Favorite U20 team?

Bear with me and my circular logic - today Benny Feilhaber signed with MLS. I first covered Benny as a player when he was a surprise pick for Sigi Schmid's USA U20 team, back in 2005. Sigi was between MLS coaching gigs at the time, and his kid, Kurt, had told him to check out this UCLA player that had kind of flown under the radar.

That was Benny, and he turned out to be a great fit for the U20 squad, weaving around opponents with his curly mop of dark hair making him easy to spot. He was a fun interview, too, open and funny. I asked him about signing with MLS back then, and he seemed excited about the idea, but I think his head was later turned by the European option. Anyway, he's finally back in MLS now.

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However, that got me thinking about how the 2005 squad was one of my favorite U20 teams, probably because I did a lot of articles and features on them at the time. I happened to ask US Soccer federation head Sunil Gulati the same question. Here's his response, exclusive to Sideline Views because I couldn't really figure out how to fit it into any other article.

The team in Canada was quite good and a little unlucky not to make it farther than the quarterfinals. Fredy, Jozy, Michael Bradley - it was a good squad. The 89 team was a bit unusual in that they advanced after having been eliminated. Mexico had some problems with ineligible players, so we went instead. They got to the semifinals. That team had Kasey Keller, Chris Henderson, Mike Burns, players that would go on to feature in the World Cup. Those two were very strong teams. I also remember well the team that played in the UAE, and lost to Argentina late in extra time in the quarterfinals. Perhaps not surprisingly, the teams I remember as being the strongest are the teams that went the farthest in the tournament.

What about your favorite U20 squad? Tell us about it.

The Junior Clasico

A Texas tussle between Mexico and the U.S. saw as many red cards as goals.
The U.S. wins in traditional style, a set piece goal to break things open, then taking their chances as Mexico unravels while chasing the game.

Junior Clasico

The U-20 U.S. team takes on Mexico in Texas on the 11th. Jorge Flores is going to be part of that clasico, and apparently not the LA derby one. Fifteen other players were also named to coach Thomas Rongen's roster.


GOALKEEPERS (2): Josh Lambo (FC Dallas), Brian Perk (UCLA)
DEFENDERS (4): Richard Balchan (Indiana), Ike Opara (Wake Forest), Zarek Valentin (Lancaster, Pa.), Sheanon Williams (North Carolina)
MIDFIELDERS (7): Jose Altamirano (San Diego, Calif.), Jorge Flores (Chivas USA), Frank Lara (Laredo, Texas), Brandon Manzonelli (New England Revolution), Amobi Okugo (Sacramento, Calif.), Brek Shea (FC Dallas), Anthony Wallace (FC Dallas)
FORWARDS (3): Eder Arreola (UCLA), Felix Garcia (Laredo, Texas), Peri Marosevic (Michigan)

Dreamin' on

When Jorge Flores was selected as the Sueno MLS winner, I didn't pay much attention. I thought that tryout was a gimmicky at best and Jorge Flores or whoever else won wouldn't be much of anything.

After signing a developmental contract and even playing for the club, I figured it was more because of his work ethic than his talents that he landed both.

But now, Flores will take the next step toward becoming even more of a success story. Flores will be called into the US Under-20 squad, a source told me.

Now, the US might be trying to cast as wide a net as possible and calling up as many players as possible so as not to leave any stone unturned. But not every MLS-based teenager gets a call to the U.S. U-20s. So Flores has caught someone's eye.

Whether or not he sticks around is up to him now. He's got to put forth the same effort that got him to stick around at Chivas. But at least he's got the chance.

Another Bruin to Germany

Much like former UCLA standout Benny Feilhaber did in 2005, UCLA star Sal Zizzo turned his Under-20 experience into a Bundesliga contract.

Zizzo signed a three-year deal with German side Hannover 96 after his strong performance for the United States in the Under-20 World Cup. Feilhaber had a similar fate after starring in the 2005 edition when he joined Hamburg following the tournament instead of rejoining UCLA.

Zizzo was impressive for the US and one of the unheralded stars. While Jozy Altidore and Freddy Adu grabbed the headlines before the tournament, Zizzo didn't even fall into the "known commodity" category such as Michael Bradley, Danny Szetela and Nathan Sturgis because he was a college player.

