PBP: U18s at UEFA Friendship Cup (June 2025): Tournament and Match Discussion

I'm watching (a replay of) the Australia game while the family sleeps -- the things I do for soccer! I may post a bit, but won't do PBP. I will note that the announcer said Australia has been competitive in its other games despite their record; the game is being played at a high pace in the first five minutes, during which it could've been 1-1.

Update: Santiago Pita scored the game's first a bit less than 15 minutes in. He got the ball at the far corner of the 18, took on a couple of defenders and smashed a left-footed shot past the GK, who didn't seem to have a play on it. Australia zipped down the field in response and got a shot off, but it went wide.

One observation in the action I've seen (though I didn't watch the Argentina game) is that while I don't actually know what the dimensions of the fields are -- or maybe it's just one field? -- they look really big. That obviously helps teams that can move the ball and attack space aggressively, but it also means a lot of play out of the back; France in particular used their GK for this extensively against us. That, in turn, has meant lots of pressing. Ah, to be a kid again.

Australia has found a bit of its footing around 20 minutes in.

Update 2: Right after I wrote that line above, Klapija looked up from just past the circle, saw the GK off his line, and lobbed him for the second. If I'd suggested that all this pressing might also mean opportunities to catch a GK out of position, I'd have looked really smart!

 

It's 2-0 at the half. The screen says possession was 52-48 U.S., which I guess feels right -- any observer would probably say the U.S. was clearly the better team in the half, but Australia had several real chances that were saved or otherwise just didn't quite happen. It could easily be, I dunno, 3-2 to the good guys, or I suppose any number of other scorelines.

 

This was not intended as a prediction, but... do I look really smart? (Don't answer that.)

The winner was scored by Ellis, a powerful first-timed strike off a nice pass from Dills, in added time. He followed it up with a strong tackle that really fired him up.

One of the guys who stood out a bit for me apart from the dudes in the scoresheet was Chong-Qui, who made some heady and sturdy plays. The way this team plays, Guske gets a lot of the ball -- he is more of a deep-lying guy, not looking up for long balls like, say, Brandan Craig -- and he's a steadying presence. (Obviously not a lot of guys play that role like Craig, but I figure folks here will get the reference.) This squad also didn't seem to look to involve the outside backs all that much; it was more of a "get the ball to the attackers" approach.

Adding because I forgot, Klapija was very active in a "false 9" role, doing a range of things in the final third. We could certainly debate whether that's a thing the program should be building around, but having it as an option can't be bad, and there are other ways he can contribute if he's not in that spot.

I don't know whether it's the game plan or the fact that these are young guys with young blood or what, but this team just doesn't seem particularly interested in managing to a result, which I've also seen in other younger YNTs. They have one gear. It's rather appealing to watch, devoid of professional cynicism, but I think that has a sell-by date that is roughly around the U20 level, and it doesn't play in "real" tournaments where you and your opponent are fighting for your lives.

This game could easily have gone to Australia, but hey, it didn't. The win was deserved.

 

The U.S. had a stretch or two in the middle of the second half where they took some of the momentum back, but yeah, the scoreline flatters. Well, a win's a win!

 

We could call him "The Rizzl..." never mind.