U.S. Men’s U-23 National Team v. El Salvador in Nashville, 3.26.12: Another Humbling Experience for U.S. Soccer

Last month in Dallas, the U.S. men’s under-23 national soccer team notched a promising 2-0 victory against Mexico in a tune-up match for the CONCACAF Olympic qualifying tournament. Then, in their first match of that tournament, the U.S. went out and trounced Cuba 6-0. After those two results, did anyone seriously doubt that the U-23s would qualify for this summer’s Olympics in London?

Now, less than a week after the Cuba game, the U.S. U-23s have been knocked out of qualifying play. They lost 2-0 to Canada on Saturday, and drew 3-3 with El Salvador last night, meaning that the U.S. failed even to advance from the group stage. That’s a dismal state of affairs for U.S. soccer fans, and it must be positively heartbreaking for the U.S. players and coaching staff.

Last night’s game against El Salvador was exciting, and there were some bright spots for the U.S. Terrence Boyd showed himself to be a finisher with an opening-minute volley of a Brek Shea cross to start the scoring. Boyd tied game in the second half with another clean strike after receiving a beautiful Freddie Adu through ball between three El Salvador defenders. U.S. captain Adu proved he was worthy of the armband against El Salvador, particularly in the second half, when for long stretches he was clearly the best player on the field, one capable of taking over a game. He not only set up Boyd’s second goal, but was instrumental in putting the U.S. ahead 3-2, if only for a while. After some good work in the box, Adu had the vision and skill to send a pinpoint cross to Joe Corona at the back post. Corona headed the ball past the El Salvador keeper and the near post for the go-ahead goal. At that point it looked like a sure thing that the U.S. would advance to the all-important semifinal match.

Unfortunately, the U.S. effort was not uniformly strong, and they looked particularly suspect at times in the back. U.S. defenders gave El Salvador attackers too much room to work with, particularly on the U.S.’s left side. On El Salvador’s second goal, which came just a minute or so after their first, the entire U.S. back line was walking around like people strolling the grounds of a retirement home on the first day of spring. If you think I’m exaggerating, go check out the highlights on CONCACAF’s website (the sequence starts at around the 50-second mark).

I know U.S. players must have been exhausted in the 95^th minute, when El Salvador finally equalized and broke the U.S. players’ hearts, but I still feel the U.S.’s effort on that final, crippling shot could have been better. The goal scorer, Jaime Alas, received the ball about fifty yards from the U.S. goal. Two El Salvador attackers made nice runs into the box to clear defenders away from the area, but Alas (who, it should be noted, had also played the entire game) too easily distanced himself from his marker. And the U.S. central defenders didn’t close quickly enough on Alas when it was clear he was going to take his long-distance, last-gasp shot. U.S. goalkeeper Sean Johnson—who’d come on in the first half for an injured Bill Hamid—didn’t make a great play on the ball, but the shot took a short hop in front of him, and no one should pin this loss on him.

Certainly, the U-23s can learn from this loss, in particular the importance of hustling on defense for an entire match, not just for long periods. It’s okay to take a few plays off if you’re a striker, and even occasionally as a midfielder, but you can never, ever relax as a defender. The game was also a grim reminder that the U.S. men’s national teams still haven’t significantly distanced themselves from mid-level CONCACAF competition. The senior team did play in last summer’s Gold Cup final, but their road to that final was hardly an easy one. They too almost didn’t make it out of the group stage, and in any case they were thoroughly schooled by Mexico in the final. 

Many experts have already penciled in Jurgen Klinsmann’s side to make it to the 2014 World Cup. For example, Taylor Twellman recently said in an interview with NJ.com, “[Klinsmann] will qualify for the World Cup. But we’re all wondering what will happen beyond that.” In the wake of the supposedly strong U-23 team’s failure to qualify for the 2012 Olympics, or even to make it to the semifinals of the CONCACAF qualifiers, we should be wary of making such statements. I for one sincerely hope that our men’s soccer program isn’t in for yet another humbling experience when the senior team attempts qualify for Brazil in 2014.

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.