1-1 Draw. Unimspired play, for the most part. The US wins the group and awaits the 2nd place finisher in Group D. Cheers!
Man, talk about hanging on at the end. Were able to complete a string of three passes in a row in the last 20 minutes? This was staring to look ominously like DC vs Catolica last night. in the end even if we lost it wouldn't have mattered. I am sure we will show better in the quarterfinal.
I may be getting ahead of myself, but.... Has anyone noticed that if we win our next game (against whomever) and Mexico beats Costa Rica in their QF match-up, we'll meet in the semis?
Very uninspired but hard to blame the kids since they only needed a tie to win the group and they got the early goal. Still, the US didn't play well. They abandoned the build up and posession play they used successfully the first two games and played more long balls. There was also a lot more of the errant passes from the NoKo game, WAY too many fouls and very shoddy marking on the Ivory Coast goal. And while Igwe's second yellow was a stupid play, Hack deserves some of the blame for not pulling him when he had a yellow. He could put Subotic in at CB and shifted Wagner to LB. Not the coach's finest moment. That said, the team won their group and they deserve credit and congratulations for doing that. But, if they play like they did today in the QF, their stay in Peru won't last much longer.
Agreed with Sandon. Uninspired play for the most part but being in position prior to the game to win the group with a tie afforded such lethargy. What concerns me the most however was the endless string of useless long balls over the top. I dare say that we attempted no less than 20 of these types of passes and from my recollection, not a single ball connected with Zimmerman or Arvizu. We weren't even remotely threatening in that regard. Then again, I don't blame the backline for the Route 1 tactics considering Mike Farfan turned the ball over every single time he touched the ball. No connection whatsoever from midfield to the forward line despite acres of space. This also seemed to be a match where the surface really was a detriment to the US. An inordinate amount of passes were just slightly overweighted in the midfield when it appeared both passer and receiver had ample time on the ball. Oh well, looks like we'll have our work cut out for us against Brazil.
Scores from Group D: [result]Holland 0-0 Gambia Brazil 1-0 Qatar[/result] About halfway through the first 45.
Where to start? I thought the team had some bright spots today but failed to get the three points that they deserved. I think we have seen time and time again that bunkering down does not gained the desired effect. However, the situation that the team was placed im led us to no other choice. We are the group winners and while the draw is disappointing we move on. The side will have to better prepared and motivated to advance past the quarterfinal stage. The defense looked pretty sharp. However, they showed that they are prone to let-downs at the most opportune time for the other team. They are young and will need work on that aspect. The distribution from the back is very questionable but I have seen the same problem with every team I have watched at this level. Distribution out of the back is something that approves with age and cohesiveness. The midfield was the weak link today. They did not do a good a job of chaining up from the defense to the attack. We made several turnovers and did not work well in tight spots. However, they did do a good job of getting back in transition, which should help against the likes of Brazil. They will need to play better offensively to get positive results. Hackworth made some questionable decisions. I am not sure why Zimmerman was taken out of the game. The line-up changes were also suspect. However, he did get the draw and the group win. His substations were predictable. Tactically, the team was organized. They did play more long balls instead of building play up. It seemed every time we would put together passes, a mistimed touch would lead to a turnover. I will say one thing before getting to the ratings. I thought the referee did a good job but he was inconsistent with his carding practices. Ivory Coast had one obvious yellow card on a deliberate hand ball. He did not issue a card but stopped play. Igwe was in the same situation and was issued a card. Go figure. Anyway, on to the ratings: Bryant Rueckner - I thought this was the best match for Rueckner of the tournament. His distribution was long and was to the general area of a target. He was much better on crosses. However, he still tries to do the basket catch too much. He needs to be more confident in his skills of going up and catching the ball at its highest point. He made a couple of good saves and the goal was not his fault. One thing we heard on TV today was his communication. I thought it was commanding and he did a good job with it. Rating: 7 Amaechi Igwe - Igwe also had his best game of the tournament. He had that stupid hand ball at the end were the pass was no threat. I tend to err on the side of caution and think that maybe it was not deliberate. He did a good job shutting down the left flank. He got forward often. His short distribution was poor but he can ping a ball into space. He looks nervous on the ball. He needs to relax. Technical skills are not