After nine months of hard work, Vardar and Chicago Magic have been crowned U.S. Development Academy National Champions. This is the greatest accomplishment for a youth program in the U.S. Livethepitch would like to congratulate both teams and also all teams who participated in finals week.
In the U-17/18 division Vardar defeated Crossfire Premier 3-1 in the championship match. Kelyn Rowe found the back of the net for Crossfire to grab the early lead, but Vardar was not going down without a fight.
Vardar would score three unanswered goals to win the title. Peter Jacobson was able to knock in a rebound off the crossbar to even the match and Derek Schrauben would score two goals to lead Vardar to victory. Final U-17/18 Standings
Vardar
Crossfire Premier
Real SoCal
CASL Chelsea Acadamy
Baltimore Bays
FC Dallas
Concorde Fire
Derby County Wolves
In the U-15/16 division Chicago Magic defeated Cal Odyssey in penalty kicks to win the championship. The fire took the early lead with a goal from Luis Medina in the 20th minute. Cal Odyssey were the runner up in this event last year and would not go down quietly with Gregory Antongnoli getting the equalizer ten minutes into the second half.
The match stayed tied throughout the rest of regulation and both overtime periods forcing a shootout. Chicago would make all five shots in the shootout winning 5-4 after goalkeeper Sam Euler saved the 2nd shot from Cal Odyssey.
The 2009-2010 USSF Academy season comes to a close this week as the top 16 youth teams in the country battle for the right to be named national champions. Finals week will run from July 10-17 and be held at the beautiful Home Depot Center complex.
Teams qualified throughout the year and advanced to this prestigious event by winning their group at the USSF Youth Academy Playoffs which were held last week at Bryan Park in Greensboro. Here are the results from Greensboro: U-15/16 and U-17/18
Teams will play each team in their respective group with the top team from each group facing off for the the championship at the end of the week. Each team will get to play 4 games as the 2nd place teams will play,3rd place, and 4th place teams all get to face off in consolation matches. We will keep updating throughout the finals week. Good Luck to all players competing in this great event.
As the U.S. national team looks back on its performance from the FIFA World Cup, serious staff questions need to be answered. The biggest question of all is whether the United States Soccer Federation will retain Bob Bradley or look elsewhere for leadership. After their heartbreaking overtime loss to Ghana, the federation is going to let things settle and will wait until after the tournament is completed to start looking towards the future.
In the first match of the cup the U.S. tied international powerhouse England 1-1, to get off to a great start. The story of this summers tournament started here even though the Americans received a great result. Steven Gerrard punished the soft American defense in just the 4th minute of the match and if not for the biggest mistake by a goalkeeper in World Cup history, the U.S. would have lost.
Once again in the Americans second match the start was unbearable to watch. The U.S. saw itself down 2-0 to Slovenia at the half, which made Bradley change his tactics and make some key substitutions. After great goals from Landon Donovan and Michael Bradley got the U.S. even, Maurice Edu’s excellent finish, which would have won the match was disallowed by referee Koman Coulibaly.
It was a great comeback for the point, and yes Coulibaly screwed us, but we shouldn’t have been in that situation in the first place. Bradley’s defense once again was soft to start the match and were punished as any team would have playing at this level. Bradley had to come away from this match excited for how is team played the second half but worried about his squads second consecutive slow start.
Needing a win to guarantee a spot in the knockout stage the U.S. played a gritty Algerian squad who also had a slight chance to advance, but seemed to be content with a draw with the favored Americans. After back and forth action for the last 10 minutes of the match Donovan scored one of the greatest goals in U.S. history to win Group C in extra time.
As you can see in this unbelievable video of U.S. soccer fans after Donovan’s goal, this team had finally caught the attention of the American Public.
In the knockout round the U.S. fell 2-1 to Ghana in overtime after regulation finished at 1-1. Ghana once again got through the soft U.S. defense in just the 5th minute after Ricardo Clark lost the ball at midfield to grab the early lead. Bradley made some key substitutions and his team took control of the match in the second half and were unlucky to not come away with the win.
Asamoah Gyan scored 2 minutes into the first overtime period once again punishing a soft U.S. back-line. Throughout the rest of the overtime the U.S. had some decent chances to tie it once again but didn’t have the legs to comeback.
Questions Bob Bradley will have to answer to keep his job:
How did you prepare your team before each match? The U.S. allowed soft early goals in 3 of its 4 matches and also just 2 minutes into overtime in the knockout stage.
How were you instructing your center backs to play? Throughout the tournament Jay Demerit, Oguchi Onyewu, and Carlos Bocanegra were victimized time and time again for not putting pressure on the ball and retreating as players took them on.
Where was Oguchi Onyewu the last 2 matches? Onyewu did not have his best performances is the first two matches but with his speed and size in the center he should have been used especially in the last match.
What made you think Robbie Findlay could succeed at this level? Robbie Findlay started 3 out of 4 matches at forward and never was a threat to opposing defenses. Yes, Findlay has incredible speed but does not possess the technical ability to score goals at this level.
