U.S. U-19 Men’s National Team wins Slovakia Cup

MYJAVA, Slovakia (Via U.S. Soccer) – The U.S. Under-19 Men’s National Team defeated Russia 2-1 to win the 2016 Slovakia Cup.

Russia got on the board first when Konstantin Kuchaev scored from a Fedor Chalov assist in the 14th minute. The U.S. was quick to counter, equalizing just seconds later when Nelson Hunsinger scored with help from Brandon Vazquez. The first half ended in a 1-1 tie.

In the second half Pierre Da Silva tallied the game-winning goal with Vazquez earning his second assist in the 65th minute.

This was the first tournament title for the U-19 program and head coach Brad Friedel since the program was installed by U.S. Soccer in 2015. It was a major turn-around for the team after its first tournament this year in Las Palmas. Only five players were on both tournament rosters.

+Read: U.S. Soccer Development Academy East Conference Recap: Week 22

-U.S. Under-19 Men’s National Team Match Report-

Match: U.S. Under-19 Men’s National Team vs. Russia
Date: April 29, 2016
Competition: Slovakia Cup 2016
Venue: Spartak Myjava Stadium – Myjava, Slovakia
Kickoff: 3 p.m. ET (9 a.m. local)
Attendance: 340
Weather: 62 degrees; Clear

Scoring Summary:   1      2      F
USA                               1      1      2
RUS                                1      0      1

RUS – Konstantin Kuchaev (Fedor Chalov)            14th minute
USA – Nelson Hunsinger (Brandon Vazquez)       15
USA – Pierre Da Silva (Brandon Vazquez)              65

Lineups:
USA: 1-Will Pulisic; 2-Marlon Fossey, 5-Hector Montalvo , 4-Danny Barbir, 3-Hugo Arellano; 10-Luca De La Torre, 9-Weston McKennie (capt.); 17-Pierre Da Silva (20-Colby Agu, 79), 23-Nelson Hunsinger (19-Joe Gallardo, 51), 11-Ernesto Espinoza (7-Isaiah Young, 40); 8-Brandon Vazquez
Substitutions Not Used: 12-Ben Hale, 14-Sebastien Des Pres, 16-Ander Egiluz, 21-Nabilai Kibunguchy
Not Dressed: 6-Eric Calvillo, 15-Alexis Velala, 22-Benny Diaz
Head coach: Brad Friedel

RUS: 12-Alexandr Maksimenko; 15-Semen Matviichuk, 5-Alexey Tataev, 4-Nikita Kalugin, 11-Alexandr Lomovitskiy; 6-Ivan Galanin (13-Dmitrii Kamenshchikov, 48), 8-Georgy Makhatadze (capt.), 10-Ivan Obliakov; 14-Ilia Viznovich, 9-Fedor Chalov, 17-Konstantin Kuchaev (18-Stanislav Krapukhin, 70)
Substitutions Not Used: 1-Denis Adamov, 3-Sergey Bugriev, 7-Dmitrii Pletnev, 16-Anatoly Anisimov
Not Dressed: 2-Danil Krugovoi
Head coach: Galaktionov Mikhail

Stats Summary: USA / RUS
Shots: 7 / 8
Shots on Goal: 5 / 4
Saves: 3 / 3
Corner Kicks: 4 / 2
Fouls: 9 / 20
Offside: 5 / 2

Misconduct Summary:
RUS– Nikita Kalugin (caution)                     36th minute
RUS – Ivan Galanin (caution)                       46
USA – Weston McKennie (caution)          67
RUS – Alexey Tataev (caution)                   69
USA – Brandon Vazquez (caution)            80+4

Officials:
Referee: Jan Machalek (Czech Republic)
Assistant Referee 1: Jan Pozar (Slovakia)
Assistant Referee 2: F. Ferenc (Slovakia)
Fourth Official: Stojchevski Darko (Macedonia)

Man of the Match: Pierre Da Silva