US U-17 Men...What Happened...Still a Chance...
The US U-17 went into the 2007 World Cup as the team with a lot of potential. They have potentially great players. They could potentially make some noise in the knock out stages. They could potentially win the whole thing. It isn't just me saying this. Worldwide media and FIFA were saying it. FIFA went so far as to say the US is expected to dominate Group E. I don't know what has happened, either no one told the US or people told the opponents.
After the group draw I was telling myself there is no way the US won't advance against these smaller programs. Seriously, we played countries no bigger then many states in the US. Tajikistan is slightly smaller than Wisconsin and 7,076,598 residents. Tunisia is slightly larger than Georgia and has 10,276,158 residents. How do these countries come out and beat the US, population 301,139,947? Seriously...how?
These two teams must have had more heart, desire and luck. I can't explain it any other way.
The US next faces Belgium and there is still somehow a chance for the US to make it through to the next round. If the US beats Belgium by a large margin they can move into second if Tunisia beats Tajikistan. Tajikistan's +/- is zero while the US' is -3. So the US would need to win by three goals while Tajikistan loses by at least one. There are also two third place spots the US could qualify for. If the US wins and Korea DPR, Syria and France all lose or tie there should be a third place spot open for the young Americans.
It is hard to stomach that the US is looking at what if type scenarios but here we are. They should have come out and put away early chances to take control of the first two matches, but they didn't. That is what happens in these types of youth tournaments. Let's all cross our collective fingers that the US can crush Belgium with Tunisia also beating Tajikistan by a large margin. I don't want to count on the third place games.
After the group draw I was telling myself there is no way the US won't advance against these smaller programs. Seriously, we played countries no bigger then many states in the US. Tajikistan is slightly smaller than Wisconsin and 7,076,598 residents. Tunisia is slightly larger than Georgia and has 10,276,158 residents. How do these countries come out and beat the US, population 301,139,947? Seriously...how?
These two teams must have had more heart, desire and luck. I can't explain it any other way.
The US next faces Belgium and there is still somehow a chance for the US to make it through to the next round. If the US beats Belgium by a large margin they can move into second if Tunisia beats Tajikistan. Tajikistan's +/- is zero while the US' is -3. So the US would need to win by three goals while Tajikistan loses by at least one. There are also two third place spots the US could qualify for. If the US wins and Korea DPR, Syria and France all lose or tie there should be a third place spot open for the young Americans.
It is hard to stomach that the US is looking at what if type scenarios but here we are. They should have come out and put away early chances to take control of the first two matches, but they didn't. That is what happens in these types of youth tournaments. Let's all cross our collective fingers that the US can crush Belgium with Tunisia also beating Tajikistan by a large margin. I don't want to count on the third place games.
Labels: FIFA U-17 World Cup 2007, US Soccer, US U-17
posted by Bonji at
1:13 PM
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