The U.S. Under-20 men’s national team squared off with France in its first March friendly on Wednesday, but Mikey Varas’ squad unfortunately came out on the losing end.
France handed the Americans a 4-0 friendly loss in Marbella, Spain which featured several talents on both sides of the field. Paxten Aaronson, Gabriel Slonina, Kevin Paredes, and Quinn Sullivan all were among the starters for the USMNT U-20’s.
The French took a 1-0 lead before halftime, putting the Americans in a surprising hole. Obed Vargas, Darren Yapi, and Michael Halliday all came off the bench in the second half for the Americans, but France would eventually add three more goals later in the match to pad its victory.
Wednesday marked the USMNT U-20’s first defeat since November 2021, snapping a nine-matcn unbeaten streak.
The USMNT U-20’s qualified for the FIFA U-20 World Cup last year after capturing the Concacaf U-20 Championship in Honduras. The Americans rolled to the title after scoring 31 goals in the tournament, and conceding only two.
Aaronson was named Golden Ball and Golden Boot winner while several others impressed such as Sullivan, Diego Luna, among others.
The USMNT U-20’s will also face England and Serbia as final preparation before the World Cup begins in Indonesia this summer.
A defeat like this could actually be a blessing. These guys needed a reality check and they got one. If they take this and loss and are able to use it as fuel to better themselves as players and as a team….than this will be good do them some good.
Right now we have a very young Sr. National Team….which will give the guys at the U-20 level more time to find their footing and develop before they’re expected to provide significant contributions. That too may be a good thing.
Good reality check on where we stand as a soccer nation. With all the love I have for the passion of people on these forum, too often do I encounter delusions of grandeur, which in turn lead to major disappointments and raging interminable rants. I’m the biggest us soccer fan you’ll ever meet, but I also understand that until we can produce game changing champions league caliber players we have no chance of doing much on the international scene – because nations that find success at world cups all have these game changing champions league caliber guys. It’s just the cruel, hard truth we need to accept. When you look at our U20 best and compare pedigree and club level to France for example, well the gap we need to overcome is still pretty massive. One step at a time though. Go USA.
Well, yeah… by anyone’s measure, France is definitely miles ahead of us in quality and depth. Pretty much one of the, if not the deepest pools in the world, so not at all shocked. Also wouldn’t be surprised if we gave them a much better match on another day No matter the outcome, can’t put too much stock- come to final conclusions based on one friendly. My opinion remains- thrilled that we’ve made great strides in a short time yet quite aware we still have lots S-ton of work to do to be a top footballing nation. I do think we are at the point where a good raging rant isn’t completely unwarranted when we struggle vs mediocre regional opponents. If nothing else- it’s good that people actually notice and care about a developmental match.
Mat, US eliminated France from a recent U20 WC in the knock out rounds.
Hard loss. My interest at the youth level is not how much they win as a team, but by how many of these players become USMNT players and how many become good to very good pros in MLS and abroad.
personally i think something is wrong if the U20s qualify top 2 from concacaf over and over — progressing to the quarters 2015 and 2017 — then can’t qualify for the senior NT world cup above 5th. then qualify and make the quarters again 2019 and the NT is stuck at 2nd. when you dominate at YNT that bad you should be walking the regional competition as adults. i think that says something is off at the junior-senior bridge if you don’t. it’s not we made it once. it’s we’ve made it 5 times running and the last 3 quarters. that on paper should be a quarter world cup team.
there are no guarantees but as the pool has professionalized you can already see how the players are turning out professionally. it’s no longer projecting how some kid at UCLA or akron or wake compares as a pro. he already plays for ajax. how does he look. so this is less true than it used to be.
i think the last part is snob bait. my experience the 2 most talented teams in my league finished 1-2. had the most college signings. had the most future pros (counting minors). a 3rd team that moaned about how the top 2 played, talked about how they played the right way……..kept finishing 3rd and had fewer collegians and pros. the snobs tend to miss that as the level progresses what wins you games may not be so much system as individual soccer IQ or talent. people diss organization but often players used to an organized style have determination, a good sense of how soccer actually works, and know how to grind out wins.
last, personally i am amazed with almost half a 2022 lineup of talent, ramos could only get the 2019 U20s to the quarters. i actually think that looks underwhelming in retrospect.
2019: Ukraine vs S Korea (Ecuador v Italy)
2017: England v Venezuela (Italy v Uruguay) Only 14 caps for Englands 6 goal scorers 11 belong to Calvert-Lewin
2015: Serbia v Brazil (Mali v Senegal) Brazil finished second guys who earned caps Andreas Pereiras 1 cap, Jorge 1 cap, Gabriel Jesus 59 caps. No one from Senegal was on their WC squad and these guys are 27 or 28 should be in prime.
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Youth Tournaments mean very little to NTs. Mexico has been in the top 4 of U17 the last 4 tournaments and hasn’t ever made final four of WC and won London Olympics.
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I don’t think half those guys for France will even be released. Toure 6’9 CB who can play with his feet first choice starter in Ligue 1 and his club is in relegation fight, Elye Wahi has 12g in Ligue1 12th in the league in scoring (started in front of Giaocchini last year at age 18) . A couple others who are weekly players in LaLiga, Ligue 1 or Eredivisie.
Only 2 guys made 2019 U20s and WC, Weah and Dest. Three if you count Richards had he not gotten injured. Can’t blame Tab for Adams and Sargent not being released or Ferreira not being eligible yet. He missed on Aaronson but you were low on BA until summer 2021. Everyone missed on Dike wasn’t even first team ACC either year, had huge NCAA tournament and the rest is history.