PBP: 2022 CONCACAF U-20 Championships, Semifinals: USA vs. Honduras, 7/1 @ 9 PM EDT

What a USA streak of accomplishments.

It was about time.

 

And you should. I know it’s fun to bash referees, but Ivan Barton (tonight’s referee) is REALLY good. He’s heading to the World Cup, and it’s deserved. For those of us who are referees and follow this stuff, Barton is one of our favorites. Thought he was very good tonight.

 

I still think we should have rested our best players for Sunday’s meaningless final.

 

The big challenge was supposed to be the Honduran press but it didn't become a factor at all. Honduras turned out to have crappy pass prevention. This just wasn't apparent until they played they played the US. Costa Rica, while they are very organized just didn't have the technical tools to punish them. The US had a lot more problems against Costa Rica because top to bottom they are just a much better defensive team capable of pressing, preventing passes and with a goalie who can shot stop.

 

I think its reasonable to argue that. The '15 team that lost, and then lost the playoff had a handful of interesting relevant players and a bunch of chaff, last year's team was god awful at everything except defending and inexplicably took what was it, 3 #6's and no playmaking central midfielders and still was an Ochoa howler (fifth column move for El Tri lol?) away from taking Honduras to extra time, and what I remember of '12, sabotaged by a Sean Johnson howler was not very much of relevant talent either. It's totally reasonable to argue that we missed all 3 of those tournaments due to the lack of talent of the rosters participating, but in the case of the '21 side, certainly not the pool (considering the team was largely made up of what could only be called mostly 3rd to 5th string options nearly everywhere for that age cohort). If we call in everyone in the pool for '21, we would have qualified, w/o any issue for Japan.

Very happy for these guys, very few of them are first choice options and they battered their way through the tournament convincingly outplaying pretty much everyone along the way. They earned it, after I realized how many first choice guys wouldnt be there despite the largely June window, I figured the olympics were if not a pipe dream, certainly less than a 50/50 proposition. Very proud of them.

 

The subbed the offense out during the first 20 minutes.

 

Seemed plausible but when the whistle blew they just looked shattered. I almost felt bad for them. Then I remembered them gleefully handing our asses to us in Olympic qualifying two cycles running and I felt great about their suffering.

 

I've been slightly underwhelmed by Clark on the ball this tournament but his work rate is insane.

That ref was really good.

Brendan's little brother is going to be in Europe very soon.

 

Our subs are a level below starters. Maybe not Allen.

 

I also credit the ref at blowing the whistle at 89:55 to minimize unnecessary thuggery.

 

I think the US-DR final could be a hell of a lot of fun to watch. I hope both teams realize the real job (WC and Olympic qualification) is done and just play. It could be very, very entertaining.

I hope both teams treat the final as a reward and just play all out. They deserve it.

 

'03 vs Argentina, and '07 vs Brazil were my touchtones. Of the recent generations, beating France in '19 tops everything, but the back to back to back draw with Ecuador in '17 was pretty awesome too (Down 1-0, 2-1, and 3-2, and still drew, via LDLT near the death and held on).

But, I have no qualms saying that I can't recall us playing a better half in qualifying.

 

Hopefully, the US's pitchers and relievers can close it out. Our hitting isn't the issue here.

(There's going to be an onslaught of baseball metaphors for the next two days).

 

I often feel like we get poor refereeing in CONCACAF when away. Tonight's ref is definitely an exception. Big ups. Good WC Ref.

More importantly... that 1st half was beyond outstanding. I am so proud of this group of kids. Some nervy moments in the 2nd... but somewhat expected. Huge win on the road under intense pressure.

 

Admittedly, I fell into this trap. When DR won its QF, I texted my friend and asked him if they really do play a sport besides baseball in the Dominican Republic.

 

Hmmm, matters to me, win the Concacaf U20 Championship in 3 consecutive cycles, something we've never done before (and would likely have been four if not for covid).

But yeah, there is no doubt having this laid out before us is pretty spectacular:

2022 World Cup Qatar
2023 U20 World Cup in Indonesia
2023 Official Legit Gold Cup
2024 Olympic Soccer Championships in Paris
2026 World Cup at home

w/the U20 World Cup in '25 as a tantalizing offering as well (sounds like South Korea, Namibia/Botswana, or Kuwait to host?), not to mention the U17 level championships in '23 and '25 ('23 hosted by Peru).


