2019 FIFA U-20 World Cup Group Stage USA vs Ukraine Friday, May 24th, 2019 2:30 PM (ET) Bielsko-Biala Stadium Bielsko-Biala, Poland Fox Sports 1 and NBC Universo Ukraine's Squad: (The 2 players in bold have senior team caps) Their path here: In round 1 of qualifying, they were draw into a 4 team group with Montenegro, Norway, and Albania. They won all 3 games beating Albania 1-0, Norway 2-1 and Montenegro 4-0 In round 2 they had to top a 4 team group featuring Sweden, Serbia, and Romania. In the opener they only earned a scoreless draw against The Swedes, which forced them to earn 6 points in their next 2 matches. They trailed both games 1-0 with less than 11 minutes left and came back to win both. In The UEFA Championship they were handed a tough group with France, England, and Turkey, but they went on to win it, earning 7 points. This clinched them their spot in Poland. They did go on to play a semifinal but were absolutely mauled by Portugal 5-0 (all 5 goals came within the first 30 minutes). I've been able to dig up 4 friendlies since they've qualified and they have not won a single one. Losing to Poland, South Korea, and Uruguay. They played South Africa yesterday with what I assume is their final World Cup squad and it ended in a 1-1 draw.
Really looking forward to this game. Last time we faced Ukraine was at the 2015 U20 WC. This time we'll have more of an A team and should win.
This seems a very tough match to start out with and Ukraine will have almost a host advantage. Guess if the U20's are as good as we think they should handle this bunch though. Does seem big physical Euro teams always give US youth teams problems because there aren't any similar teams in CONCACAF.
i'm looking forward to the games also. As an aside, just took a look at the roster notes and saw that the team is almost exactly divided 50-50 between MLS and Europe. Considering that it seems we are near a significant point in our history (both in the number of top quality young player being produced and the improvement of MLS' development system), it will be interesting to see how future U20 rosters stack up. Will the balance stay the same or shift one way or the other? I realize that some players will be excluded for other reasons (ie Sargent).
I'm just browsing Wiki pages so I can't say for sure. Most of the guys in blue seem to have a handful of caps for their clubs but nothing that suggests regular minutes. Surpiaha and Dryshlyuk seem to have made numerous appearances in the lower tiers of Ukrainian football. Beskorovayniy appears to be a dual nat with previous caps for Slovakian youth teams. He appears to be playing semi regularly in the top level of Slovakia. Their keeper Lunin is the most interesting player IMO. He's on the books at Real Madrid, and currently on loan at another La Liga club. He appears to be the backup but he does have some La Liga starts which has earned him regular senior team callups.
Sorry, but for those joining late, why aren’t Sargent (and Adams? Isn’t he eligible) not at this one?
Difficult opening match for the young Yanks against a fresh, physical Ukraine playing close to home who more than held their own against some very strong Euro sides in qualifying. Throw out all the results and expectations. Its 11 v 11 and the next 90 minutes that count.
I agree, but the U.S. also needs to keep their eyes on the ball, step up to the plate, try not to pull punches, take their chances and, I dunno, some other stuff. And I'd warn them to watch out for a 2-0 lead, should they obtain one, as it's the most dangerous lead in sports; conversely, should they fall victim to one, I would counsel them to remember that same fact, but from the other perspective. Going out on a limb here, this is why they play the games.
Ukraine is the kind of nation that has given our youth teams a problem in the past. In 2015 we lost to Ukraine 3-0. That was a hat-trick by Victor Kovalenko, who has gone on to play a pretty major role for Shakhtar Donestk. In 2017 we managed to reach the quarterfinals of the World Cup without facing a European side.........................[Group phase of Senegal, Saudi Arabia, and Ecuador. Followed by New Zealand and Venezuela in the knockout rounds.] Somebody correct me if I'm wrong, but the last time the US U20s beat a European team at the World Cup was 2007 against Poland.
