PBP: 2019 CONCACAF U17 Championship Final: USA vs Mexico 5/16 7 PM (ET)

Just to remind.
The team of 2017 CONCACAF U15 lost the final against Mexico 2-0
The formation was Damian Las, Joseph Scally, Mason Judge, Axel Alejandre, George Bello, Josh Atencio, Adam Saldana, Gilbert Fuentes; Giovanni Reyna, Gianluca Busio and Julian Gaines
The current team seems to be much better in all aspects but Mexico is always a difficult opponent.

 

Coach Wicky when he has to decide between starting AOC or Pepi

 

The squad rotation game sequence has it already decided.
AOC starts next game.

 

He can start both.

 

I know, just enjoying that we have two high level strikers on this team

 

Looks like the game was played last Sunday. Howd we do?

 

AOC on the wing, and Pepi in the middle, preventing Wicky from having to play Fuentes out of position or start Yow.

Why didn't he bring Pynadath?

 

Why would you put your best field player out of position? Play with two strikers.

Pynadath is by no accounts a high level winger. It’s the same question people have been asking for years with Lederman. Club affiliation doesn’t matter at youth level. Dunbar should’ve made the team instead of De Vries. That’s the biggest gaffe in the squad selection among wingers, IMO.

 

You (along w/ pretty much nobody else) claim AOC is the team's best player, yet he's in and out of the lineup. He hasn't has as good of a tourney as Reyna, Leyva, Saldana, Busio, KHF, or even Pepi now. Pepi needs to start, he's a worse fit as a winger (AOC looked fine there a couple games back), and I don't want Reyna in the hole the way he's over-dribbling and taking so much time to make a pass.

I'm not basing Pynadath being interesting on club association. Don't make assumptions. He has an impressive reel/every touches. But admittedly that's limited knowledge. That's why I asked.

 

I’ve been about the biggest Pynadath supporter the last 3-4 years but he’s barely getting minutes with Ajax’s u17s. The words from supporters were not very kind-he dribbles too much, bad decision making in the middle third, small and easily pushed off the ball, not good in the press. But he seems like he creates a good scoring chance almost every time he plays. He’s basically been a mainstay with this team since the u15s, so either Ajax didn’t want to release him, or he didn’t play himself onto the roster.

Either way, if we don’t see him in October it won’t be because he didn’t get a fair shake. Watching de Vries, I can’t help but think Dunbar didn’t get a fair shake. He could’ve started that game yesterday, pushing Fuentes to the 10 and Busio to the bench to rest. Or Dunbar could’ve let Reyna rest. Either way, playing both of those guys 90 minutes 2 days before a battle with your biggest rival seems like a pretty bad idea.

 

Can someone confirm that there will be no extra time today, and that a draw will go straight to PKs.

 

I think someone said Canada and Costa Rica went into ET in the Quarterfinals.

 

The published timelines suggest that both Canada v Coata Rica and Haiti v Honduras played extra time, before penalties, but the regulations (used to, at least) suggest straight to PKs.

I'm pretty sure when the U-20's beat Honduras in the U20 Final two years ago, the game went straight to PKs.

Can someone confirm, one way or the other ...

 

They did according to this match report: https://www.google.com/search?q=can...-8#sie=m;/g/11fjzvtr82;2;/m/02plc6m;tl;fp;1;;

The regulations for the Concacaf U17 say this however:

The regulations that are on the website are from the 2017 version though, so I'll assume it has changed.

 

The US Soccer preview

https://www.ussoccer.com/stories/2019/05/16/00/38/20190515-preview-u17mnt-vs-mexico-cu17-final

• Thursday’s final marks the seventh meeting between the two nations at this tournament, with the USA holding a 1-3-2 against El Tri.
• The nations clashed twice at the 2017 Concacaf U-17 Championship, their first meetings since 1996. There, the USA topped Mexico 4-3 in a group stage thriller with two goals from Josh Sargent and a tally from current U-20 MNT forward Ayo Akinola. They met again in the final, which the U.S. dropped in heartbreaking fashion, losing in penalties after giving up an equalizer to Mexico during second-half stoppage time.
• Israel Luna leads Mexico in scoring at the tournament with three goals.
• With its quarterfinal victory over El Salvador, Mexico qualified for its 14th U-17 World Cup and fifth straight. Mexico has appeared in 17 of 19 Concacaf championships at this age level.
• Mexico’s roster features 19 players born in 2002 and one born in 2003.