his strength. Rating: 6 Blake Wagner - We saw Wagner play in more of a central role today. I thought he excelled with it, with the exception of the let down on the goal. I am thinking it was a quick corner and Wagner and his teammates did not have time to get set-up. His distribution was the best out of the back today. He did not get forward often. He did have one terrible cross in the first half. Rating: 7 Ofori Sarkodie - Sarkodie is a good central defender. I love his anticipation of the ball. He also bring pace to the table. He is short but he can win headers with his excellent positioning skills. He rarely got caught getting to far forward. His distribution is always short, as I can not recall him ever hitting a long ball other than to clear. His clearances do need some work. Rating: 7 Dan Kelly - Kelly looked nervous at first. Defensively, he got beat a couple of times but managed to recover every time. He did do a poor job of marking on the goal. He missed some crosses a few times which leads me to question his anticipation. When he did get involved in the attack, he tried to do too much with the ball. I think he may normally play center mid and that is why he struggled some today. Rating: 5 Gabe Farfan - I was impressed with Farfan's technical ability. He made a beautiful turn on the ball and popped a shot from little angle and was unlucky not to score. He was inconsistent with his crossing. He would just knock the ball in and no one would be there. He also made a poor switch of the ball, where he would have done better to play it into space. I thought he got back well. I did see him make a foul that was not necessary after the ball had already been played. Ivory Coast got a dangerous free kick from outside the area. Rating: 6 Mike Farfan- I have to say, I have not been impressed with Mike so far this tournament. He has a good touch. However, his passes seem to find no one but the other team. He also seems to be too ambitious with his passes and runs. He did a good job of getting back and helping with the defending duties. Rating: 5 Kyle Nakazawa - Kyle continues to be dangerous on set pieces. However, he makes some questionable passes when he has the ball at his feet. He is also another player that is guilty of trying to do too much with the ball.. He also holds the ball in tactical situations for too long. We had a quick break but Kyle held the ball up and allowed the other team to get some numbers back. Rating: 6 Jeremy Hall - He was the goal scorer. However, it was more of being in right position at the right time. I like his physical size and intimidation on the wing. He also had no problem getting back and was certainly a two-way player. His passes are poor but his crosses were not bad. Rating: 7 Preston Zimmerman - Zimmerman continues to be the best player on the field for the U17 team. However, I do think he fouls too much. I thought he was going to get a yellow card for persistence. He does a good shielding the ball. I think he crosses well. He did a good job back-tracking. It was also him who set-up the first goal. Rating: 8 David Arvziu - After a brilliant performance against Italy, Arvizu struggled. He was faster than the Italian defense. The Ivory Coast coach made sure to mark him out of the game. I also think he does not anticipate the play of the game well. He would benefit from a good midfield that could play the ball right into his feet. Rating: 5 Ryan Soroka - Ryan came on as a defensive midfielder and hung back most of his time on the pitch. He did a decent job of holding the middle together at first. However, he could not do so toward the end of the game. I also think his passing was poor. He had a chance to make a difference in the game but failed to do so. Rating: 5 Omar Gonzalez - Gonzalez is along of the line of a target striker but is not nearly as good as Zimmerman. He made some poor passes when he did get the ball. His touches were into space and he needs to do a better job of controlling the ball. He did not get involved in the flow of the attack much and looked lost. Rating: 5 Neven Subotic - Subotic gets no rating. I do not even think he would have entered into the match if Hackworth would have known that the equalizer was coming.
Analysis from current scores from Group D: Highlight to reveal: Currently both Holland and Brazil are winning (1-0 and 2-0). Brazil needs to score at least one more goal (with the Holland game remaining the same) or Gambia to tie up the score vs Holland or they'll be going home and we face Holland. (I'm assuming goal difference is the first tie-breaker as they'll all be on 6 points.)
Highlight to reveal: Wouldn't you know that as soon as I type this Brazil scores one more.....3-0. Now Brazil and Holland are tied on points and goal differential......what's the next tie breaker?
Pretty darn abysmal. Yes, the team could afford to coast, but... Ivoire was a poor team -- the US made them look good by virtually no defensive pressure. Teams, coasting or not, have to mark reasonably tightly. It's a simple way to appy pressure without running around too much. Both the defenders and the midfielders gave up 3-5 yds on each flank player. Silly and so easy to fix. Unfortunately, that type of play emerged against NKorea as well, so I am a bit worried. Only a bit because I think they will rise to whatever level is needed against better talent.
