Danny Szetela to Newcastle Racing de Santander

US U-20 and Columbus Crew midfielder Danny Szetela has signed a four-year deal with the EPL's Newcastle. The move will not take place till January meaning Szetela is still available for Crew during their final run to the playoffs. The date also means MLS will not get a transfer fee since his contract concludes at the end of the year.

Szetela was close to signing with Italy's Roma or Lazio but decided to move to England instead.

His time at Columbus has not shown much however he did have a wonderful U-20 World Cup. Newcastle has been a difficult place for players to break into in the past. If Szetela wants to get first team action, he is going to need to really stretch his abilities.

Big Update: Step away from the blog for a day and things go crazy. Looks like Szetela will not be heading to England. Instead he will go to Spain to play with first division team Racing de Santander. The move will take place right away with MLS getting a $150,000 transfer fee.

I like this move a lot better then the Newcastle option, as Spain and Racing seem like a better place for Szetela to develop his game.

2007 U-20 World Cup - US is out

USA 1-2 Austria
The US mini-Nats are out of the World Cup after a poor defensive showing against Austria. The US came out as the better team but once they got their first goal, they seemed to slow down. The same issue that has haunted the team during the whole tournament resurfaced this afternoon, as their defense was a mess. Between miscommunication and failure to clear the ball, Austria got a number of chances they never should have had (both goes were off second chances).

On offense, Jozy Altidore looked strong for most of the game. Freddy Adu had his moments but he was consistently over hitting balls. Michael Bradley woke things up for the team late in the second half and overtime, but he had his own problem of giving up cheap fouls.

Still, there were some great moments for the team. Chris Seitz taking a ball into the face to make a stop in goal was wonderful. Nathan Sturgis making a great clearance off the line was awesome. Robbie Rogers had a number of strong balls into the center. But most of all, that first goal was fantastic.

So the, arguably, best U-20 team the US has ever produced now heads home. It might not have ended the way we wanted, but the past few weeks have shown that we have a good crop of talent coming up the ranks.

2007 U-20 World Cup - USA vs. Austria plus US women's action

USA vs. Austria
2:15pm ET/11:15am PT
TV: ESPNU, TeleFutura (Spanish)
The U-20 men continue their run for history this afternoon as they face a defensive Austrian team in the quarterfinals. Austria has not looked overly strong during the tournament, but they do have the means to frustrate and confuse an attack. The US is coming off a weak outing against Uruguay where they had trouble putting connecting passes or clearing the ball. If they want to make it to their first U-20 semi-final since the cup expanded to 24 teams, they will need to seriously correct these issues.

The problems on offense are somewhat new. Freddy Adu (pictured) lacked his creativity against Uruguay and only had one well-placed corner (from which the US scored). With Jozy Altidore possibly out, look for even more coverage of Adu by the Austrian defense. However, this should allow Michael Bradley and Andre Akpan (or whomever takes Altidore's place) some extra room in which to move. The Austrians have a strong backline, but they have a way of missing players coming in along the back post. If the US can exploit this, is should be a happy time.

My biggest concern is the US backline, as there seems to be communication issues all over the place. The number of times I've seen two players go for a ball in the box with neither of them getting it due to a collision or other such event is crazy. Add that to the times the keeper is about to grab the ball only to have a defender pop a head or leg in and you've got a problem. Then you have the issue of the bad clearance. You cannot give a team multiple chances at your goal, but a weak boot of the ball to the center of the pitch will result in just that. Austria is not a heavy attacking side, but if you give them enough openings, they will find a way through.

This will be the first meeting of the U-20 teams. The only other time these two countries met was at the U-17 Championship in 1997 where the US won 4-0.
Predictions: Me USA 3-1 Austria, Wife USA 1-0 Austria


USA WNT vs. Norway
6pm ET/3pm PT
TV: ESPN2
The US women continue their tune up ahead of this fall's World Cup in China with a match in Connecticut against the always tough squad from Norway. It will be interesting to see if coach Greg Ryan uses this match as a dry run for the 18 players already named to the World Cup roster or if he gives a number of 'not-yet-named' players a chance to fill the final three spots. Either way, expect some good attacking play from both sides.
Predictions: Me USA 2-1 Norway, Wife USA 4-2 Norway

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

2007 U-20 World Cup - US vs. Uruguay

US-Uruguay
7:45pm EDT - Toronto
TV: ESPNU, Galavision (Spanish)
The U-20 US men return to action tonight after an impressive run through their group which included a wonderful win against Brazil. The mini-Nats should be feeling good about themselves as they have scored more goals then any team at the World Cup and they have three players with three goals each. Freddy Adu is making space in the middle, Jozy Altidore is finding his perfect positions and Chris Seitz is a monster between the sticks. Cap that off with a 2-1 win over Brazil and you've got a lot of goodness. However there are two problems. One, the U-20s were in a somewhat similar position in 2005 before they fell to Italy in the round of 16. Two, they are playing Uruguay who are a team they have failed to beat in three previous U-20 World Cup meetings ('81,'83,'97).

