75-4 GF/GA over the last two U20 Concacaf Championships. Haven’t lost in their last 19 matches. 3 straight titles.

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