U.S. U-20s crash out of World Cup

It was a tale of two halves, as the U.S. under-20 squad lost to Austria 2-1 in the quarterfinals of the FIFA U-20 World Cup in Toronto. The U.S. played brilliantly to open the match, but never found that rhythm after an Austrian equalizer, and the young Yanks finished a nice tournament run with a real stinker.

The match started off promising for the U.S., as they outplayed the Austrians, showing flair and confidence on the ball. Freddy Adu orchestrated well in the first quarter of the match with feints, backheels and no-look passess, and set up the U.S.'s only goal of the contest with a superb cross that Jozy Altidore headed off the keeper and in at the near post in the 15th minute. It looked early like the U.S. might run away with the match.

But even in the first half there were warning signs that it might not be too easy for the U.S., as Austria managed to look dangerous on the few opportunities that they were given, particularily off corners. And right before halftime, Austria managed to level the score after U.S. goalkeeper Chris Seitz spilled a long shot in front of the on rushing Rubin Okotie, who picked his spot and fired home the equalizer. Seitz didn't look himself today and may have been still bothered by the foot injury that kept him out of the Round of 16 against Uruguay.

As the rain picked up in the second half, the U.S. looked to be made of sugar, as giveaways and poor passing began to happen more frequently. Around the 60-minute mark, the referee remembered that he had brought cards to the match and began handing them out with great frequency. Coach Thomas Rongen trying to enliven his squad (and possibly trying to save a possible ejection) substituted Danny Szetela for Dax McCarty in the 63rd minute. The poor play continued, however, and Austria nearly took the lead if not for a goal-line clearance by Nathan Sturgis.

There was plenty of blame to go around though, as the entire team looked dreadful in the second half with any spark of an attack extinguished by a poor pass or a heavy first touch. Midfielder Sal Zizzo had his worst game of the tournament and Michael Bradley was inconsistent at best. The defence managed to hold up in the second half, however, and forced extra time. Defender Anthony Wallace was one of the few bright spots for the U.S. before he was sent off in extra time.

In extra time, Adu summed up the day for the U.S., as he made a mess of a clear scoring opportunity by touching it too wide and then blasting the ball over the bar. In the 105th minute, it would be the Austrians, not the U.S. this time, who managed the extra-time heroics, as substitute Erwin Hoffer tapped a deflected freekick inside the post.

Scoring Summary:
USA – Josmer Altidore (Anthony Wallace) 15th minute
AUT – Rubin Okotie 43.
AUT – Erwin Hoffer 105.

Lineups:

USA: 1-Chris Seitz; 5-Nathan Sturgis, 14-Anthony Wallace, 16-Julian Valentin, 19-Tony Beltran (2-Tim Ward, 85); 6-Michael Bradley, 7-Danny Szetela (10-Dax McCarty, 63) 11-Freddy Adu (c); 15-Sal Zizzo (17-Gabe Ferrari, 106) 8-Robbie Rogers, 12-Josmer Altidore, 15-Tony Beltran

AUS: 21-Michael Zaglmair; 2-Thomas Panny, 4-Sebastian Proedle (c), 5-Markus Suttner, 15-Michael Madl; 6-Michael Stanislaw, 8-Veli Kavlak, 10-Zlatko Junuzovic (9-Erwin Hoffer, 103), 11-Peter Hackmair, 14-Bernhard Morgenhaler (7-Martin Harnik, 37); 19-Rubin Okotie (13-Thomas Pirker, 120+)

Patriot of the Pitch© : Anthony Wallace