The Men’s US U-20 bounced back from a tough opening game defeat against Ukraine, as they smacked Nigeria with a 2-0 win! The US are now firmly back in the running to make the knockout stages of the tournament with a match still to play!
Match Recap
The US dominated possession against Nigeria, and while they ended up winning 2-0, the match was a heavily contested one! Here’s a look back at the action.
Lineup
Starters and used subs: Brady Scott; Sergino Dest, Chris Richards (Mark McKenzie, 60), Aboubacar Keita, Christopher Gloster, Paxton Pomykal (c), Chris Durkin, Alex Mendez (Brandon Servania, 77); Konrad De la Fuente, Sebastian Soto, Timothy Weah (Justin Rennicks, 87)
Subs not used: Julian Araujo, David Ochoa, Edwin Cerrillo, Matt Real, Ulysses Llanez, Richard Ledezma, CJ dos Santos
Head Coach: Tab Ramos
The US stayed consistent with their 4-3-3 formation and possession based style of play, but started the match with a clear number nine striker Sebastian Soto. His contributions on the match were huge!
1st Half:
The US-U20’s started out strong, taking the match to Nigeria. USA controlled the game and were putting in chances, but were not reaping the benefits. That all changed in the 18th minute. Alex Mendez Ripped a shot outside of the box; it was deflected, hit the crossbar, and went out for a US corner kick. Mendez took the corner and put it on a rope into the box; the ball was nodded home by Sebastian Soto to give the US the early lead.
The US U-20s kept their foot on their gas for a bit, but Nigeria came to like with six minutes left in the half. The African side nearly scored on a handful of occasions, but keeper Brady Scott did his best Tim Howard impression to keep the US up going into halftime.
2nd Half:
The US kicked off the second half, by taking the kick and walking the ball down the field. Christopher Gloster dribbled into space down the left side of the field, and cut inside right around the final third of the field. He slid a perfect through ball into the box, and Sebastian Soto ran onto it and chipped the Nigerian keeper to double his tally and the US’s lead!
As the game went on, Nigeria pushed for a goal. After an injury forced center back Chris Richards off the field; on came Philadelphia Union youngster and US-U20 captain Mark McKenzie. Mckenzie looked to have an awful start to his World Cup action as he seemed to give away a penalty in the 65th minute as he clipped the heels of a Nigerian attacker in the US box. The ref pointed to the spot, but after a review it was clear that Nigeria were offside; and therefore, there was no penalty awarded.
Nigeria kept pushing in the final 20 minutes, but did little to break down the US. the US U-20’s took the match 2-0 and put themselves right back in the thick of things in this World Cup!
Highlights:
Group Standings:
The US U-20s salvaged their World Cup hopes with their 2-0 win over Nigeria. They now move on to their last game of the group stage playing a Qatar side that needs a win over USA just to stay alive in the group to make a run for a third place knockout bid. Qatar lost to the strongly organized Ukrainian side 1-0
Ukraine won there second match and guaranteed themselves a place in the knockout round. They’ll play Nigeria in their last match. Nigeria will need a win to move on to the knockout stages, but will find it difficult to break down a Ukrainian side who have let only one goal in through two matches.
The final day of the group stage for group D is Thursday. Will Ukraine be able to make it three out of three? Will USA or Nigeria take second place? Will the third place team from the group be a strong enough candidate to make it to the knockout round? We’ll have to wait and see. Tab Ramos thinks his team can make it to the knockouts and make a run from there!
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Matt McClain
Peace out Union fans!
Mandatory Credit: FIFA.com