 

Luna is actually tied with Santiago Munoz, an El Paso native who was with the FC Dallas El Paso affiliate before joining Santos Laguna. Both have 4 goals. Alvarez is third in scoring for Mexico with 3 goals. So two of the top three scorers for Mexico are in significant part US products.

 

Please don't tell us that those two chose Mexico because they found US Soccer's imprecision to be intolerable.

 

This is a poor Mexico team any way you skin this. This is also a good US team. We should have no issues but the game still has to be played.

 

Is this a good US team because we actually played well or is it because we scored a bunch of goals against Minnows, besides Canada without facing Costa Rica or Honduras?

Then again, this has been a fun tourney regardless of those circumstances.

 

Programming update:

The game appears to have been moved to Galavision.

 

Why would Reyna play in the hole? He's a winger. You play him at winger in a two striker formation.

How exactly has Pepi been better and why exactly does Pepi need to start? This is some type of convoluted rhetoric. He has worse end product stats and he's been less involved from the run of play.

Pepi has at no point this cycle outplayed Ocampo-Chavez. This idea that Pepi earned a starting spot because he scored one goal at the Nike Friendlies and Ocampo-Chavez scored zero makes almost no sense. This faux-competition is fueled almost entirely by that and Pepi having success in the DA and USL League One. It might even be a real competition, but that doesn't speak well of the coach, if thats the case.

Ocampo-Chavez has been, by any measure, one of this age group's best players for years, and has produced goals going back years for this age group. How many have suggested Scally should lose his place because Cuevas is good or Bello should lose his place because Hernandez-Foster and Gomez are good?

You can play both players together in a two striker formation and no one is criticizing Pepi that much for a pretty average tournament (because there's no need to and most recognize he's a very good prospect), but if you are only playing one of the two, Ocampo-Chavez has earned the starting spot in this age group and he should not be forced to move to a different position because a player who isn't as good as him doesn't play other positions as well as him.

 

I wonder if Ricardo Pepi and Santiago Munoz were ever teammates at FCD El Paso. It's possible.........................

For me the AOC versus Pepi debate is easy. AOC is rested and arguably the most talented player on this team. Pepi will be available as a battering ram off the bench.

 

You guys think Leyva is going to start today? He's played the second-most minutes in the tournament behind Kobe, he has to run a lot more than Kobe given his position, and he's gone 90 in three straight games. He also looked gassed on Tuesday, IMO.

And if Wicky doesn't start Leyva, what's the starting midfield? I'm guessing Saldana's a lock for this game, but Kayo might be hurt, and Busio and Fuentes both went 90 on Tuesday too.

 

You're making me wonder if the issue of fresh legs for the Final should have been considered on Tuesday, the day of the semifinal. On the plus side, Las should be fresh.

v Canada on Tuesday ...

USA: 12-Chituru Odunze; 5-Kobe Hernandez, 6-Daniel Leyva, 7-Gianluca Busio, 8-Bryang Kayo (16-Adam Saldana, 77), 9-Ricardo Pepi (19-Alfonso Ocampo-Chavez, 82), 10-Giovanni Reyna (capt.), 13-Mauricio Cuevas, 14-Tayvon Gray, 15-John Tolkin (3-Adam Armour, 62), 20-Gilbert Fuentes

Subs Not Used: 1-Damian Las, 2-Joseph Scally, 4-Axel Alejandre, 11-Griffin Yow, 17-Tyler Freeman, 18-Jack De Vries

Head Coach: Raphael Wicky