u-20s vs. mexico u-20s (r)

I guess that answers the question "What nationality is Bryce Wegerle?"

 

It's nice to see the love between the 2 countries flow down to the U-20s.

--So was anybody there and able to tell us who played well or crap-like?

 

IIRC he still isn't cap tied to us, this wasn't a FIFA sanctioned event. But who else would he play for?

 

Bryce Wegerle is also eligible to play for South Africa.

 

It was a decent game that needed a goal bad!

odg78,

Ya, I was there. The match was delayed for an hour due to heavy rain. Thus the ball ran very well as Robertson Stadium drained nicely except the flanks and corners. Convey was very active in the middle third and dictated the pace of the game. Ed J liked to play wide left and slash in, hold the ball and turn and run on to a thru ball or take a defender on himself. He was regulary man-marked and double teamed beyond that. Knox missed two sitters that could have put the Lil' Yanks up 2-0 easy by the 30 min mark. (sitters that make a Texan pull his hair out)
Our back line Simo, Marshall, Klaas and Lancos made switching from a a flat back four to a three man back line to just two center backs at midfield when Mexico went down a man as smooth as a well oiled machine. Rongen has got them organized very well. Ed J also holds and lays off the ball well. Justin Mapp played very well out wide left, he swung in some good services that went begging. Ricardo Clark was very active all night from 18 to 18 and I was impressed with his work rate and technique.
One guy that has no fear of cursing out the ref and taking his own hits while dishing out some el Tri like cheapshots is Devin Barclay. He did it all week.
Saavedra took over the center of the pitch in the second half and played a more creative center mid than Convey brings. Wegerle was useless on the left and had a Agoos like probelm of kicking with his un-natural left peg. Rongen noticed this after he failed to deliver any service as Mapp went up top to find a match winner.
Mexico had very minimal ball possesion in the second half and only tested Cronin on two free kicks and one breakaway. One panchito that I was impresses with was Nacho Torres, he was ejected at the 64 mark but the first yellow he recieved in his defense was not a foul that was carded later on in the later stages of a very chippy and studs up type affair. Playing Mexico in Texas will do that as the crowd was split even and very vocal.
If our boys had finished one of our many chances it seemed Mexico was going to break wide open.
The Mexican coach and fans were going nuts when a first half PK was not given midway in the first. Once again the match got hotter and hotter after that as the Booking report shows.
After all was said and done, our team played the better movement with superior technique. Mexico didn't break and the 0-0 scoreline is the soccer gods way of saying our punishment for blowing many breakaways and sitters early on.

One other interesting thing was the young local Houstonian lads that come out and really responded well to the vocal and malicious ice and cup tossing Panchos. Me-xi-co cha cha cha was responed well with U.S.A-U.S.A.

 

DALE CAMPEON

"DALE CAMPEON
DALE CAMPEON
DALE DALE
CAMPEOOOOOOOOOON"

 

Thanks CeltTexan. How did you rate Stone's game? He has been receiving great reviews from Dallas and receiving some playing time. I almost get the feeling that by going out of the way to complement him so much they are trying to send a message to EJ.

 

Re: DALE CAMPEON

Thanx for the kind words VS

Mexican youth teams acting like the senior team. Grooming them for future international play.

to the melody of Vamos a la playa
Los Mejicanos no se escuchan
OOOOOO
Los Mejicanos no se escuchan
OOOOOO
Los Mejicanos no se escuchan
OOOOOO

 

metroflip73

Thanx for the kind words VS

Maybe you werent paying attention but Mexicos U-20 Won your Soccer Festival Cup

Mexican youth teams acting like the senior team.

Winning Cups in U.S Soil

 

How many of the Mexies were American born and raised?

 

Re: metroflip73

Where is there a link about this "cup" that was won by Mexico? I attended this event last year in Chicago and only the USASA Regional Sides played for a championship. The national teams were there just to fill out the round robin play & then Mexico played a match against the US on the last day.
FYI, USASA South were undefeated to win the amateur championship. Like Mexico they also played the US Nats to a scoreless draw.