Clearly the best path for him to take at this time was Germany. Had he stayed in school, he might have been taken high in next year's MLS draft but this was too good a deal to pass up. Consider this: his previous team's next friendly is slated for Aug. 24 at North Carolina State; his current team's next friendly is on July 31 against Real Madrid.

Now, Feilhaber has blossomed into one of the USMNT's key players for this World Cup cycle, and he has come along without the benefit of playing for Hamburg's first team. It's unfair in a way that Zizzo will have that sort of bar set for him but in many ways those sorts of expectations are likely to be placed on him, fair or not.

From what I've seen, he's a fine player and will do well to harness some of his energy and bulk up a little. And now the rabid followers of Americans abroad will have another player to keep tabs on.

Don't cry Argentina

Argentina won, so they don't have a reason to weep.

U20s versus Argentina

Here's the scoop on Argentina - the squad doesn't include Lionel Messi. No one should have thought it would, but you'd be surprised at the amount of times I've covered the US national team and some passersby will stop at the fence, look over the field and ask me, standing nearby, "Which one is Freddy Adu?"

What's even worse is when fans would spot DaMarcus Beasley or Eddie Johnson, decide that had to be Freddy and yell "Adu! Adu!"

They've done it for different age levels, too. When I covered the U17 World Cup in Peru, people would see Ofori Sarkodie and start chanting, "Freddy! Freddy!

Well, for once the Freddy fans are going to be right - Freddy is the captain of the U20s, and he will lead them out versus Argentina, today. Messi or no Messi, it will still be a tough match.

U.S. versus Argentina

Tomorrow the U20 team takes on its Argentine equivalent. Good test for the U.S. young ones, who looked pretty darn sharp against Haiti's men's team in their last outing.

Nate Sturgis mentioned that the slow start the Galaxy have had this season weighs on him a bit, but he puts that behind him when he's on national team duty.

"It's definitely frustrating, with the way the game ended up. We need wins for the Galaxy. But I'm focused on the U20's now. When this game is over, I'll go back with the Galaxy and start focusing on that. But I can't really be thinking about past results."

Prediction Pitiful

Well, was I ever wrong in my calls for last night. For those who listened to our podcast preview, I prophesied 3-1 for U.S./Guatemala. The game I imagined would have been much more exciting, but the reality was a scoreless semi-stinker.

For Mexico/Ecuador, I predicted Ecuador would bounce back with a surprise win versus El Tri. I didn't mention numbers, but I had in mind 2-1.

Well, I had a few minutes to gloat while Ecuador held that scoreline, but then Mexico roared back, 4-2.

Luis at least got one win right, as he guessed 2-0 for both matches.

As I was watching the U.S. U20 team beat Haiti, I was thinking that it wasn't a great game, but it had some nice moments. It turned out to be the U.S. highlight of the night.

Haiti-U20 Creeping Blog

Nice recovery from the U20's for the victory over a full senior team, albeit from a small country.

Post-game player interview - Ferrari blamed himself for Haiti's goal, since his possession loss led to breakaway, so he was looking to redeem himself twice over.

Post-game interview - Coach Rongen is happy with final result, but not that team suffered defensive letdown and missed chances. He cites fighting character of team, aggression late in game as positives. He also notes backline did well considering absence of Sturgis and other previous U20 starters on defense.

Final- U.S. 2-1 Haiti
Stoppage - Ferrari makes up for his earlier miss! He finishes off a ball headed across the goal by McCarty.

83 - As soon as I post that, Szetela is subbed off for Jalil Anibaba

79 - U.S.' control of the match has come to nothing except what might have been. On the plus side Danny Szetela has had a pretty nice game.

77 - the U.S. has got to be ruing their missed chances, especially since a header by Haiti just goes off the crossbar.

76 - Dax McCarty (my fave name on the squad) is in for the U20's

75 - Goal Haiti 1-1 USA
Haiti equalizes! Sub Epheine on a breakaway - Sarkodie burned on that a bit - and he didn't seem to understand which side Seitz wanted him to try to cover when Seitz came out and Sarkodie was trying to recover.

