The US just got awarded the fair play award. Morgan is getting the bronze boot, Ri for Korea gets the silver boot, and Leroux gets the golden boot. Naeher gets the golden glove award, probably the easiest decision the awards committee had to make. Le Sommer for France gets the bronze ball for third best player in the tournament. Alex Morgan gets the silver ball, and.......Leroux gets the Golden ball for best player in the tournament, congratulations to both girls on their two awards each.
This USA team has some serious ball skills -- we looked more technical than Germany and DPRK. On top of that, I get the sense that USA has seriously scouted DPRK's national style (we've seen it often enough ), and was well-coached to neutralize it. DPRK defends with numbers, then tries to jail-break the length of the field, relying on pure fitness to outrun you by 50% over a match. Their training regimen must be brutal by non-communist standards. If we hoof defensive clearances right to them (WNT WWC'07, U-17 '08), they dominate possession and camp out in our 1/3. OTOH, they're only average at taking the ball away, and when we established our one-touch ping, we were able to hold the ball wherever we wanted it for essentially all of the first half, and most of the second. So we never let them run at us, and their halfcourt offense wasn't imaginative enough to break us down. Post-final trophy celebrations: - USA Fair Play Trophy - Sidney Leroux Golden Boot - couple other USA girls holding gold-plated trophies in funny shapes -- Winters, Morgan, Naeher
I thought this team was better technically on the ball than the USWNT. Leroux and Morgan had some great moves. Morgan threading the DPRK's defense for her score was amazing.
USA victory lap! Then they mill about in a corner, where a Chilean flag flaps on a stick. They do the obvious thing: take Chile's flag on a 2nd lap to raucous cheers
UNC wins big time today. Two players on the winning U-20 WORLD CHAMPIONS team. Winning without them. Vindication....
Exactly my thoughts. If you didnt hear the ESPN commentator, this English guy, who did a remarkable job of remembering every single name of the Koreans (or just made them up every time ?) said : "you will not see a better goal at any level" and later - "I am lost for words at that goal, I have simply run out of superlatives" Actually, at the time, and perhaps up to around 55 or 60 minutes, the whole USA game was clicking, with a clear MF edge, and I thought this was senior standard or better. Later on, it seemed that the Koreans had superior fitness (with the possible exception of their #7 on the left wing, who seemed out of gas and whose lofts into the goalmouth were usually in accurate), and they kept coming with ferocity - their captain seemed exceptionally dangerous. But the USA defense was absolutely stellar, and dealt with everything that came into the box. In fact the goal they conceded had a little bit of luck to it. The future of women's football looks bright.
I actually thought the same thing! I was pretty impressed. I was like, whoa, he is really rattling off those names until I started wondering if he was just making stuff up He actually called Alex Morgan the best player in the tournament at one point I believe.
They got our number in New Zealand; they weren't gonna get us here. I callod for Tony to show Kazzie how to beat North Korea, and THAT'S exactly what he did. Nuff said.
i'm impressed once again with tony dicicco. even under pressure his team played technical soccer which we have not seen from other u.s. teams. the u17s for example, often deserted their pass/possession game when they were under pressure. this team for the large part, stuck to their guns. dicicco's tactics were also outstanding - an allround top class coaching job.
That was my impression, too. I was actually surprised to see it fro this team, which I had seen twice earlier playing kickball. Today the were magnificent. For a while I thought I was watching my Pilots. Oh... wait... I was
Agreed, such talent and beauty in one package is mesmerizing. I hope she becomes an integral part in the senior USWNT soon. Watching the USWNT then would be a blissful experience. Anyway, after watching the U-17 and U-20 WWC, I am very excited about the upcoming talents for the USWNT. I think we will see big change of style when all these talents are integrated into the senior team. No longer we will play the kick and chase soccer, instead we will see a lot more possession oriented style combine with American athleticism (which the US women/girls teams always had before). Congratulation to the US U-20 team and Dicicco. Great, great accomplishment. Too bad we couldn't win the U-17 too, it would've been a US sweep for the year (Olympic, U20, U17).
Congratulations to the U20 USWNT on winning the 2008 FIFA World Cup! They were he best team in the tournament. Morgan and LeRoux win Bronze and Golden Boots and Alyssa Naeher wins Golden Glove. A lot of praise has been given the goal scorers but not enough to the D. The US gave up just 3 goals in 6 games and Naher only gave up up 1 goal in 5 games! That is a .20 avaerage! Marshall, Fowlkes, Edwards, Klingy were also impressive. I hope these gals continue the US Soccer tradition down the line as part of the USWNT! Bravo to Tony DiChicco too! He played the gracious and consummate leader of a great team!
I honestly think some of the standout performers from this team should be moved up the senior team sooner rather than later to see how they fair, and I'm pretty sure that's at least part of the reason than Pia attended the last two games. Maybe we'll see one or two on the roster for the four nations tournament next year.
I am pretty sure you will see more than one or two on Pia's roster...more like 5 or 6! Naeher, Morgan, LeRoux, Fowlkes, Marshall, Edwards...The USWNT D is getting old... ie. Rampone and Markraf and needs replenishing. Lilly won't be around much longer either!
You can use bittorrent to download the US vs. N. Korea game here: http://torrents.huntparkinsider.com/details.php?id=516 You need to sign up for the site though, this is where all the US related games (US men, women, youth, MLS, etc...) are posted. Any one knows the links for other U20 US games?
I agree with bringing up some of the d's but I'm not sure about bringing up Naeher quite yet. Is she better than Barnhart or Val Henderson and Cori Alexander, who are both on the U-23 team?
I agree that the defense for the USWNT needs some new infusion of talent. I loved the way the U20 D pass the ball out of the back, helping tremendously with the possession game. They seldom panic and just kick the ball out of the back like the senior team and all that is just attributed to their superior ball handling and passing skills (technique), and to their understanding of the game (tactic).
I agree. Yesterday the MF looked very tired in the last quarter, but the DF was like a rock. Very disciplined, and very cool.
washington may be better than all of them. the north koreans continually had to put two defenders on her. i expect to see her threatening for a spot on the right side of the uswnt soon. in fact, some of these girls are already better than some on the senior team. ...and i join the praise of the defense. fowlkes and marshall were just calm and assured. almost mistake free - not normally seen at this young age.
I agree that quite a few deserve callups right now, but let's not forget they were also playing against an age bracket and not senior teams.
God, I think i have watched the worst play(vs China) and the best play(vs Korea DPR) by USA in this tournament. I used to predict USA could not reach the final but I'm wrong .The team played a very enjoyable style of soccer in the final and won. I forgot That some really talent girls were rest in that ugly match against China: Becky Edwards: Very calm on the ball and always in the good position. Alex Morgan: Beautiful, I mean both her play and her features. Her touch on the ball were very smooth and she can create things with the ball. Nikki Washington: really really impressed with her ability to control the ball in the high pressure, and her quickness. This three are really special. They all have the potential to be the world soccer stars. Another improvement was Winters tried more simple short passes than risky direct ball.
http://www.facebook.com/wall.php?id=49203193448&page=0&hash=09be4fa054ddacdb9f4134453b441c78 You should see how Alex Morgan has become the national obsession of Chile!
If anyone's interested, here is the link to all of the US Women U-20 qualifying games (full 90 min games): http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=91DE434E379EE00B