 

Re: It was a decent game that needed a goal bad!

This guy's going to have to improve on this or start looking at becoming a winger. I wonder why Rongen puts him at forward when he plays midfield for Michigan? Perhaps his passing skills won't translate to the next level? He'll never make it as a forward at the next level without being able to finish.

Glad to hear this.

Nice to hear we've got two future dmids being groomed for the next level

So are you saying that he looked better than Convey did at the central mid spot?

 

Disappointing Showing

It sounds like the U-20 team put in a disappointing showing at the Soccer Festival. 1-1-2 against four teams that one would think they clearly outclass on paper. Things don't look that promising for the U-20 World Championship next year.

I realize I am massively overreacting, but what what do others think? It sounds like this team has some real trouble scoring. I don't think a forward scored all tournament. Should Rongen pull some new strikers into camp? Are Mike Magee and Marcus Storey being considered for this team? Please don't flame me, I am just looking for some insight.

 

Re: Disappointing Showing

Firstly, Marcus Storey is an 82 so he's too old.

Second, it's far too early to panic. This was Convey's first time with the team and he had no practice with them before playing 2 games in as many days with one days rest after an MLS game that went to OT. In otherwords, he wasn't at his best.

Similarly, Eddie Johnson didn't show up till Friday and he too played Wednesday night. These 2 will be key to the team's success.

Third, none of the Euro-based players, save Wegerle, were in Houston. Zak Whitbred, Aaron Shepherd, Frankie Simek, Dave Johnson (who I've heard Rongen really likes) and Mike Magee will give the team a lot of grit and organization, especially in the back.

A month ago I would have said Magee was a long shot to make the team but with Santino Quaranta going under the knife, I think the team is going to need his offensive skills, particularly his ability to hit a dead ball. As far as I'm concerned, Quaranta isn't going to be available for qualifying. The timetable for this type of surgery is 3 months recovery and that's 3 months until you can resume workouts. That means Tino can't work out till the beginning of November, giving him all of 2 weeks to get fit after not playing for 4 months (he missed most of July before going under the knife last week). So, I don't see him being ready for qualifying.

However, that leads me to my next point. Assuming we can get by in qualifying without him, a healthy Quaranta at the World Youth Championships will make the US a very dangerous team. If he is healthy and fit, there is far less reason for concern.

Another point is that, hopefully, Mapp, Stone, E. Johnson, Barclay and even Convey should all get more experience as the MLS season winds down and regular get tired, injured and rack up yellow card points. At this stage of their careers, even a few games in MLS can be immensely beneficial to their respecitve performances with the junior nats.

And my last point is that while Rongen will only have the team together a short time before qualifying (due to the college season), he'll have all of January, February and most of March to have the team together. That prep time should give the team a lot of cohesion.

So while the results in Houston were certainly underwhelming, and could fairly be called disappointing, it's far too early to panic.

 

Re: Re: It was a decent game that needed a goal bad!

This is why I think when it's all said and done, Knox will find himself moved to the back line, where his height and pace, combined with his attacking player's background, will make him a dominating and skillful center or marking back.

 

Re: Disappointing Showing

Well, the team's problems finishing have been well described above, but I attended the Canada and Mexico games and came away feeling generally very good about this team. CeltTexan's summary tells the story of the Mexico game as well as it can be told. And Sandon fills in the big picture very nicely for those of us who haven't followed these players or this team closely. I'd just like to add a couple thoughts about why I think this team wasn't too disappointing.

First, their technical skill level was impressive. Perhaps that's no surprise to the very knowledgeable folks in this thread, but having seen enough of only Convery, E. Johnson, and Stone to have any preconceived notions about the technical abilities of this team, I was pleased to see that most of these guys have excellent ball control, including first touch, and passing skills. It's an admittedly debatable and subjective assessment, but I'd say that the US even had better technique than the Mexicans. US national teams at even the senior level haven't always had players with such good individual technique.

