2007 U-20 World Cup - US 2-1 Uruguay - Uruguay stains the cup
US 2-1 Uruguay
The U20 men did not look their best as Uruguay put forth the strongest defensive show they have seen during the World Cup (and their offense wasn't that bad either). The mini-Nats passes were off as was their flow for most of the match. In addition, Brian Perk and the backline were having communication problems that lead to a number of dangerous moments, plus they were having trouble clearing the ball. Yet with all that, the US still stayed in it and forced it to overtime.
This game might not have shown great play by the US, but it did show good resolve, especially when you look at the way Uruguay was acting. They were shoving US players around, tripping them and stomping on their feet, but referee Ravshan Irmatov did nothing. In fact, he not only did nothing, he called the US for fouls including one where a Uruguayan player pushed a US player into another Uruguayan player. And like any game where the ref does not control it, an injury happened when Jozy Altidore went down off a nasty tackle from Martin Caceres.
If there was anything good to come of the Altidore injury it was that the ref finally started calling the obvious fouls against Uruguay and what do you know, an actual soccer game broke out.
The first US goal was credited as an own goal off Mathias Cardaccio, but had the ball not gone in, the US would have (or at least should have) been awarded a penalty kick as Cardaccio suck his leg out, as the last defender, to trip the on coming Andre Akpan. Either way, this goal would not have been possible without the excellent control and centering of Danny Szetela.
The game-winning goal for the US came off of Freddy Adu's first (and only) really dangerous corner kick of the night. When keeper Irrazbal failed to clear it with his punch, Wallace was in the right spot to touch it over to Bradley who finished perfectly.
But this good play did not come without some luck as Uruguay had an excellent header in the box smack off the side post. Had it been a couple inches to the left, it would have been in the back of the net.
Once they took the lead, the Americans kept a level head and burned out the clock with good ball movement that caused Uruguay to foul, foul, foul.
When time was called, it was a much deserved win, but Uruguay showed the same class after the final whistle that they had showed throughout the match as they proceeded to push, shove and kick the US while they tried to celebrate. Cardaccio went up and kicked Bradley (then ran away), Gary Kagelmacher decided to try and put his finger in Perk's eye and Hugo Arismendi thought it would show his manhood to by pushing people from behind. Just a disgrace.
Bradley was very worked up by getting kicked but his response was wonderful as he flashing them 2-1 with his fingers (and no, he was not showing them the backside of his hand while showing them that score).
In the end, the US worked out a way to win this game and should be proud of that. They will next face Austria on Saturday in Toronto at 2:15pm EDT. Now if only ESPN would carry this match on a channel that most people can actually watch.
Other results:
Austria 2-1 Gambia
Spain 4-2 Brazil
Japan (3)2-2(4) Czech Republic
The U20 men did not look their best as Uruguay put forth the strongest defensive show they have seen during the World Cup (and their offense wasn't that bad either). The mini-Nats passes were off as was their flow for most of the match. In addition, Brian Perk and the backline were having communication problems that lead to a number of dangerous moments, plus they were having trouble clearing the ball. Yet with all that, the US still stayed in it and forced it to overtime.
This game might not have shown great play by the US, but it did show good resolve, especially when you look at the way Uruguay was acting. They were shoving US players around, tripping them and stomping on their feet, but referee Ravshan Irmatov did nothing. In fact, he not only did nothing, he called the US for fouls including one where a Uruguayan player pushed a US player into another Uruguayan player. And like any game where the ref does not control it, an injury happened when Jozy Altidore went down off a nasty tackle from Martin Caceres.
If there was anything good to come of the Altidore injury it was that the ref finally started calling the obvious fouls against Uruguay and what do you know, an actual soccer game broke out.
The first US goal was credited as an own goal off Mathias Cardaccio, but had the ball not gone in, the US would have (or at least should have) been awarded a penalty kick as Cardaccio suck his leg out, as the last defender, to trip the on coming Andre Akpan. Either way, this goal would not have been possible without the excellent control and centering of Danny Szetela.
The game-winning goal for the US came off of Freddy Adu's first (and only) really dangerous corner kick of the night. When keeper Irrazbal failed to clear it with his punch, Wallace was in the right spot to touch it over to Bradley who finished perfectly.
But this good play did not come without some luck as Uruguay had an excellent header in the box smack off the side post. Had it been a couple inches to the left, it would have been in the back of the net.
Once they took the lead, the Americans kept a level head and burned out the clock with good ball movement that caused Uruguay to foul, foul, foul.
When time was called, it was a much deserved win, but Uruguay showed the same class after the final whistle that they had showed throughout the match as they proceeded to push, shove and kick the US while they tried to celebrate. Cardaccio went up and kicked Bradley (then ran away), Gary Kagelmacher decided to try and put his finger in Perk's eye and Hugo Arismendi thought it would show his manhood to by pushing people from behind. Just a disgrace.
Bradley was very worked up by getting kicked but his response was wonderful as he flashing them 2-1 with his fingers (and no, he was not showing them the backside of his hand while showing them that score).
In the end, the US worked out a way to win this game and should be proud of that. They will next face Austria on Saturday in Toronto at 2:15pm EDT. Now if only ESPN would carry this match on a channel that most people can actually watch.
Other results:
Austria 2-1 Gambia
Spain 4-2 Brazil
Japan (3)2-2(4) Czech Republic
Labels: 2007 U-20 World Cup, FIFA, Uruguay, US U20 MNT
posted by Mike H at 10:07 AM
1 Comments:
What game did you watch?
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