U.S. Under-20s Top Uruguay, 3-1; Advance to Final for Rematch With Brazil L'ALCUDIA, Spain (Wednesday, August 28, 2002) - The United States Under-20 Men's National Team topped Uruguay 3-1 tonight in the semifinal round of the C.O.T.I.F XIX Torneig Internacional to earn a chance at revenge against Brazil in tomorrow night's final. The U.S. squad was reduced to ten men in the 52nd minute, but the U.S. used an own goal, a penalty and a superb solo effort from Eddie Johnson to secure their third straight win in Spain. Brazil topped Costa Rica in penalties tonight in the other semifinal after the teams played to a 2-2 draw. Leading 2-0 at halftime, Brazil gave up two second-half goals and saw their goalkeeper save a penalty in regulation before winning 5-3 in penalty kicks. In the opening game of the tournament, Brazil topped a ten-man U.S. team 2-1. “Tonight our guys gave it every thing they had, and I am very proud of the effort they put forth to come away with a well-deserved victory,” said U.S. Under-20 head coach Thomas Rongen. “I think that we have grown as a team this week, and getting a result like this against such a strong Uruguay side shows that. Coming to one of the top youth tournaments in the world and bouncing back from an opening loss to win three straight games and advance to the final is impressive.” The U.S. team grabbed a 2-1 lead at halftime, and then 10 minutes into the second half were reduced to ten men when Devin Barclay was shown his second caution of the game. The U.S. team withstood a fierce Uruguay attack and grabbed an insurance goal in the 65th minute through an extraordinary effort from U.S. striker Eddie Johnson. U.S. midfielder Ned Grabavoy won a loose ball 35 yards from the U.S. goal and played a short pass ahead to Eddie Johnson. Johnson turned and beat Uruguayan defender Carlos Grosnile with speed down the left sideline and into Uruguay’s half of the field. Johnson slowed down and as Grosnile and Nelson Sempereda approached, Johnson split the two defenders and carried the ball into the center of the park. The Dallas Burn striker unleashed a left-footed blast from 30 yards that took one hop and bounced into the goal past a stunned Uruguayan goalkeeper. The goal was Johnson’s second in three matches at the tournament. The U.S. defense played solid all game long, but tightened up after the ejection of Barclay. The foursome of C.J. Klaas, Chad Marshall, Ryan Cochrane and Chefik Simo, playing behind central midfield workhorses Ned Grabavoy and Ricardo Clark, frustrated the second-highest scoring team at the tournament and only allowed four shots in the second half as Uruguay stepped up the pressure. U.S. goalkeeper Steve Cronin was only forced to make one save in the match and that came in the first half. Entering tonight’s match Uruguay had not conceded a goal in the tournament. That impressive streak changed in the game’s 20th minute with the most bizarre of own goals. U.S. goalkeeper Steve Cronin punted the ball from his own penalty area, sending it deep into the Uruguayan half. Uruguay’s sweeper, Guillermo Rodriguez, backpedaled and attempted to head the ball back to his goalkeeper, Martin Silva. Off-balance, Rodriguez headed the ball over a stranded Silva and into the Uruguayan net. Uruguay fought right back, drawing a penalty less than two minutes later when Ryan Cochrane was whistled for a push in the box on Uruguayan forward William Ferreira. Ferreira then beat Cronin from 12 yards, pushing the ball into the left side of the net as Cronin dove to the right. The U.S. regained the lead from the penalty spot in the 34th minute, after Chad Marshall was pulled down in the penalty area during a U.S. corner kick. U.S. midfielder Ned Grabavoy wasted no time in dispensing the ensuing penalty kick into the left side of the Uruguayan net. The USA’s speed and skill frustrated Uruguay, and the South Americans tried to combat that combination with physical play. The teams combined for 42 fouls, 11 cautions and two red cards in the 80-minute match. Rongen started the same 11 as he did in the Brazil match on Saturday and the Italy match on Monday Uruguay’s assistant coach was ejected in the 39th minute … Two opposing coaches have now been thrown out of matches against the U.S. in this tournament (Italy and Uruguay). ** Match Played With 40-minute Halves** USA – own goal (Guillermo Rodriguez), 20. URU – William Ferreira (penalty), 22. USA – Ned Grabavoy (penalty), 34. USA – Eddie Johnson, 65. Lineups: USA - 1-Steve Cronin; 4-Chefik Simo, 5-Ryan Cochrane, 14-Chad Marshall, 8-C.J. Klaas; 3-Justin Mapp, 11-Ricardo Clark (2-Jordan Stone, 81+), 10-Ned Grabavoy, 15-David Johnson; 13-Devin Barclay (captain), 7-Ed Johnson (16-Knox Cameron, 79).