Now we just need to go out there and show the world what so many of us already believe has become true: we're a legit soccer nation in every sense of the phrase.

 

IDK, the DR guys can run. After all, you don't walk off of the island. (pa rum dum)

 

This in combo w/the blown whistle before it was even 89:59 gave me some real

In Living Color: Homey Claus - YouTube

vibes. To dial back the clock thirty years, this ref "don't play that".

He knew what was coming and basically said, "---- that, your boys lost, get out of here, go to ----ing bed."

 

To be a bit more specific, anytime we play in Central America or Mexico.

 

Performance+Results, and he's got maybe what, 1-2 or 2-3 of the natural first XI if you were picking our best 26 U23's?

 

Only problem I had was when one of their guys knocked the hell out of one of our guys and he didn't whistle squat but all things considered, he made up for it w/the straight red, and screwing the fans and players out of a harassment fest during injury time (and I imagine there would have been at least 5 minutes due to the red and other stuff). Other than that one play, there was nothing distinctive I saw, but I also missed a good chunk of half two due to 6 year old duties.

 

The first half was dominant. The second half was weak. We let up too much, and played down to the competition. It happens though, especially with youth soccer.

Brady: Pretty good. Didn't have any hugely difficult saves to make, but handled what he had to well.
Halliday: I thought he was our worst player. Constantly beat in behind. None of it ended up hurting too much, but his defensive recognition in this game was weak.
Ferkranus: A few shaky moments, but otherwise pretty steady.
Craig: Terrific performance. One of the best performances of any US player so far in this tournament was his performance in this game. Controlled the back-line. Barely put a foot wrong. Free kick assist, and nearly scored on a free kick. I thought he was more assertive defensively. Really impressed with how he tough he defended in a hostile environment.
Cuevas: He was probably our second worst player. He struggles with angles and positioning at LB. We cannot rely on him playing LB past this game. The assist to Alvarado was a nice cross, which is what he does best.
Edelman: He had some really bad step-ups defensively where he got completely bypassed. Can't have that happening as often as it did. He was too slow a few times and then didn't commit a foul when he was beat. He also did have a nice pass on the third goal, and made some very nice defensive plays. He was about average, but a very up and down performance.
McGlynn: The passing was really good. Made a big difference in the first half. The defensive contributions weren't that bad. A good performance IMO.
Alvarado: He was excellent. MOTM IMO. Probably the best performance of any American player so far at this tournament. Absolutely bossed the game once again. His technique, work-rate, soccer IQ, and defensive work-rate are all top-notch for a #8.
Clark: I thought his first 40 minutes were pretty bad, but then he started working a lot harder. He was key on that third goal, and then put in a very good shift after that.
Aaronson: Very little impact, outside of the goal.
Sullivan: In possession he was pretty bad, outside of the goal. The goal counts for something, but he needs to be better. Work-rate was a positive though, as it always is.

Allen: Pretty good performance. Made a number of nice defensive plays. Barely put a foot wrong in a little less than a half.
Others: I didn't think any of them were particularly notable off the bench. Each had a moment or two, but they were all pretty much average sub appearances, aside from Allen.

 

The only real issue I had was when Alvarado was cleaned out on the left sideline early in the second half (might be the same play you are referencing). Other than that, Barton was very good.

 

Related, someone posted this list of upcoming tournaments… and it’s not the men but US Soccer wants to host the women’s World Cup in 2027 right after hosting WC26… can’t wait to see the soccer landscape in this country at the end of this decade.

Next 4 years of USMNT comps could be revolutionary for breaking into mainstream media w/ strong performances.

2022 World Cup
22/23 Nations League
2023 Gold Cup
2023 u20 World Cup
2023 u17 World Cup
2024 Olympics
2024 Copa America 🙏
2025 u20 WC
2025 u17 WC
2025 GC
2026 World Cup

— USMNT 🇺🇸 Thoughts (@USMNT_Thoughts) July 2, 2022