CONCACAF U-20 Championship: U.S. Men fall to Mexico 3-1 in OT thriller
Despite an impressive effort, an under-strength U.S. Under-20 Men’s National Team fell 3-1 to Mexico in overtime of the 2013 CONCACAF U-20 Championship final Sunday evening in front of a sold-out crowd at Estadio Cuauhtémoc in Puebla, Mexico.
Tab Ramos’ young team fell behind early, but rebounded with a first-half penalty kick dispatched by midfielder Benji Joya to finish regulation tied 1-1. In overtime, the hosts pulled away with two goals, including a spectacular overhead kick for the game-winner by Julio Gomez, to earn the championship.
The U.S. was led by great displays from stand-in captain Joya and his midfield partner Wil Trapp, as well as an impressive performance from goalkeeper Cody Cropper. The U.S. was the only team to score against Mexico and finished the tournament with a 4-1-0 record. After the match, Trapp, Jose Villarreal and Luis Gil were named to the all-tournament team.
The U.S. now looks forward to the 2013 FIFA U-20 World Cup, which runs June 21-July 13 in Turkey. The USA’s best performance in that event was a fourth-place showing in the seventh FIFA World Youth Championship in 1989 in Saudi Arabia. The U.S. now stand 1-8-0 all-time against Mexico in CONCACAF Youth Tournaments and Championships.
With the U-20’s initial goal of World Cup qualification achieved, key players Caleb Stanko, Luis Gil and Jerome Kiesewetter returned to their clubs and were unavailable for the showpiece final between CONCACAF’s biggest rivals. Daniel Cuevas was unfit to make Ramos’ starting 11 but Jose Villarreal was healthy enough to return to the lineup after missing out on the semifinal victory against Cuba.
The opening exchanges of the final were fast and furious, with the U.S. earning the first major chance. Villarreal did well to get to the endline in the fourth minute before clipping the ball to the far post. Mexico goalkeeper Richard Sanchez — who plays for MLS side FC Dallas at club level — punched weakly and the ball fell invitingly for Mario Rodriguez near the penalty spot, but the U.S. forward skied his shot.
Moments later Mexico grabbed the lead, with Jesus Corona opening the scoring for the home side. Corona got on the end of a long ball and rode successive challenges from Javan Torre and Dillon Serna before lifting the ball deftly over Cropper from 11 yards out.
The home crowd at Estadio Cuauhtémoc was delighted with the fast start for the hosts, and Mexico could have been two up were it not for Cropper. The U.S. goalkeeper dived superbly to his right to push out Corona’s curling effort from 18 yards in the seventh minute.
Cropper’s intervention was crucial and within minutes the USA equalized after earning a penalty kick when Hedgardo Marin handled Joya’s shot from the top of the penalty area. Joya stepped up and did the business himself, coolly slotting home the penalty kick to Sanchez’ right to bring the U.S. level in the 10 th minute. It was Joya’s first goal of the competition.
The teams continued to trade attacking chances in the first half, with Corona ballooning a shot over the U.S. goal from 10 yards. At the other end, Torre got his head to a Joya corner kick, but Sanchez sprung to his left to expertly turn the ball around the post.
After 28 minutes Cropper was called upon again to make a big stop. Uvaldo Luna provided an inviting cutback for Marco Bueno, who took a touch before rifling a ball toward goal. Cropper got his positioning spot on and confidently pushed away the powerful shot.
If the teams were tired from five games in 10 days it wasn’t showing and both teams answered the bell with vigor in the second half, with Cropper and Sanchez one-upping each other between the pipes.
Rodriguez was played over the top in the 48th minute but Sanchez was off his line early to dive at the attacker’s feet and push the ball to safety. At the other end Van Rankin struck a full volley from a corner but Cropper dove to his right to smother the shot without a rebound.
The USA had another penalty claim in the 60th minute after playing a nifty free kick near the top of the penalty area. Joya passed it forward, where Villarreal laid it off for Rodriguez who had streaked into the area. After getting a touch on the ball in traffic, he went down under pressure from Francisco Flores but the referee did not call for a penalty.
