Tab Ramos’ under-20 males’s nationwide workforce will face Ecuador, Senegal, and Saudi Arabia within the group phases of thhis summer season’s U-20 World Cup in South Korea. Brian Sciaretta shares the necessities beneath.
BY
Brian Sciaretta
Posted
March 16, 2017
5:05 PM
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THE UNITED STATES UNDER-20 males’s nationwide workforce was drawn into Group F for the 2017 World Cup in South Korea and can face Ecuador, Senegal, and Saudi Arabia within the group stage. It’s a difficult draw however nonetheless manageable and the U.S. wil be anticipated to advance.
The match will likely be Tab Ramos’ third as head coach of the U.S. U-20s. It’s all the time troublesome to foretell how sturdy groups are at this stage however the first response is that the draw is tougher than what he had in 2015 when the U.S. workforce was positioned into a gaggle with Myanmar, hosts New Zealand, and the Ukraine. However, it must be nowhere close to as laborious because the nightmare draw it had in 2013 when it confronted Spain, France, and Ghana.
Listed below are my ideas on the newest developments.
The Schedule
The U.S. will play its hardest video games, towards Ecuador and Senegal, first. In contrast to the senior World Cup, by which solely the highest two from each group advance, 4 third-place groups progress as properly. A win in one of many first two video games ought to bode properly for development.
One hallmark from the U.S. U-20 groups beneath Ramos is that they have an inclination to thrive on momentum and enhance as tournaments progress. A win in one of many first two video games ought to deliver a robust risk of advancing.
U.S. vs. Ecuador: Might 22, 4am ET, Incheon Stadium
U.S. vs. Senegal: Might 25, 7am ET, Incheon Stadium
U.S. vs. Saudi Arabia: Might 28, 5am ET, Daejeon World Cup Stadium
Erik Palmer-Brown
Meet the Opponents
The three opponents within the group all completed second of their respective areas throughout their qualifying campaigns. These three groups all have the aptitude of beating america.
Ecuador: Ecuador superior to the ultimate of the U-20 qualifying match, defeating Colombia, routing Argentina, and drawing Brazil. In a round-robin match, Ecuador completed second to an undefeated Uruguay.
However Ecuador had the benefit of internet hosting South America’s qualifying match and it performed its video games at a median altitude of two,500 meters. That is a bonus it is not going to have in South Korea.
Ecuador is robust within the assault. Its 11 objectives within the qualifying match had been probably the most of all of the taking part groups. Atalanta’s Bryan Cabezas tied for the match’s scoring title with 4 objectives and Granada’s Pervis Estupinan was shut behind with three objectives. Universidad Catolica’s Jordy Caicedo additionally scored twice.
Ecuador’s backline conceded eight objectives in 5 video games.
Senegal: Senegal’s U-20 workforce has been doing properly for the final a number of years and has completed runners-up in Africa twice in a row. On Sunday, it misplaced the U-20 African Cup of Nations last to Zambia 2-0 after defeating Guinea 1-0 within the semifinal.
It superior to the semifinal after ending atop Group B which included South Africa, Cameroon, and Sudan. Its greatest efforts got here in a convincing 2-0 win over Cameroon and a 4-3 win over South Africa the place Senegal trailed 2-0 at halftime.
For its performances within the match, Senegal had 4 gamers named to the 2017 U-20 Cup of Nations Finest XI: Defenders Ousseynou Diagne and Mamadou Mbaye together with midfielders Krepin Diatta and Ibrahima Niane.
Saudi Arabia: In October, Saudi Arabia certified for this match by advancing to the finals of the Asian U-19 championship. It barely superior out of its group, ending second behind Bahrain and forward of South Korea and Thailand. Within the knockout phases it defeated Iraq on penalties after a 2-2 impasse. Then within the semifinal it acquired previous Iran in a wild 6-5 win. Saudia Arabia then misplaced to Japan within the last—a match that was determined in a shootout after a scoreless draw.
Saudi Arabia proved itself on this match to be unpredictable and scrappy. It had a nasty loss within the group phases—to Bahrain—however then discovered a solution to advance. It might both win in a high-scoring recreation, prefer it did Iran, or it may well play Japan in a decent low-scoring recreation.
Backside Line: The U.S. ought to advance
The US gained the CONCACAF Championship however outcomes do not lie: Ramos’ facet is a promising however inconsistent workforce susceptible to poor performances, as seen within the opening loss to Panama.
The US has excellent defensive capabilities in each the midfield and the backline though, an harm to Justen Glad may have an effect on that. If this group can play to the extent it displayed towards Mexico in qualifying, then will probably be very laborious on opponents like Saudi Arabia and Ecuador, as each of which superior by advantage of offensive manufacturing. If the U.S. workforce’s protection just isn’t as sharp or its goalkeeping is subpar, the workforce could be in bother.
The U.S. might want to enhance its offense. Poor ending and passing within the last third will likely be an enormous cap on how far the workforce can advance.
This workforce is sweet however will arrive in South Korea with some areas of concern. It ought to advance however the margin between success and failure could be very skinny.
CONCACAF awaits?
The draw was favorable to all 4 CONCACAF groups and it could not be shocking to see america, Mexico, Honduras, and Costa Rica advance to the spherical of 16.
Right here is your complete 2017 U-20 World Cup draw. Manageable draw for all 4 CONCACAF groups pic.twitter.com/7GULH7ssQC
— Brian Sciaretta (@BrianSciaretta) March 15, 2017
The US is the CONCACAF U-20 Champion however it won’t be finished with CONCACAF but. Ought to the U.S. win Group F, it could face the runner up of Group E within the Spherical of 16 and that might very properly be Honduras. If the U.S. workforce finishes second in Group F, it could face the second-place workforce in Group B and that might be Mexico.
A 3rd-place end by america opens up completely different situations however the odds of going through off towards a well-known CONCACAF foe is excessive.