That's a hell of a stat, though I think that has more to do with draws and our teams not being very good from 2009 to 2013
Its bigger than that. The Poland win in 2007 is the only win over a European team since the turn of the century. There are some decent draws. The one against eventual champ France in 2013 for instance. 2001: Ukraine 1 USA 1 2003: Germany 3 USA 1 2005: Germany 0 USA 0 2005: Italy 3 USA 1 2007 USA 6 Poland 1 2007: Austria 2 USA 1 2009: Germany 3 USA 0 2011: Didn't qualify 2013: Spain 4 USA 1 2013 France 1 USA 1 2015: Ukraine 3 USA 0 2017: Serbia 0 USA 0 (Serbia advances on penalties) The last win the US U20s have had against a "good" European nation was 1999. We beat England 1-0 on a goal from.........of all people...........Danny Califf . That was a very good US U20 team with Howard, Bocanegra, Cherundolo, etc..
Thanks for the historic Clint. Given all that, we should rightly be considered the underdog. A win IN EUROPE would be a marker for our youth programs.
Odds to win the U-20 World Cup:🇫🇷 France +400🇦🇷 Argentina +800🇵🇹 Portugal +800 🇮🇹 Italy +1200🇳🇬 Nigeria +1400🇺🇸 USA +1400🇺🇾 Uruguay +1400 pic.twitter.com/6ocDv7Pj69— Arthur Kogan (@artur_kogan) May 19, 2019 Saw this, and I was surprised at how high our odds are.
Norway, Albania and Montenegro are NOT strong European sides, so I expect Ukraine to win those 1st round matches. In the senior UEFA qualifiers, the competition is no better than CONCACAF when you consider sides like Malta, Andorra, Albania, Moldova, etc. Let's not forget that.
Those were ONLY the first round opponents. 2nd Round: Sweden, Serbia and Romania 3rd Round: England, France and Turkey ....no slouches here
I think Ukraine is overrated. We'll see what happens on Thursday but I'm pretty sure that I'm right about them.
I agree with those who think Ukraine will be tough. They'll bunker and counter and Supriaha/Tsaitashvili/Buletsa can make us pay if we're not alert. They're battle-tested from a very difficult and at times miraculous European qualifying campaign. They have an elite prospect at goalkeeper. One of their centerbacks is a full national team regular. They'll also have a home crowd in Bielsko-Biala. That said, I think we should win, and it's important that we do, given how much of a wild card Nigeria is. If we win the group, we will almost certainly face a third-place team from Group E or Group F in the Round of 16. I expect Portugal/Argentina and France/Mali to be the winners/runner-ups in those groups, leaving us with one of South Korea/South Africa/Panama/Saudi Arabia in the Round of 16. If we win that game, then we face the winner of a game between the Group A winner and the Group C runner-up. Those are two of the softest groups. Strongest teams we could face would be either Colombia or Uruguay. All that to say, if we win our group and there aren't a bunch of upsets in Groups E and F, our path to the semifinals is very realistic. If we are runner-up in our group, and France handles its business in the group stage, we will play France in the Round of 16. If we get third in our group it gets pretty complicated, but our Ro16 competition won't be France or Portugal, which is...better than facing France or Portugal.
This is the lineup I'd like to see. Scott Dest-McKenzie-Richards-Gloster Durkin Ledezma-Mendez KDLF-Soto-Weah I think the the question marks are the GK, second CB and RCM. I think we have the options at RCM to not push Pomykal immediately into the starting lineup. I think the best XI with this group of players has both starting, but Mendez seems to be the most fit of the three now, so start Mendez and Ledezma/Pomykal (likely Ledezma due to fitness) for now. That can change later in the tournament. I don't think we have the same depth at CB or GK. I don't want Ochoa or Keita starting. If McKenzie and Scott are physically fit enough to take the field, I think you have to start them. I'd rather go down losing with our best players out of form than players who aren't good enough.