CONCACAF 2022 U20/U23 Championships Tournament Thread

And DR made history again

 

Wow...what a run for DR! We might lose Paredes...lol

 

Still have 15 minutes until US vs Hon game

 

What a run by the DR! Caribbean power on the rise

 

So are we going to look back and see this as the coming out party of the Dominican Republic as a competitive soccer power in CONCACAF? Or a one-off? I lean toward the former.

 

Dos a cero

 

Albert Pujols, David Ortiz, Pedro Martinez, Sammy Sosa, Vladimir Guerrero, Robinson Cano, Adrian Beltre, Manny Ramirez, Tony Pena, Carlos Santana, Jose Bautista .... you're a futbol nation now, accept it!!!

 

Looks like a Hall of Fame baseball nation. Juan Soto, the Alous, Marichal...

 

My fingers got tired.

 

Nice attendance tonight.

 

Paxton and Brenden could play together in the Olympics.

 

Looks like these do kids care about the relatively meaningless final...

World Cup ✅
Olympics ✅

One more to go ! pic.twitter.com/bwqGklkgF1

— Mauricio Aimar Cuevas (@aimarcu3vas) July 2, 2022

 

Locker room celebrations after the US men qualified for the Olympics 🇺🇸❤️ pic.twitter.com/UMKCXIkkJ9

— USMNT Only (@usmntonly) July 2, 2022

 

The first half was utter domination.

 

No matter if they make the roster or not for Indonesia '23, or Paris '24 they need to be proud of the fact that they are the first Americans to qualify us for the Olympics in 16 years, it's a fantastic accomplishment, and if they can dot the i's and cross the t's in the final, they'll also be team that helped the US achieve something it's never done before, 3 consecutive U20 titles.

 

Missing the last 3 Olympics is a BFD. I'm so happy we finally made it. Nice work, Mikey Varas.

 

People already posting U-20 and Olympic lineups…

What a potential team we have for next year’s U-20 World Cup. pic.twitter.com/LrOKuH7pZg

— Jason🇺🇸🇸🇻 (@JasonAS07) July 2, 2022

Here's an idea of who the US could send to the Olympics a couple years from now. pic.twitter.com/9D7d3gdwuF

— Justin Moran (@kickswish) July 2, 2022

Isn’t the Olympic roster size 18 not 21, or did they expand that too?

 

Just fyi the 2008 Olympic squad was not as bad as people may think:

Goalkeepers:
Brad Guzan (23) (Chivas USA)
Chris Seitz (21) (Real Salt Lake)

Defenders:
Patrick Ianni (23) (Houston Dynamo)
Michael Orozco (22) (San Luis, Mexico)
Michael Parkhurst (24) (New England Revolution)
Nathan Sturgis (21) (Real Salt Lake)
Marvell Wynne (22) (Toronto FC, Canada)

Midfielders:
Freddy Adu (19) (Monaco, France)
Michael Bradley (20) (SC Heerenveen, Holland)
Maurice Edu (22) (Toronto FC, Canada)
Benny Feilhaber (23) (Derby County, England)
Stuart Holden (22) (Houston Dynamo)
Sacha Kljestan (22) (Chivas USA)
Danny Szetela (21) (Brescia, Italy)

Strikers:
Jozy Altidore (18) (Villareal, Spain)
Charlie Davies (22) (Hammarby IF, Sweden)
Brian McBride (36) (unattached)
Robbie Rogers (21) (Columbus Crew)

 

IIRC Pulisic mentioned in the past playing in the Olympics would mean a lot to him so maybe he can work something out with whatever club he’s at in 2024

 

Man I cannot recall seeing brothers play on the full usmnt. That is not an unreasonable expectation at this point. It’s pretty cool.

 

The possible Olympic roster could have a complete FCD defense and six or more players. Philly is now becoming the other factory and had four at this tournament but can't help but wonder how much better the team would have been with the missing FCD kids that weren't let go by their clubs. They seem to mesh well - center forward, left back, center back. I will add I hope any players called ahead of these kids play the same style of quick passing, one touch, swarming defense. All it takes is one or two players not fitting that style (Cowell?) to make it fall apart.

 

22.

https://www.si.com/soccer/2021/06/30/olympic-soccer-roster-expansion-22-players-ioc-uswnt

 

That's basically first choice midfield and forwards, backup GK, and a gaping hole in defense. Not bad.

 

What a magical run by DR.

Worth noting that in the qualifying event to even get here they drew with St. Lucia. St. Lucia!!

Let's have a tad bit of perspective. They managed to make the final without facing the US, Mexico, Costa Rica, Honduras, Panama, or Canada in either the group stage of knockout phase.

The draw totally opened up free of the powers. They avoided facing the top 5 seeds altogether.

I'm not diminishing the accomplishment, just pointing out the obvious.

I won't be stunned if the US takes them to the cleaners.

 

Those were the days.