PBP: 2015 FIFA U-20 World Cup: USA vs. Colombia, 6/10 3:30 AM EST

Anyone got a linked to the Rubin goal?

 

Brian Sciaretta ‏@BrianSciaretta 4h4 hours ago New Jersey, USA
Watch Rubio Rubin's delightful goal (via @socceroverthere) - http://giant.gfycat.com/WarpedDazzlingAgama.gif …

 

A poachers delight. Wondo would frame that gif and hang it on his bedroom wall if it were possible.

 

Embedding it directly ... on re-watching, that was harder than he made it look.

 

That was a very unlikeable Colombian team...

 

We're lucky this Ref didn't screw that up and call handball on the edge of the box after the ball fell right into Rubin's wheelhouse. I could sooo see a crap ref doing that too.

 

I didn't think it was physical, I thought they were fouling like crazy and just getting away with it, to me, depends on the ref, it will be more of the same if the ref lets them get away w/a bunch of thuggish fouls, but not, if he doesn't.

 

Appreciate it... Set my alarm for 3 am and slept right through it all.

 

I can’t believe this is the third time I’ve woken up around 3/3:30am on a weeknight to watch a u20 game but the boys made it worth the while. I’m thrilled with the result and defensive mettle the team showed but the game also exposed areas where we struggle. We locked the game down defensively for the most part but there were still a few times where the Colombian forwards were able to get in behind or slip attackers through on goal. We struggled to possess the ball in the crowded midfield and were really only able to consistently complete passes in the final third once we scored and the game opened up. I thought the refereeing was awful. Too much contact was allowed and there were a lot of missed calls.

• Steffen was rock solid. He read the PK well and put a strong hand to it and commanded the box while making a few huge saves.
  
  
• Payne was very good. He’s positionally sound and made some good, clean tackles. Acosta had his hands full defensively and could have avoided the penalty but he had a few decent moments in possession.
  
  
• CCV and Miazga were terrific, although there were a few shaky moments when they allowed balls to be played in behind. They took care of things aerially and kept the game in front of them. I believe this pairing has allowed less than 3 or 4 total goals going back to qualifiers.
  
  
• I didn’t notice Delgado much which isn’t always a bad thing. He looked to have provided decent cover for the defense but his pressing and passing range leave a lot to be desired. Zelalem put in the strongest defensive shift I’ve seen from him and maneuvered in the midfield well on a few occasions but once again, he had moments where he held on to the ball too long in order to find the killer pass and showed his reluctance to use his left foot. Hyndman pressed aggressively but got beat to the ball too often. He did well to turn out of pressure a few times and was important in the build up to the goal.
  
  
• Arriola’s work rate was tremendous. While he could have done better in possession, the defensive work he put in was invaluable. He also had a massive clearance towards the end of the game and constantly got after it. Allen was quite poor. He went down too easily and made poor decisions on the quality counterattacks we had in the second half. It might be time to look at either Sonora or Thompson on the wing.
  
  
• Rubin had his hands full with some beastly Colombian CBs (who I’d read were some of the more promising players on their team). The way the game was being called played into the Colombian defenders’ favor and made things much tougher than they should have been on Rubin. His finish was excellent and he battled all game, getting the better of the defender on several occasions as well.
  

 

Wondo would have skied it.

 

He was also a late sub against NZ.

 

In limited minutes, smart possession play in the final 3rd against Myanmar and unlucky not to score on a nice box-crashing run, practically executed the build-up play all by himself on the 4th goal against NZ with 3 key possessions spread out from defensive final 3rd to wide left midfield to right corner NZ box. Seriously, go back and watch.

 

This was the best game I've seen from Steffen, but as I mentioned previously, he didn't have many huge saves to make. Apart from the PK, Colombia put only 2 of 23 shot attempts on goal, and the one I remember was a routine catch.

Plain and simply, Allen isn't a striker. Being down two forwards is unfortunate, but as we saw in the 2014 World Cup, adapting to injuries is part of the process.

Fwiw, I came away feeling that we were badly outplayed but also with the suspicion that our players in front of both goals are better than theirs.

