U.S. Men’s U-23 National Team v. Cuba in Nashville, 3.23.12

This Olympic qualifying match between the under-23 U.S. men’s national team and Cuba didn’t tell us much about the U.S.’s U-23 program. Cuba is of course no soccer power, even by CONCACAF standards, and they had to play a man down starting in the 19^th minute, when Dairo Macias was given a straight red card for elbowing Juan Agudelo. The U.S. went on to rout Cuba 6-0, not unexpectedly. The ball was in Cuba’s end virtually the entire match, so the U.S. defense was scarcely tested and goalkeeper Bill Hamid probably didn’t need to wash his jersey after playing 90 minutes.

Still, it is a truism that really good sports teams don’t play down to the level of their competition, so we should give the U-23s a little credit for last night’s victory. They’ll have a stronger test tomorrow night when they face Canada, whose roster has six MLS players.

Judging by the stunningly low attendance at last night’s match (just over 4,000 people showed up at Nashville’s cavernous-looking LP Field), there isn’t much interest in the U-23s at the moment. It might be helpful, then, to provide some general information about the team, along with some observations about last night’s game.

General Information

·      The Under-23 U.S. men’s national team is attempting to qualify for the 2012 Summer Olympics, to be held in London. 16 men’s soccer teams from around the world will qualify, including two from CONCACAF, the U.S.’s region.

·      While qualifying, men’s teams may not have any overage players on their rosters. (There are no age restrictions on the women’s side.) Teams that do qualify will be allowed to include three overage players on their Olympic rosters. I’ve heard that Landon Donovan and Clint Dempsey have both expressed interest in playing for the U.S. Olympic team should it go to London. Click here for complete qualifying rules.

·      U-23 U.S. men’s team national coach Caleb Porter plays an attacking 4-3-3 formation. He emphasizes possession and working hard to win the ball back as soon it’s lost. Read an interview with Porter here.

·      The biggest names on the Olympic qualifying roster are Freddy Adu, who has been named captain of the team, Brek Shea, and Juan Agudelo.

·      Click here for U.S. Soccer’s U-23 men’s homepage.

Some observations about last night’s game against Cuba

·      The three big names mentioned above—Adu, Shea, and Agudelo—all performed superbly last night. Adu distributed well all night from the midfield, got the rout going with a free kick into the box that led to the first goal of the game, and scored the finest goal of the night when he received the ball with his back to the goal in the 62^nd minute and turned and laced a knuckling blast into the top corner from 25 yards out. Shea had an assist and was directly responsible for a Cuba own-goal, and Agudelo scored a goal in his 45 minutes of play.

·      San Diego native Joe Corona is not well known in this country, as he plays his club soccer for Tijuana in Mexico’s first division. Corona went some ways towards making a name for himself last night, though, scoring a hat trick against Cuba. Two of the goals weren’t especially pretty—he hit one shot off his shin and another shot was deflected. But his first goal was a beauty, as he settled a rebound using his chest and calmly volleyed a shot into the back of the net. While there wasn’t much defensive pressure, Corona looked composed all night.

·      I haven’t been able to find time-of-possession numbers, but the U.S. must have held the ball for at least 60% of the game. Coach Porter wants to keep the ball on the ground and maintain possession to create chances, so that’s a good sign. (Of course, the U.S. was playing with a man advantage most of the game.)

·      Speaking of possession, another relatively little-known U.S. player—Mix Diskerud—may have had the ball at his feet more than any other player. Diskerud was born in Norway and plays professionally there. He had an excellent game against Cuba that included two assists, both to Corona. Those two worked particularly well together on the last goal, exchanging four quick passes in and around the box before Corona’s shot. Diskerud’s first name cries out to be yoked to a Chris Berman-like nickname, but the best I could come up with was “Club” Mix. Oh, forgive me.