Uruguay does come in stumbling after a weak 1-0 win against Jordan and a 2-0 shock defeat by Zambia, but they did give Spain a hard time in their first match. The point is this will not be a walk for the red, white and blue. If Edison Cavani is not kept under tabs, he will make true pain for the US backline.

If the US stay focused on this match, they should advance to the next round. However, if they think Uruguay is going to fall down because they beat Brazil, it will be a difficult 90-minutes.
Predictions: Me US 2-0 Uruguay, Wife US 3-1 Uruguay

Other Round of 16 matches tonight:
Austria - Gambia
7:45pm EDT - Edmonton
Winner faces the winner of the US-Uruguay match
Spain - Brazil
11:15pm EDT - Burnaby
Japan - Czech Republic
11:15pm EDT - Victoria

US U-20 beat Brazil 2-1

US 2-1 Brazil
U-20 World Cup

The under 20 men gave a US soccer fan something big to cheer about last night as they pulled off a fantastic win against Brazil. The game was a fast pace effort on both sides of the pitch but thanks to a great deal of work from Freddy Adu, the red, white and blue walk out with the win and first place in their group.

Brazil had a number of dangerous chances but the US was able to swarm them with their defense and force a turn over or bad shot. When Brazil did get something on target Chris Seitz normally found his way into position to make the save.

Up top, Adu was leading the charge even though Altidore is the one who got the goals. Adu setup Altidore for his first goal and it was an Adu deflected shot that fell to his feet for the second goal and goal number two was a great one. Adu broke through the Brazilian defense, lost a man got into the area, hard fired a shot that was deflected to the other side of goal where Altimore was waiting to tap it in. How many times have we seen the US senior men have a similar chance only to find there is no one on the far side to collect the rebound?

It is a great victory for the USA, but there is still a defensive issue in that there seems to be a problem of communication between Seitz and his backline. The Brazil goal was an ugly little bouncer that seemed to be caused in part by the defender and goalie both going for the ball, thus colliding and setting it free. This lack of claiming the ball popped up a couple other times resulting in frightening situations.

Still, it was a wonderful night for the U-20s and they should be feeling very good today. For Brazil, the result means they end up in third place in the group, but thanks to a +1 goal difference, they should qualify for a knockout round spot (the four best third place teams advance along with the top 2 teams from each group).

With the young men performing so fine, it is an additive shame that ESPN is not making these matches available on networks that most of America can access. They play next on Wednesday in Toronto.

U-20 World Cup - US 1-1 South Korea - Poland shocks Brazil

The first round of Group D action is over and it had a massive surprise as Poland topped Brazil in their U-20 opener.

USA 1-1 South Korea
These two teams played about as equal a match as possible as they each had 50% of possession, however the Koreans attempted seven additional shots. If the US is going to challenge, they, much like the senior team, will need to learn to take the shots and make the most of them.
Goals: USA: Danny Szetela 16'
S Korea: Young Rok Kim 38'

Poland 1-0 Brazil
Grzegorz Krychowiak gave Poland an early lead when he blasted home a free kick, however the joy didn't last long when Krzysztof Krol was sent off four minutes later with a second yellow card. Brazil owned the ball for most of the match, but Poland was somehow able to hold on and take a full three points.
Goals: Grzegorz Krychowiak 23'

2007 U-20 World Cup Schedule

The three-week U-20 tournament kicks off this Saturday, when 24 nations will compete to see who is the best in the under-20 world. There are six groups of 4. The top two of each group will advance, as will the four best third place teams.

As far as TV viewing, I've tried to get all the information correct but it is a bit scattered. ESPNU (U) and ESPN360 (360) have all of these games, except for the final, however are only available in a few markets in the US. The final will air on ESPN2.
Fox Sports en Espanol (FSE) as well as Galavision (G) and TeleFutura (T) will offer Spanish coverage of most of the games, however a number of the FSE games will be tape delayed.