U.S. U-20s Fall to Brazil 1-0 in Tournament Final in Spain 8/29/02 4:31 PM L’ALCUDIA, SPAIN (Thursday, August 29, 2002) — The United States Under-20 Men’s National Team lost to an older Brazil team 1-0 tonight in the final of the C.O.T.I.F XIX Torneig Internacional in L’Alcuna, Spain. The U.S. Under-20s opened the tournament with a 2-1 loss to Brazil, before winning three straight matches over Italy, Ukraine and Uruguay to advance to tonight’s final. Brazil finished the tournament undefeated in five matches. U.S. goalkeeper Steve Cronin, who made three saves in tonight’s match, was named the tournament’s top goalkeeper. His biggest test tonight came in the 43rd minute, when he stoned Brazilian striker Marcelo in a one-on-one. “I thought we played well in the second half tonight, but you can’t expect to beat Brazil if you only play one half”, said U.S. head coach Thomas Rongen. “This tournament was a very positive experience for this team, and I think we learned a lot that will help us when the qualifying tournament comes around in November.” Tonight, for the first time in the tournament, the U.S. gave up the opening goal. A sloppy giveaway in the USA’s half allowed Edno to free Tavares in the area, and the Brazilian striker went in alone on Cronin and slotted the ball under the sliding U.S. goalkeeper. The first half was a stagnant one, as both teams showed the wear and tear of playing five international matches in six days. The U.S. outshot the Brazilians 5-4 in the half, but Brazilian goalkeeper Diego made four first-half saves to keep the U.S. scoreless at the break. Mike Magee, who scored four goals in his only other start of the tournament, started tonight in place of suspended captain Devin Barclay. Magee had the USA’s best chance in the first half. Eddie Johnson flicked on a long ball, and Magee found a speck of space behind the Brazilian defense and was able to get off a shot that a sliding Diego blocked into the air. Magee charged the rebound, but Diego’s overhead kick cleared the loose ball just before Magee was able to head into an empty net. Eddie Johnson nearly equalized in the 65th minute, but his flashing header from a Justin Mapp corner was somehow pushed just wide of the post by Diego. The U.S. pressured until the final whistle, earning two corner kicks in the extra-time, and were backed by a vocal crowd that roared its approval when Steve Cronin entered the Brazilian penalty area on the final two corner kicks. Chad Marshall had another strong game in the middle of the U.S. backline, winning nearly every ball in the air and controlling the center of the field. The insertion of Jordan Stone into the line-up at half helped jumpstart the U.S. in the second half. Stone played with Ricardo Clark in front of the defenders and helped the U.S. put on a much-improved performance in the second half. Earlier tonight Uruguay took advantage of a Costa Rican red card to post a 1-0 win in the third place game. The other two classification games were cancelled to preserve the field for the final. The match was the Under-20s final international game before World Youth Championship qualifying at Blackbaud Stadium in Charleston, S.C., from November 13-17. The top two teams from the four-team qualifying tournament in Charleston will qualify for the 2003 World Youth Championship in United Arab Emirates from March 25-April 16, 2003. Notes: The U.S. wore blue jerseys with white shorts and white socks, while Brazil wore their traditional yellow-blue-white strip … Brazil kicked off to start the game … Brazil made four changes to the line-up from the first match, while the insertion of Magee was Rongen’s only change … The U.S. played tonight without starting forward and co-captain Devin Barclay, who received his second and third cautions of the tournament in last night’s semifinal win over Uruguay ... Tournament rules stipulate that a player must miss a game after receiving his third caution of the tournament … Brazil was also without a starter, as defender Daniel Alves received a one-game suspension for a red card in their semifinal match against Costa Rica ... The U.S. scored 11 goals in the tournament, the most among any team … When the teams met in the opening game of the tournament, U.S. midfielder Ricardo Clark received two yellow cards in the game’s first 34 minutes and was sent off. The U.S. played with only ten men for the remaining 46 minutes. - U.S. Under-20 Men’s National Team Game Report - Participants: U.S. Under-20 Men’s National Team (‘83s) vs. Brazil (‘82s) Competition: C.O.T.I.F XIX Torneig Internacional – Tournament Final Location: L’Alcudia, Spain Date: August 29, 2002; 9:30 p.m. local (3:30 p.m. ET) Weather: 68 degrees; cool, clear Attendance: 5,000 ** Match Played With 40-minute Halves** Scoring Summary: 1st - 2nd - Final United States 0 - 0 - 0 Brazil 1 - 0 - 1 BRA – Tavares (Edno), 9. Lineups: USA - 1-Steve Cronin; 4-Chefik Simo, 5-Ryan Cochrane (2-Jordan Stone, 41), 14-Chad Marshall, 8-C.J. Klaas; 3-Justin Mapp (17-Raul Palomares, 76), 11-Ricardo Clark, 10-Ned Grabavoy (16-Knox Cameron, 73), 15-David Johnson (19-Mike Ambersley, 41); 7-Eddie Johnson (captain), 20-Mike Magee. Subs not used: 6-Jordan Harvey, 12-Chris Lancos, 18-Ford Williams, 21-Craig Capano. Suspended: 13-Devin Barclay. BRA - 1-Diego; 3-Marquinhos (captain), 4-Glauber, 13-Vinicius; 6-Edno, 15-Wendel, 8-Dudu, 17-Marcelo (9-Bruno Moraes, 85+), 18-Leandro (19-Ygor, 78 ), 10-Caca; 7-Tavares. Subs not used: 5-Walker, 12-Rougger, 14-Jean, 16-Krauss. Suspended: 2-Daniel. Statistical Summary: USA / BRA Shots: 7 / 7 Saves: 3 / 5 Corner Kicks: 5 / 2 Fouls: 12 / 24 Offside: 2 / 4 Misconduct Summary: BRA – Dudu (caution), 54. BRA – Glauber (caution), 55. BRA – Leandro (caution), 77. BRA – Edno (caution), 83+. BRA – Diego (caution), 85+. BRA – Ygor (caution), 86+
3rd Degree, what is your opinion on why Eddie seems like a worldbeater against these foreign national teams and hesitant and out of sync when he plays for the Burn?
Yeah, MLS is certainly a step up, but Johnson just bagged one in MLS too, so maybe ... just maybe ... he'll start to get the PLAYING TIME that he hasn't been getting with the Burn. It's funny, but the best way to prevent Johnson from scoring is to ... bench him. Let the kid develop Jeffries. Kreis always tails off at the end of the seaon, and you cannot really believe that Rhine, Cerritos and Kreis are all better right now than Johnson, can you????? Play Johnson. -Tron