5 Thoughts from the US U-20’s Overtime Loss to Mexico in the CONCACAF Final

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at Internationaled.org

Published: March 4, 2013

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In the CONCACAF U-20 Championship final Sunday night in Puebla, Mexico, Mexico took advantage of two goals in extra time to take down the United States 3-1.

The win gave Mexico their 12th U-20 CONCACAF championship and continued their dominance at the youth levels throughout the world.

Here are five thoughts from the game:

 

There are plenty of positives to take forward for the U.S.

While U.S. players, coaches and fans must certainly be bitterly disappointed at the final result, there are many positives to take from the game and the U-20 tournament.

First, and most importantly, the U.S. squad qualified for the U-20 World Cup in Turkey this summer.

Second, the U.S. pushed Mexico to the brink, despite several disadvantages. The U.S. was missing several of its European-based players, it played the game in Mexico, there were at least two, clear missed penalty calls, and two of the U.S.’ best players on the tournament roster were unavailable for the final (Luis Gil returned to Real Salt Lake once qualification was assured after the U.S. won its semifinal matchup; Daniel Cuevas was unavailable due to injury).

 

The U.S. has some nice young talent

In addition to being positive about qualifying for the U-20 World Cup and playing a very even game against Mexico for 90 minutes in regulation time, the tournament showed many U.S. fans a taste of the talent being developed in the youth ranks.

Cody Cropper, who plays for Southampton in the English Premier League, had a very solid game in the net. In the final, he repeatedly stopped point-blank shots by Mexico. Cropper is primed to eventually help the U.S. continue its fine history of goalkeeping at the national level.



Jose Villarreal, who already has 14 appearances for the LA Galaxy at the age of 19, had an excellent tournament and troubled Mexico on the flank al...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - International Football

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