Here is the full schedule. All time Eastern (UTC -5 hours) TV coverage key:

Group A
Canada
Chile
Republic of Congo
Austria
July 1, 2007
Canada 0–3 Chile, Toronto, 7:45pm (U, FSE delay)
July 2, 2007
Republic of Congo 1–1 Austria, Edmonton, 7:45pm (360, FSE)
July 5, 2007
Chile 3–0 Republic of Congo, Edmonton, 7:45pm (360)
Austria 1–0 Canada, Edmonton, 10:30pm (360)
July 8, 2007
Canada 0–2 Republic of Congo, Edmonton, 8pm (360)
Chile 0–0 Austria, Toronto, 8pm (360)

Group B
Spain
Uruguay
Jordan
Zambia
July 1, 2007
Jordan 1–1 Zambia, Burnaby, 5:15pm (360)
Spain 2–2 Uruguay, Burnaby, 8pm (U, FSE)
July 4, 2007
Uruguay 1–0 Jordan, Burnaby, 8pm (360)
Zambia 1–2 Spain, Burnaby, 9:45pm (360)
July 7, 2007
Spain 4–2 Jordan, Burnaby, 4:15pm (360)
Uruguay 0–2 Zambia, Victoria, 5:15pm (360)

Group C
Portugal
New Zealand
Gambia
Mexico
July 2, 2007
Gambia 0–3 Mexico, Toronto, 2:15pm (360, G)
Portugal 2–0 New Zealand, Toronto, 5pm (360, FSE)
July 5, 2007
New Zealand 0–1 Gambia, Toronto, 5pm (360, FSE)
Mexico 2–1 Portugal, Toronto, 7:45pm (U, G)
July 8, 2007
Portugal 1–2 Gambia, Montreal, 5:15pm (360)
New Zealand 1–2 Mexico, Edmonton, 5:15pm (U, G)

Group D
Poland
Brazil
Korea Republic
United States
June 30, 2007
Korea Republic 1–1 United States, Montreal, 5pm (U, FSE delay)
Poland 1–0 Brazil, Montreal
July 3, 2007
Brazil 3–2 Korea Republic, Montreal, 5pm (U, FSE)
United States 6–1 Poland, Montreal, 7:45pm (U, G)
July 6, 2007
Poland 1–1 Korea Republic, Montreal, 7:45pm (360)
Brazil 1–2 United States, Ottawa, 7:45pm (U, G)

Group E
Argentina
Czech Republic
Korea DPR
Panama
June 30, 2007
Korea DPR 0–0 Panama, Ottawa
Argentina 0–0 Czech Republic, Ottawa, 7:15pm (U)
July 3, 2007
Czech Republic 2–2 Korea DPR, Ottawa, 5pm (360)
Panama 0–6 Argentina, Ottawa, 7:45pm (360, FSE delay)
July 6, 2007
Argentina 1–0 Korea DPR, Ottawa, 5pm (360, FSE)
Czech Republic 2–1 Panama, Montreal, 5pm (360)

Group F
Japan
Scotland
Nigeria
Costa Rica
July 1, 2007
Nigeria 1–0 Costa Rica, Victoria, 5:15pm (360, FSE delay)
Japan 3–1 Scotland, Victoria, 8pm (360)
July 4, 2007
Scotland 0–2 Nigeria, Victoria, 8pm (360)
Costa Rica 0–1 Japan, Victoria, 10:45pm (360, FSE)
July 7, 2007
Japan 0–0 Nigeria, Victoria, 8pm (360)
Scotland 1–2 Costa Rica, Burnaby, 8pm (360, FSE)

Round of 16
July 11
Austria (2A) 2-1 Gambia (2C), Edmonton, 7:45 p.m. - Game 37 (U)
USA (1D) 2-1. Uruguay (3B), Toronto, 7:45 p.m. - Game 38 (U, G)
Spain (1B) 4-2. Brazil (3D), Burnaby, 11:15 p.m. - Game 39 (U, G)
Japan (1F) (3)1-4(4). Czech Republic (2E), Victoria, 11:15 p.m. - Game 40 (U)

July 12
Argentina (1E) 3-1 Poland (2D), Toronto, 5:45 p.m. - Game 41 (U, G)
Mexico (1C) 3-0 Congo (3A), Montreal, 4:45 p.m. - Game 42 (U, G)
Chile (1A) 1-0 Portugal (3C), Edmonton, 6:45 p.m. - Game 43 (U)
Zambia (2B) 1-2 Nigeria (2F), Ottawa, 7:45 p.m. - Game 44 (U)

Quarterfinals
July 14
Austria 2-1 USA, Toronto, 2:15 p.m - Game 45 (U, T)
Spain (3)1-1(4) Czech Republic, Edmonton, 7:45 p.m. - Game 46 (U, G)

July 15
Chile 4-0 Nigeria, 2:15 p.m. - Game 47 (U, T)
Argentina 1-0. Mexico, Ottawa, Montreal, 7:45 p.m. - Game 48 (U)

Semifinals
July 18 Austria 0-2 Czech Republic, Edmonton, 7:45 p.m. - Game 49 (U, G)
July 19 Chile 0-3 Argentina, Toronto, 7:45 p.m. - Game 50 (U, G)


