Press release: The U.S. U-20 Men's National Team overcame a two-goal halftime deficit to draw 3-3 with Costa Rica at the Sarasota Polo Grounds behind goals from Michael Stephens and Danny Cruz. ... Similar to the goal he scored in the first meeting between the teams on May 25, Stephens pounced on a Peri Marosevic rebound to cut the Costa Rica lead to 3-2. In the 80th minute, Marosevic beat his defender to the endline and played a cross to the far post where Cruz was waiting. Cruz made no mistake in bringing the ball down with his chest and firing a shot high and into the back of the net. http://www.ussoccer.com/articles/viewArticle.jsp_14548994.html No lineup. Our other goal was an own goal; not sure how it was created. Anyone know more?
I don't know how costa rica is this year. Maybe they are really good. But it just seems like the core of this team is taking slower to gel.
Considering we have about half our starters, I think a 3-3 Draw and 2-1 win are great results. Costa Rica won qualifying and beat us in the final (we played our second squad though). Can't wait to see what the starting line-up will look like with the full pool. If Rongen can pick the right XI I will never rag on him again. There are SOOOOO many good players, but none that standout necessarily.
Michael Stephens seems to have made a big impression. Not even invited to the camp at first and then plays and scores in both games!
None of us have a direct line to Rongen's mind, so it's hard to guess where certain players stand. Michael Stephens was an integral part of the pool earlier in the cycle and then was omitted for quite a while. Who knows, maybe there were untimely injuries near the time of some camps, maybe some academic conflicts, or just maybe a drop in form. Let's see if his performances in Sarasota are a harbinger of things to come.