Why was Edson Buddle not used more? Buddle came into the tournament as the hottest goalscorer in the MLS and even scored two goals in their last friendly with Australia. Looking back, Bradley has to question himself on not getting him on the pitch more.
Why was Ricardo Clark inserted back into the starting 11 against Ghana? Clark started and played well in the first match against England but his giveaway started the lone England goal. In the Ghana match, Clark once again gave the ball up in the midfield and Ghana punished them.
Why was Benny Feilhaber not used more? Feilhaber was questionably the best player throughout the tournament for the Americans. Why would Bradley continue to use him as a substitute?
In my opinion Bradley should be let go after the tournament is completed. The main goal Bradley put in front of his players was to get out of group play. Why not have the goal be to win the tournament? At least get to the semifinals! The American public should not stand for these results. We are people who demand the best and demand we win international competitions. There is NO reason why we should lose to a country as small as Ghana. I mean we have 300 million people to choose from. Why can’t we find 11 people to put on a soccer field?
Bradley has been under some heat for some time now and shouldn’t keep this prestige position. We should go back and try to get Juergen Klinsmann or a younger coach who can relate better with the players. The youth development here is on the right track and all we need is the right person to lead the way. NOT BOB BRADLEY!
In Group C action today we had the United States taking on Algeria and England facing off against Slovenia. Landon Donovan scored the goal of his career in extra time to defeat Algeria 1-0. Jermaine Defoe scored a brilliant goal for England to defeat Slovenia 1-0.
England quickly made the game a must win for the U.S. when Jermaine Defoe scored in the 23rd minute. The word was definitely passed on to the players on the field with the U.S. attacking early and often.
The game was nearly a repeat of other American performances when Algeria sent a volley off the crossbar in the 6th minute. After an early scare, the U.S. settled down a bit and got into the flow of the game play really opened up. They had at least nine chances to score throughout the game, including another goal taken away from a poor off-sides call.
After a solid chance on goal from Algeria that ended with a Tim Howard save the U.S goalkeeper sent his second half-field throw right to Donovan in stride. Donovan slotted a through ball to Jozy Altidore who then found a streaking Clint Dempsey who’s shot deflected off goalkeeper Rais M’Bolhi right back to Donovan who continued his run to score the biggest goal in U.S. soccer history.
Donovan will surely go down as the greatest player to ever play for the U.S. This is a huge accomplishment for American soccer fans as this is the first time they have won the group since 1930.
England dominated Slovenia from the first whistle but could not put the match out of reach. Defoe’s goal was set up by a beautiful cross from Steven Gerrard. England had numerous chances to add to their lead but made things interesting for English fans until the whistle blew.
With their World Cup fates on the line, Bob Bradley will lead the U.S. as they take on underdogs Algeria. After coming off a heartbreaking tie with Slovenia, Bradley’s team controls their own fate. Bradley has some key decisions to make with his roster as we are now less than 24 hours away from kickoff. After watching Algeria draw 1-1 with heavily favored England, there are some concerns that have to be addressed.
Algeria play a very structured, defensive style of soccer that at times looks like a steel wall to opposing players. Algeria is also very technical on the ball while in possession, rarely making a bad touch in the midfield. The U.S. will have to counter this style by taking chances going forward with numbers on the counter attack and making sure they capitalize on their opportunities in front of goal.
Bradley needs to make sure that his outside backs are getting forward as much as possible. Steve Cherundelo and Carlos Bocanegra both need to get involved more on the attack as the U.S. has been successful on balls served into the box.
In the central defense, Oguchi Onyewu and Jay Demerit need to make sure they are on the same page with pushing forward so they are not creating too much space in behind the midfield. There is no room for dumb defensive mistakes like we have seen in previous matches with so much on the line. Tim Howard in the goal will also have to be at his best to give the Americans a chance.
Landon Donovan and Clint Dempsey have been good overall throughout the first two matches but both still need to get the ball at their feet more. Dempsey has much more to contribute to his team and hopefully he will have a breakout game. Donovan has been the best player for Bradley so far and and his leadership on the pitch as been tremendous.
Michael Bradley has been superb in the central midfield for his father but the question will be if Bradley starts Ricardo Clark, Maurice Edu, or Jose Torres. Clark started the first match and played pretty well, Edu had a huge impact in the 2-2 draw with Slovenia as a substitute, and Torres got the start last match. Torres has more technical ability than Edu and Clark but lacks the size and pace they possess.
Jozy Altidore missed some training today due to an upset stomach but he should be alright to start up top for the match. Robbie Findlay has been starting along with Jozy but has been a non factor and will miss the match with two yellow cards in prior games. Look for Bradley to start Edson Buddle tomorrow. Buddle would be my choice, but Bradley could also move Dempsey up top or start Hurculez Gomez.
There is no excuse if the U.S. doesn’t advance to the round of 16. They know what has to be done and what is on the line.