Later, Cropper stood strong on a shot from Mexico’s Jesus Escoboza. The winger got into the area before rifling a left-footed shot that caromed off Cropper’s chest and bounced clear.
Joya was the architect of the USA’s best chance of the second half, bending a delightful 40-yard cross onto the head of Rodriguez. The header was textbook stuff, down and difficult to stop but Sanchez was somehow able to stick out a leg and turn the ball over the crossbar to keep the scores level.
Mexico finished the 90 minutes with two clear chances. First, Marco Bueno headed over from close range and then Gomez nodded wide after a dangerous free kick from Flores.
Ramos’ depleted squad had given their all but in extra time the hosts pulled away. Gomez, whose acrobatic finish proved to be the winner, met Espericueta’s corner in the 99th minute to send the home crowd into raptures.
Running on fumes, the U-20s were reduced to 10 men after Shane O’Neill’s late red card for a clumsy challenge. Shortly thereafter Espericueta put the result out of reach, converting a penalty kick after Juan Pablo Ocegueda impeded Corona in the area.
-U.S. Under-20 Men’s National Team Match Report-
Match: U.S. Under-20 Men’s National Team vs. Mexico
Date: March 3, 2013
Competition: 2013 CONCACAF U-20 Championship – Final
Venue: Estadio Cuauhtémoc; Puebla, Mexico
Kickoff: 7 p.m. ET
Attendance: —
Weather: 66 degrees, partly cloudy
Scoring Summary: 1 2 OT1 OT2 F
USA
MEX
MEX – Jesus Corona (Marco Bueno) 4th minute
USA – Benji Joya (penalty kick) 10
MEX – Julio Gomez (Jorge Espericueta) 99
MEX – Jorge Espericueta (penalty kick) 113
Lineups:
USA: 1-Cody Cropper; 16-Dillon Serna, 5-Shane O’Neill, 14-Javan Torre (19-Brandon Allen, 107), 3-Juan Pablo Ocegueda; 15-Mikey Lopez, 6-Wil Trapp; 9-Mario Rodriguez, 8-Benji Joya (capt.), 17-Danny Garcia; 7-Jose Villarreal
Substitutions Not Used: 2-Boyd Okwuonu, 12-Kendall McIntosh, 20-Daniel Cuevas, 22-Zack Steffen
Head coach: Tab Ramos
MEX: 1-Richard Sanchez; 2-Francisco Flores, 3-Hedgardo Marin (14-Abel Fuentes, 59), 4-Antonio Briseño (capt.), 5-Bernardo Hernandez, 6-Armando Zamorano (7-Jorge Espericueta, 46), 9-Marco Bueno, 10-Jesus Corona, 15-Jose Van Rankin, 18-Uvaldo Luna (8-Julio Gomez, 75), 20-Jesus Escoboza
Substitutions Not Used: 11-Emmanuel Hernandez, 12-Manuel Lajud, 13-Jose Abella, 16-Carlos Treviño, 17-Carlos Fierro, 19-Luis Madrigal
Head coach: Sergio Almaguer
Stats Summary: USA / MEX
Shots: 14 / 22
Shots on Goal: 5 / 11
Saves: 8 / 3
Corner Kicks: 8 / 12
Fouls: 18 / 19
Offside: 1 / 1
Misconduct Summary:
MEX – Hedgardo Marin (caution) 10th minute
MEX – Antonio Briseño (caution) 31
USA – Mikey Lopez (caution) 42
USA – Danny Garcia (caution) 61
USA – Shane O’Neill (sent off) 112
Officials:
Referee: Enrico Wijgaarden (SUR)
Assistant Referee 1: Graeme Browne (SKN)
Assistant Referee 2: Warner Castro (CRC)
Fourth Official: Hugo Cruz (CRC)
U-20 MNT Man of the Match: Wil Trapp
