Remember savages “tricks are for kids,” so don’t be too fooled by the recent US u-20s (2-1) victory over Uruguay in the Round 16 at the U-20 World Cup in Canada because then you might believe that we are actually creating and developing a type of football like other soccer countries.

Of course, ultimately, you would fault the Uruguayan defense for their unfocused set piece defending in the dying minutes, and over-time period of the game; however, with a more objective look at the replay, you would recognize the American’s handball in the box that directly lead to the game tying goal.

Uruguay immediately showed their intentions in the game despite their unlucky, woeful defending (and worse a refereeing error) by constructing an immediate response quelled only by a deflection off the bar.

And as lightening always seems to strike twice in soccer, it was Uruguay’s failure to deal with the difficulties of an American corner, not the overall quality of our football, that lead to our coach’s son’s opportunistic goal.

Unfortunately while Adu and Altidore have shown promising and lethal finishing in this tournament, it is largely lost on our overall playing foundation. Both players have shown the ability to finish off once inside the box, but it is in our inconsistency and ability to get there which in the end negates a style of play.

Now we go on to play a safer Quarterfinal game on Saturday, with another vertically dominated Austrian side, that looks likely to boil down to the rudimentary physical aspects of the game.

Obviously, it is a game that favors the US, so a Semifinal showdown with Spain, who defeated Brazil 4-2 in the Round of 16 and looks certain to come through against the Czech Republic in the Quarters, looks destined in the stars.

Chile will face Nigeria and another block buster elimination game between Argentina and Mexico are the other Quarterfinal match-ups on Sunday.

 

This entry was posted on Friday, July 13th, 2007 at 3:45 pm and is filed under Soccer World, u-20s World Cup. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.