 

We were outplayed and I think Colombia just have a really good midfield. However, it's important to recognize that when we could we pressed our advantage. Their high pressing, individual dribble style tired them out and then we would start slotting around passes that really produced some dangerous moments for us. We were completely outshot but SOG and corners were a lot closer which shows that we shut them down where it counted and produced enough to keep it close. Keeping it close is an important skill, both mentally and technically.

According to FIFA:

Teams: US vs COL
Shots: 8 to 24
Shots Blocked: 3 to 11
SOG: 2 to 3
Corners: 4 to 4
Offsides: 1 to 2
Possession: 40% to 60%

 

Not an outrageous prediction, but I did in fact call it...:--) (though the "fairly even" part may be in question).

 

I am happy they play at midnight Saturday. Will happily stay in for a chance to watch the boys go to the semifinals.

 

sorry if it was mentioned earlier, but was the second yellow on acosta an 'automatic' yellow? otherwise, that seemed like a pretty weak yellow card when both players were tied up, but definitely a foul.

 

It was a solid and deserved win under difficult circumstances, and it's nice to see this team grab at least one "big" accomplishment since, frankly, beating Myanmar and New Zealand and then getting whomped by the Ukraine wouldn't have been much of a legacy. (Yes, I'm aware the tournament isn't over yet.)

The amount of turmoil that's already beset this team is pretty incredible. A starting CM gets hurt in pre-tournament camp; a presumed starting striker is ruled out by his club; his replacement goes down after an hour; it's not yet clear what'll happen to Jamieson. (Oh, and now the starting LB is suspended.) Ramos is looking down a short bench right now.

For the first few minutes against Colombia, I thought it would be Ukraine all over again. Thankfully, this defense is resolute. If you've watched the last few U20 teams, this is night and day. Colombia certainly looked better at times in the early going, but as some here predicted they are inefficient in the final third and we were organized. A scoreless first half was fair.

It looks like Ramos made a choice in the second half that I might have done sooner, moving Allen a bit higher up and pulling Rubin behind him. You lose Rubin's energy and aggression upfield, but it helped in the middle third and a simplified role for Allen seemed to help him find the game as much as he has since the Myanmar match.

We owned the second half and looked reasonably in control even after Acosta's ejection. We were winning balls further upfield and the additional space and better starting position gave our guys more options moving forward when we had the ball; in the first half, everyone just seemed to sprint away from it as quickly as possible.

Payne has been a revelation. In addition to good speed and a willingness to fight, he's incredibly composed on the ball -- has not gotten forward all that much without it but has made great decisions with it. And without Arriola, man, who knows where we'd be. He's been this team's Bedoya, leading by example.

It kind of feels like we're playing with house money right now.

 

Very good footwork there.

 

Great gritty win, but these refs were terrible. So many missed calls, and they magically seemed to only have missed calls against Colombia. The possession #'s would have been a lot different if the refs didn't allow Colombia to play rugby in the midfield and back line.

With that said, Colombia has some good players, and they were extremely physical against an under-sized midfield. It's not their fault that the refs weren't calling fouls, and they did well to defend. We really are missing a physical #6 right now, but you have to make due with what you have.

Overall, our defense played awesome. Not perfect, but any quality team will get a few chances every game. Steffen was the man of the match for me, but the entire back line did great cutting off crosses, blocking shots, and not letting any easy opportunities get through.

I think this was Zelalem's worst game. He wasn't bad per say, but he wasn't our best player on the field this match. The team had trouble getting the ball to Rubin, but he was excellent when he did get it, and was great at holding the ball up. Arriola was great - he didnt have a ton of room to make runs or do his "thing" offensively, but he was always around the ball, and had an incredible defensive work rate.


On the whole, I don't think we were better or worse than Colombia, but we were better at finishing than they were, which is the difference in the end.

 

I agree, one win would be nice and is certainly doable but the team has matched my expectations.

 

So annoyed that the only time we get the early game is on a weekend.

 

There may be some truth to this, but I don't completely agree. Yes, they maintained possession better than us and had more shots, but much of that possession was pointless, and their shots were never very threatening. When we gained possession, we seemed to be more direct with it and more willing to take chances, which either led to turnovers or scoring chances. In terms of creating actual scoring chances, I thought we were pretty much equal with them. So, really, we just took more risk than they did when we had possession. If we wanted to dribble around the back of our midfield a lot like they did, we probably could have...or maybe not because of Delgado.