U.S. Under 20 Men's Soccer Team Advances

At the Under 20 World Cup in Canada, the U.S. squade advanced to the quarterfinals with 2-1 overtime win against Uruguay. The win came in difficult match with lots of fouling occuring, a total of 57 according to the official scorer. After spending three quarters of the game in a scoreless draw, Uruguay scored on a rebound and put the United States into crisis mode. The hard work paid off with just a few minutes left in the game:

U.S. battled back and forced an own goal in the 88th minute to force extra time. On the goal, Adu flighted in another perfect corner kick that Danny Szetela possesed through some hard work, firing a shot from a tough angle in the six-yard box. Szetela put the ball in front of the goal and a sliding Mathias Cardaccio beat a streaking Andre Akpan to the ball, but played it into his own net. Had the defender not played the ball, Akpan would have easily tucked it away.

The stats show a much more lopsided game than you would have thought if you watched the match. The Uruguay side capitalized on the large number of fouls, creating dangerous chances on free kicks. But a little luck and the efforts of American goalkeeper Brian Perk kept the U.S. in the game. Perk, playing in his first appearance in the tournament, was named Man of the Match for his seven saves and stellar play. Perk is unlikely to replace regular goalkeeper Chris Seitz, but who cares, Perk came through when he had to and that is what goalkeepers are paid to do.

Michael Bradley, who played with the Men's Senior National Team in the CONCACAF Gold Cup, scored the game winner with about four minutes left in the overtime, saving the United States from having to face penalty kicks to win the match. In the other three round of 16 games, Austria beat Gambia 2-1 and Spain came from a 2-0 deficit to rally back to beat Brazil 3-2 in overtime. The Czech Republic defeated Japan in penalty kicks.

The U.S. will face a tough Austrian team on Saturday in Toronto. If the U.S. wins, it will be the fartest the U.S. team has advanced in the U-20 World Cup and they would face the winnder of Spain-Czech Republic match.