Thanks. Some analysis in the 2nd Round Opponents thread shows that if Holland scores one more unanswered goal, it'll be Gambia that's out though.
Here's the thread...USA 2nd Round Opponents It's looking now like Holland is out Edit: Holland scored again and Brazil scored many more times so Holland isn't out......my bad We face Holland.
I get the same feeling after the U-17s a couple of years ago. Taking it much too easy in the final game and going into the knockout stages with players who were "shut down." Who was the President Garcia in that sign in the stands and why was he being thanked? (if anything would have been a political statement, it would have been "Rove Sucks.")
An unimpressive performance, not that surprisingly under the circumstances. It will be interesting to see which US team is the "real" one next round. But a very dumb red card for a team already short of defenders to take. And for the second game in a row we get an expulsion without any replay showing what occurred!! Very unprofessional broadcasting........
I would not blame players for coasting because if you are securing advance, you just need to take a rest and avoid unnessarey cards and injuries. If you want to blame, then blaming the coach--what heck left so many first team players there? Get your 2nd string goalkeeper to get some game experience so if anything happened, he is not too nervous. Get Altidore, Gonzales, Subnic to start the games too so they may play a little heart out. Probably we only have one coach--Bruce Arena has full confidence on each of his players.
Hola from Lima! You guys really crack me up! By the way, the team leaves tomorrow afternoon for Trujillo where we will play Holland as the Group C first place team. Holland finished second in their group. Many of you will now have nearly three days to think of something positive about the the experience of the US team today. They were shaky and uninspired today, but in the end...Mission Accomplished! Now, on to the quarterfinals! Expect the unexpected!
So we've got one guy saying more players should have been rested (more subs started) and another saying we shouldn't have "shut it down." We've got a coach being blamed for a player being sent off and the team performance overall being identified as "abysmal" and "uninspired" I tell you what - this must be the worst team ever to go undefeated through a group stage and win their group after being cited by some as "unlikely" to make it out of their group. How all of those things being said on here (now and previously) can be true, must be some freak of metaphysics or something. All this team has done is do the business at EVERY FREAKING TURN. When they first came in two years ago they struggled to get results and people were saying the class was no good. They made changes in personnel and you had youth coaches across the country saying they'd gotten it all wrong and that this group was never going to accomplish anything. Then they changed coaches and some wags in the community were saying that the hiring had been all wrong and this team wasn't going to be prepared for qualifying and in cases it seemed like people from this country were almost gleeful about that. Then the team drew against Cuba in the 2nd match of qualifying and it was a disgrace and blah blah blah. Then they beat Costa Rica in Costa Rica with a fantastic performance and everyone was either happy or quiet for a little bit. Then people found out the players wouldn't be playing in their State Cups and all you heard was bitching about what's going on at Bradenton and they are messing everything up down there - and then when it turned out that more and more players were getting looks and a chance to prove they should be in the team, some people were complaining about that saying Hackworth was unsettling the team because he didn't name his lineup in June or something. Then the team didn't get a lot of results over the summer in Brazil and Holland and you started hearing the little happy voices again saying how this team was going to hammerred in Peru and maybe we need a new coach and blah blah blah. Then we beat North Korea in less-than-dominating fasion and it is absolute bloody murder. Then we beat the Italians and again you get the dueling strangely quiet voice vs. the bandwagon jumpers. Now we draw against Ivory Coast - the result we needed by the way - and win the group. We rest a few players and accomplish no small feat of getting every field player in the squad a chance to play in the first 3 games - and even in that circumstance it's mostly gloom and doom on here. Well you know what - I'm proud that this team is representing the USA - they have been a hard-working group that has accomplished A LOT. They may be a bit utilitarian for some people's tastes but you are going to find in the coming years - just like many of you have found in the past few months - that the players on this team are ACHIEVERS and will continue to overcome challenges. They've done it well, they've done it with class and I make no apology for being unabashedly in support of this group. Of course you're all entitled to your opinions and I would never begrudge you that - but I wanted to add mine. This team is a good team with good players. They have done very well and have no reason to fear ANYONE. So in conclusion