Second, the US pressing game worked very well. IMHO, Mexico essentially conceded the midfield because they couldn't maintain possession against the US pressure. When you see any Mexican side give up on trying to build from the back and instead start to rely on hopeful long balls to the forwards, you know your pressing game is working well.

Third, in both games, the US looked like a team that knew what it was trying to do with the ball. Sounds simple, but you really don't always see it. They looked very competent in creating chances. I don't mean that they were just lucky or scrappy - they actually looked like a team that knew how it wanted to move the ball and where it wanted to attack. Each of these games could well have been blowouts had the finishing been even remotely as polished as the build up.

Maybe I'm just easily impressed, but I think that those three elements of US play are highly encouraging. The finishing was disappointing, but I think this team showed a few things that many senior national teams don't do very well. If the point of U-20 and other youth teams is to help promising players develop individually and learn how to implement certain tactics (e.g., pressing, defensive organization, etc.), then I think this was a good showing.

 

Rongen is succeding where he couldn't at DCU me thinks!

Gentlemen,

I must stress the fact that although we did drop points in this tourney...it was our Lil' Yanks that dominated the key components of association football at the international level. Our organization and overlapping coverage was incredible and I think what Rongen could not do at United, he has done very well at mixing Yank work rate with Dutch like support and communication.
Second, chances created are IMHO make the difference at the inter-level. We have seen now after Japan/Corea that any solid team can beat any Cup winner or world power on any given day. With that said, we CREATED so many solid services from the flanks and combo work from Convey to the front line that Canada and Mexico had to defend with 5 in the back and I give all credit to Mexico's center backs as they did shut down ED J after he had played three 90's in 4 days. So IMO, how many chances you create is a true mark of the side with a solid upper hand. Perhaps a 2-nil scoreline never appeared....where's Landon on the U-20's when ya need him to nod home against the panchitos ha ha ha!
Still, I WILL NOT make excusses like a good mexican will in any loss. We missed, honestly my friends, 4 sitters inside the area in the first half and in the second half the Mexican fans were going ape sh!t over their team being completely out played as our two center-backs played at the mid-stripe even before Nacho Torres (Mexico's only chance at a true #10) was shown red. Their head coach got ice and crap thrown at him while he was near the ref (two for one type philosophy)
PAW..on Stone, can you say a carbon copy of Frankie Hejduk with a very solid first touch. The Wanderer, yes Ricardo is a skinny Davids like midfield bulldog! Very promising from what I saw. And even better is he got stuck in all over the pitch and was never a pest in the refs eyes. He hides the mischevious contact well.
Lastly, Various Fashions, I'm glad to see you have risen from that tequila induced coma that you have been under since the complete disaster to everything that WAS Mexican machismo culture and pride.
Now a 0-0 tie in a U-20 friendly (as stated above the select teams are there to compete for a title and the National sides are there to round out the field) that as you have stated many times to us older BS posters that youth Tri teams are not followed, covered or cared about in Mexican futbol culture...that was you who said that back when y'all didn't qualify for any U-20 mundialito or the Olympics?...Yeah, that was you. But congrats on having the balls to come back to these threads. I like to see you back!

 

CeltTexan

as you have stated many times to us older BS posters that youth Tri teams are not followed, covered or cared about in Mexican futbol culture..


This is very True. This is also the first time that i have begun following the growth of the Youth Squads. I do it for one reason and one reason Only. The FMF after their elimination from all Youth Tourneys last year got their sh'it together and started a National Youth program.

Thier first step was assigning Hugo Grondona (related to AFA's president Humberto Grondona) as Cordinator for the Youth Teams and setting up coaches to work with the youth squads throught the year. Before the FMF would patch up a squad weeks before their respective tournaments. Im gladd that they are Now working with the Youth Teams. Divison 3 football in Mexico is for National players only and Division 2 (Primera A) must field up to three U-20 players.

All these Changes since last year have begun to produce results. I consider these Minimal results Dallas Cup U-14 Championship and this ASAS tourney showing to be postive .

