The U.S. Under-17 men’s national team moved one step closer to lifting the Concacaf U-17 Championship trophy after eliminating Canada in Friday’s semifinal round.
Micah Burton and Keyrol Figueroa both scored as Gonzalo Segares’ squad blanked the Canadians by a 2-0 scoreline. The USMNT U-17’s will face rivals Mexico in Sunday’s final after already clinching a berth into the FIFA U-17 World Cup.
The Americans came close to grabbing an early advantage as Adrian Gill’s shot struck the post in the second minute. However, the Americans first-half pressure would pay off before halftime as Micah Burton called his own number on a free kick opportunity.
Alessandro Biello brought down Burton in the 35th minute, which would prove costly as Burton’s eventual free kick nestled into the bottom-left corner. It was his third goal of the tournament.
Canada upped its pressure in the second half but could not find a clear look on goal to test Adam Beaudry. The USMNT U-17’s defense continued to stand tall as the match went on and eventually the Americans sealed the victory with a late insurance goal.
Keyrol Figueroa’s tap in finish in the 92nd minute gave the Americans a 2-0 lead they would not relinquish.
The USMNT U-17’s have now outscored their opponents 23-4 over the span of the tournament heading into Sunday’s final vs. Mexico. Mexico reached the final after cruising past Panama 5-0 earlier on Friday.
El Tri destroyed Panama. So I was hoping for a multi-goal match from the youngsters. 2-0 v a better opponent than El Tri’s gives me a lil confidence that the US can beat El Tri. Micah’s free kick was fye! He’s been rotating CF w/ Figueroa, who’s just relentless!! The last 2 U17s (pre-pandemic) got drugged by El Tri in the final. ( ‘17- Dest, Sands, Weah, Sargent, Durkin etc; ‘19- Reyna, Busio, Tolkin, Scally, Yow, Hernandez-Foster etc). ‘17 squad made it out the group in the WC, however the ‘19 squad took their form vs El Tri and packed it up in a suitcase and took it to the WC and suck it up! Both squads were having great tournaments until the final. I still don’t like how the ball never is played thru the middle. Relying on set pieces, side 2 side play and athleticism, isn’t going to help. El Tri isn’t going to let their opponents do what they’re comfortable doing. The youth teams from El Tri always push tempo. I’ll definitely watch to see if the US wins this challenge.
I thought it looked like they were trying to play through the middle more last night but everyone at this level just parks four CMs in the middle third. We’ll see, against Mexico should be a more open game and might find more space in the middle.
You’re right! They tried to play thru the middle v Canada more than previous matches. I hope they keep it up, when El Tri applies pressure in the final.
Of course in group play, Panama tied Mexico. Did Mexico use 2nd choice players in that game since they were already through to the elimination phase? If so, it would seem there is a drop-off after the first choice players. The US has rotated players throughout and seems to have similar results no matter who is on the field.
CBs and FBs were same in both matches but different keepers. Front 6 had 3 starters in both matches, Carillo didn’t play at all in group match vs Panama. Overall, Mexico has not rotated nearly as much.
The emphasis at this level isn’t exactly development but on the other hand you want to spread around the playing time for these kids as best as you can.
I imagine this gives the coaching staff huge headaches.
V: I think given the compact schedule with games every other day getting rest and recovery time is beneficial. Now as 15 and 16 yr olds they’re used to playing multiple games a week so maybe it won’t have any impact.
USA – Mexico should be fun to watch as both teams like to attack. It will be the third consecutive final featuring the USA and Mexico. Mexico won the last two, in 2017 on PKs and in 2019 on an extra time goal. So far in this tournament the USA has allowed 4 goals while Mexico has allowed only 1. Both teams have scored goals in bunches, Mexico has scored 26 goals and the USA 23 so far in 6 games.
In a subplot, Figueroa(US) and Carillo(Mex) are tied in the race for the Golden Boot with 7 goals and 1 assist each.
lol forward to seeing how this team stacks up against a very good Mexico team.
Some really talented individual players on both teams.
Finishing has been pretty spotty, hard to complain about group averaging 4 goals a game but they should put that match away in first 20 minutes last night.
Figueroa did not come on until around the 80th minute. He has scored 7 of the US 23 goals. I expect he will start v Mexico. That should help with the finishing a bit.
I am more worried about the defense, when Guatemala got the ball into the penalty box on set pieces, the US was woeful in clearing the ball.