Third place match
July 22 Austria 0-1 Chile, Toronto, 12:15 p.m. (U, T)

Final
July 22 Czech Republic 1-2 Argentina, Toronto, 3:15 p.m. (ESPN2, T)

Day by Day
June 30, 2007
Korea Republic 1–1 United States, Montreal, 5pm (U, FSE delay)
Poland 1–0 Brazil, Montreal
Korea DPR 0–0 Panama, Ottawa
Argentina 0–0 Czech Republic, Ottawa, 7:15pm (U)
July 1, 2007
Canada – Chile, Toronto, 7:45pm (U, FSE delay)
Jordan 1–1 Zambia, Burnaby, 5:15pm (360)
Spain 2–2 Uruguay, Burnaby, 8pm (U, FSE)
Nigeria 1–0 Costa Rica, Victoria, 5:15pm (360, FSE delay)
Japan 3–1 Scotland, Victoria, 8pm (360)
July 2, 2007
Republic of Congo 1–1 Austria, Edmonton, 7:45pm (360, FSE)
Gambia 0–3 Mexico, Toronto, 2:15pm (360, G)
Portugal 2–0 New Zealand, Toronto, 5pm (360, FSE)
July 3, 2007
Brazil 3–2 Korea Republic, Montreal, 5pm (U, FSE)
United States 6–1 Poland, Montreal, 7:45pm (U, G)
Czech Republic 2–2 Korea DPR, Ottawa, 5pm (360)
Panama 0–6 Argentina, Ottawa, 7:45pm (360, FSE delay)
July 4, 2007
Uruguay 1–0 Jordan, Burnaby, 8pm (360)
Zambia 1–2 Spain, Burnaby, 9:45pm (360)
Scotland 0–2 Nigeria, Victoria, 8pm (360)
Costa Rica 0–1 Japan, Victoria, 10:45pm (360, FSE)
July 5, 2007
Chile 3–0 Republic of Congo, Edmonton, 7:45pm (360)
Austria 1–0 Canada, Edmonton, 10:30pm (360)
New Zealand 0–1 Gambia, Toronto, 5pm (360, FSE)
Mexico 2–1 Portugal, Toronto, 7:45pm (U, G)\
July 6, 2007
Poland 1–1 Korea Republic, Montreal, 7:45pm (360)
Brazil 1–2 United States, Ottawa, 7:45pm (U, G)
Argentina 1–0 Korea DPR, Ottawa, 5pm (360, FSE)
Czech Republic 2–1 Panama, Montreal, 5pm (360)
July 7, 2007
Spain 4–2 Jordan, Burnaby, 4:15pm (360)
Uruguay 0–2 Zambia, Victoria, 5:15pm (360)
Japan 0–0 Nigeria, Victoria, 8pm (360)
Scotland 1–2 Costa Rica, Burnaby, 8pm (360, FSE)
July 8, 2007
Canada 0–2 Republic of Congo, Edmonton, 8pm (360)
Chile 0–0 Austria, Toronto, 8pm (360)
Portugal 1–2 Gambia, Montreal, 5:15pm (360)
New Zealand 1–2 Mexico, Edmonton, 5:15pm (U, G)

US U20 World Cup roster named

United States Under-20 Men’s National Team head coach Thomas Rongen named his roster for the World Cup today. Eleven of the 21 players currently play with MLS sides while three others play overseas.

Michael Bradley, who has become a major part of the senior team during the Gold Cup, will return to the U20s for the tournament in Canada.

The team will arrive at training camp starting on Sunday in Somerset, NJ. The U20 World Cup takes place in Canada from June 30-July 22. The US will play South Korea on June 30, Poland on July 3rd and conclude group play on July 6 against Brazil.

Here is the roster:
GOALKEEPERS (3): Brian Perk (UCLA), Steve Sandbo (SMU), Chris Seitz (Real Salt Lake)

DEFENDERS (6): Tony Beltran (UCLA), Amaechi Igwe (New England Revolution), Ofori Sarkodie (Indiana University), Nathan Sturgis (Columbus Crew), Julian Valentin (Wake Forest), Tim Ward (Columbus Crew)

MIDFIELDERS (6): Freddy Adu (Real Salt Lake), Bryan Arguez (D.C. United), Michael Bradley (SC Heerenveen), Dax McCarty (F.C. Dallas), Danny Szetela (Columbus Crew), Anthony Wallace (F.C. Dallas)

FORWARDS (6): Andre Akpan (Harvard), Josmer Altidore (N.Y. Red Bulls), Gabriel Ferrari (Sampdoria), Robbie Rogers (Columbus Crew), Johann Smith (Bolton F.C.), Sal Zizzo (UCLA)