The real test will be the World Cup Qualifiers and the Pre-Olympic (Which Might be held in Mexico)

Now Mr Texan if the US U-20 was so Technically superior why couldnt they beat Canada, which lost to a Mexican side that was missing two players !?!?

They couldnt even beat Mexico who played with a man down for over 20 min. Maybe if they had gone to pk's

Was this vastly superior U-20 US team a reflection of the French National Team in Japorea ?!?!!?

 

Mi amigo Panchito,

I guess you missed my first statement that the gods of sport and futbol have it in for a side that blows sitters early in the match. Thus a 4-0 scoreline was in order if you saw the match in person. The mojados there were so upset on how their boys were losing posseion so fast and had to rely on Torres as the only way to get the ball up field they were at riot pitch and threw ice at the U-20 coach several times!

Losing to a very well organized and skilled Canuck squad in a late match winner that was a very entertaining match is no shame. The Canuck goalie stoned Ed J twice in less than 30 seconds and had Frings like help as the left back stopped the ball with his arm/sholder late!

Remember also that Mexico beat Canada 1-0, on a late late goal as Canada was reduced to 9 men, yes sir, 9 men. Like Corea beating Portugal 1-0 after the 'Guese went down to 9....think same match but different colors chaval.

 

Re: Re: Re: It was a decent game that needed a goal bad!

I always find this line of reasoning disrespectful to the players that have spent their entire careers fine tuning the art of defense. It's as if a failed forward (or whatever) has some sort of "right" to a position on the field. Defending is 90% heart, it's an attitude, and it bothers me that we think just anyone can move to the back and get the job done. And we wonder why the U.S. is so thin in the back? Until we start respecting the role of the "natural" defender we're going to continue to struggle to defend.

 

Recreational Mentality STRIKE AGAIN

USSF call this TEXAS SOCCER FESTIVAL but I have a different name: FESTIVAL OF MISMANAGEMENT AND WASTE, somebody have an idea of how much money is require to have 3 soccer national teams travel to Houston Tx ?? what about LODGING, TRANSPORTATION, FOOD??Now the really big question: How do you pay all this if you just sell 1500 tickets on 3 games ?? I live here on HOUSTON TX and let me tell you something guys: Nowbody knew about the games!! The MEXICAN TEAM ON HOUSTON !! This was a HUGE opportunity to have a sold out just for this game, but the recreational mentality of USSF, THE LACK OF PROMOTION ,ADVERTIZEMENT OR ANYTHING ELSE, well but we all sing CUMBAYA AT THE END.

 

Re: Recreational Mentality STRIKE AGAIN

I've heard a couple of people criticizing the Festival in Houston, and I thought I might remind a few people of a few things. First of all, this thing was put on completely by volunteers. So, if stats were not current, things seemed slightly disorganized, or there were other problems, you might want to keep in mind that the people running this thing were not professional tournament promoters. Also, these people had real jobs to attend to while they were doing all this volunteer work. As far as promotion goes, you might want to remember that a lot of this sort of thing relys upon the media for help as our advesting budget was essentially non-existent. Given that everyone in Houston (sports media-wise, anyway) is caught up in Texan fever (this is the inaugural season here for those of you who don't follow the NFL), it was extremely difficult to get English speaking media to want to talk about this thing. With very few exceptions, the English speaking sports media, were completely uninterested in this thing. The Spanish speaking media promoted the Festival pretty well. One of the reasons for poor attendance during the Men's US vs. Mexico match might have been that monsoon/electrical storm that rolled through and delayed the games 2 hours.

And another thing 'whip', if you live in Houston, and you thought the Festival is important, were you volunteering? I'm betting not for some reason.

 

Sorry my cristal ball is out of warranty

There are so many people willing to work as a volunteer but how can somebody volunteer for something nobody knows about, beside a game between MEXICO/ USA HERE IN HUSTON !!! with a litle promotion this is a sold out, Every time USA PLAY MEXICO,SALVADOR,KOREA,COLOMBIA here in Houston we are talking about 30.000 plus tickets sale, Kingwood High School sale 15000 tickets for HIGH SCHOOL SOCCER GAMES ....