OT: U-23 Men Complete US Soccer Leap Day Sweep
The USM U-23 soccer team beat Mexico 2-0, completing a US Soccer sweep - all shutouts! - on Leap Day.
Juan Agudelo made a near post run and scored on a header in the 35'. (I hope these videos embed properly - for some reason I haven't always had success in an OP.)
Edit: Rats! I can see the iframes, but no vids show up - I'll post below.
In the 36' Mix Diskerud deflected Freddy Adu's shot into the lower right corner. He's just entering the top of the box in the clip.
I wondered how the hell the goalie didn't have such a long shot dead to rights - could he really have not had the short side covered? - but the deflection gives him way less time to react.
Game was moved from Univision to Telefutura, which I don't get. Grr.
USMNT 1, Italy 0 - Dempsey's goal.
Postgame reactions.
USWNT 5, Denmark 0 - highlights
Juan Agudelo's goal
Mix Diskerud's goal
Clint Demsey's goal vs Italy
USMNT reactions.
USWNT vs Denmark highlights
Really good to see Hope Solo come out and make that play after her injury.
Really good to see Hope Solo.
Also Alex Morgan. Too bad Allie Krieger is injured.
I'm really happy to see the progress that Mixx has made. He will be a freat addition to our senior team.
Any word on how Josh Gatt looked?
I don't see Josh Gatt in the lineup (at the bottom of this article), nor on the training camp roster (at the bottom of this article).
Found this Fox Soccer Exclusive article (worth a read) which says he has an ankle injury.
Because their coach--Ole Gunnar Skolsjaer--wanted to conduct his preseason uninterrupted by international stuff. Gatt's fellow American Sean Cunningham couldn't attend u-20 camp for the same reason.
Too bad for Gatt, but I'm sure he can contribute--hopefully for qualifying.
The Italy game really surprised me. I know they didn't dress their full squad, but we somehow managed to keep them off the scoreboard. They really controlled the second half and I think we had some luck on our side.
Our MF depth was bad for this game especially in the center. Torres and Jones got injured prior to the game and Donovan was sick.
The one thing about JK that makes me happy is no more Bornstein. With the inclusion of players like Chandler, Williams and Johnson we should no longer see JB on our roster.
Mix Diskerud is the future of US Soccer
Mix Dirkerud? Whoa.
His real name is Mikkel and is Norwegian born with dual citizenship. He has the vision and creativity we need at MF for the future.
along with Shea. Those 2 need the ball on their feet, threading the ball across the field to our strikers. We should medal in the Olympics this year.
You could tell that Shea still needs a bit more time around the senior team guys, but you could also tell that he is the kind of player that we need once Donovan and Dempsey are gone.
He seems tentative at times right now, but I think that will change as he gets used to how JK wants him to play. There is nobody else on this roster other than Donovan or Dempsey that will put fear in the defense when they run at them.
Im not 100% sold on Shea... he doesn't seem to have that killer mentality to take it on his own when he needs to.
I think guys like Josh Gatt and Joe Corona have higher ceilings and may pass Shea on the depth chart by 2014
I'm just hoping that comes with time as he begins to get more comfortable. Brek is a giant and hopefully he learns how to use his size and speed to his advantage.
You are right about Gatt. He does have that killer instinct to run at the opposition. I even enjoy play as Molde in FIFA so I can play him.
Shea, I think, is still learning how to play with a bunch of other really good offensive players. Last year he was The Man on offense for FC Dallas because of David Ferreira's season-ending injury; that tended to simplify things for him ("When's the right time to go at someone? ALL THE TIME."). Whereas for the USMNT he has to figure out how to balance his game with other excellent offensive players.
I don't think Gatt will displace Shea--they play on different sides of the field, generally. Corona might do it, or Joe Gyau.
yeah, you are right about the different sides of the field thing... though Klinsman has shown he is willing to play right footers on the left...
I don't think Shea is hindered by being the best player on Dallas, I think he is hindered by playing against MLS defenses, where mistakes are forgiven. Id like to see Shea get to Europe ASAP to start playing against elite defenses.
is clearly a very good coach. Getting the team to play together that well after two camps is highly impressive--their commitment to pressing his also highly impressive. It's clear despite whatever worries people had over a college coach being able to get through to professionals, Porter can communicate his message and execute it well to whomever.
Olympics are probably his extended audition tape for, oh, well, whatever MLS job he wants. Then USMNT. I'm sure that's what he's aiming for.
Our U23s were awesome in that game. How often do you see the US dominating possession against Mexico. Playing high-paced in a 4-3-3. Love it. Caleb Porter is the man.