74 - Blake Wagner in for RR

73 -Haiti on the attack - a whiff in the box does the U.S. a favor.

72 - Spoke too soon, some shaky play right now as Tony Beltran is on the sidelines waiting to sub in. Beltran goes in for Altidore.

70 - The U.S. backline has pushed up much farther and is passing better, setting up opportunities for their players. Much better.

68 - Adu lines up corner - Haiti is making a sub (U.S. hasn't subbed yet). Keeper catches.

66 Now it's Ferrari's turn to miss from point-blank range. A sweet dribble by Zizzo beats the defense, and the cross finds Ferrari in front of an open goal. Somehow he skies it - well, it was a little tricky as it was served slightly behind him.


63rd - good ball movement right now from U.S., lots of switched and nice possession

58 - game opening up, U.S. earns two FK's looking to another goal, Haiti coming in hard on the counter

55th Goal Freddy! US 1-0 Haiti
Igwe nice pass to Freddy Adu, who dribbles two defenders to get into the box, dances there with the ball, almost teasing the Haiti players, gets fouled. It's not a dirty foul, but pretty clear, especially when Adu sprawls out spectacularly. Freddy buries the PK - no nightmare of the Holland misses from two years ago.

Half thoughts - not just Rogers, but the entire team has to have a bad memory about his miss. Real teamwork set up the chance, and they'll have to do that again to get on the board here. I'd like to see Quavas Kirk come in, as he adds some offensive punch to the backline.

45+ Haiti's Marceline gets a yellow. Impoverished Caribbean country or not, Haiti's men do not want to lose to a U.S. youth team. They're playing very physically and the referee has warned them already.

44th At the risk of being accused of having a Galaxy bias, I can really see now how much Sturgis sets up and creates for this team. It's not that the backline is bad, but except for Ward, there's not much offensive help from them.

40th The U.S. doesn't look like they have much in the way of ideas. Wallace is a good sized physical defender, but his passes are off by a fairly large margin.

35 Chris Seitz comes out to tackle ball away from breaking Haiti player. He saved a likely goal. I think he'll start for Real Salt Lake this season.

33 First Haiti corner leads to clearance off the line. U.S. didn't defend well there, poor marking.

28 Adu pass sets up U.S. break, ref doesn't call advantage on foul on RR.

22nd - just realized Fabrice Noel is playing in this game for Haiti. Former Colorado Rapids player - sad story about brothers getting killed in the conflict in Haiti.

Ward is looking good for the U.S.

Rogers missed a sitter.

US lineup

Chris Seitz, Anthony Wallace, Amaechi Igwe, Ofori Sarkodie, Tim Ward, Freddy Adu, Danny Szetela, Robbie Rogers, Sal Zizzo, Josmer Altidore, Gabe Ferrari

The U.S. team already misses Nathan Sturgis. Ofori Sarkodie gives up FK outside box.. Seitz covers it well as it goes over bar.

U20's versus Haiti

LIVE!

I was thinking of doing a running blog, but I'm behind on a bunch of work, so it will probably be more of a walking, maybe a crawling blog.

Players I'm excited to see in this match: Jozy Altidore, Robbie Rogers, and Gabe Ferrari.

This guy named Freddy Adu is also playing.

My pick to surprise people is Sal Zizzo. He's not really big or fast, but he can be tricky on the ball.

Story is off

As opposed to story is up. I sent my article to Top Drawer Soccer, which comissioned this latest assignment. Editor Rob Zeigler should have it up before too long.

Read it if you've been wondering what Bob Bradley's chances are to become the permanent coach instead of just the interim. Or if you're wondering when the final decision will be made. Or if you're curious about what the US Soccer federation president thinks of the U.S. men's team and their recent results.

If my story isn't up yet - check out Rob's article on one Gabe Ferrari. Good stuff.

Hot stove news

The U.S. U20 squad will be playing Haiti in the opening match before the U.S. Guatemala match on Wednesday. The game will be webcast on the US Soccer site.

It's pretty sad that I'm looking forward more to Neil Buethe of Studio90 calling the U20 game than I am to hearing Dave O'Brien wander off topic on the senior match. Thank goodness there's the Spanish broadcast for that one.