US U17s drop final warmup to Costa Rica

In their final tune up before the U17 World Cup to be played in South Korea later this month, John Hackworth's U17 Men's National Team dropped a 2-1 decision to Costa Rica here Tuesday at the campus of Kennesaw State University. The Ticos, Julio Ibarra took a bad deflection off a U.S. Defender and made them pay with a screamer past Zac MacMath in the 24th minute.

The US dominated possession the remainder of the 1st half and had some nice combination play in the middle of the pitch, but could not find the back of the net.

In the final two minutes of the 1st half, the Ticos, Jordan Smith played a nice through ball to Marcos Urena beating the offside trap and goalkeeper, MacMath to secure a 2-0 lead going into half time.

The US made some halftime adjustments, especially on the defensive side of the ball and controlled possession for the majority of the 2nd half, but once again had trouble putting the ball in the back of the net. They missed 3 open headers that would have changed the complextion of the entire 2nd half.

In the 84th minute, Jared Jeffrey of the US hit a brilliant, untouched free kick just outside the 18 into the upper 90 that made the score 2-1. The US pressured during the dying minutes, but Costa Rica held on and won the match, gaining a measure of revenge for the U.S. victory over them by an identical score at the CONCACAF Qualifying Tournament in Jamaica this April.

US Keeper Zac MacMath said the team is looking for the form it has showed for parts of the past few monhths.  “It’s been an up and down summer for us as we prepare for the upcoming U-17 World Cup," he said. " We hope to find the same form we had in Belgium & Germany and play with that kind of intensity in South Korea.”

Head Coach, John Hackworth identified some areas in need of improvement heading into the World Cup, which begins August 15.  “In terms of effort and quality of play, our team was lacking," he said. "Tackling was awful on both goals and the game fell into their hands from there. We have some tremendous talent and have played some quality soccer during preparation for South Korea. We just need to find it again.”

These are two of the strongest teams representing CONCACAF in this months U-17 World Cup and I think both teams will make some noise later this month in South Korea.

Starting Lineups

USA
Goalkeeper: Zac MacMath
Defenders: Sheanon Williams, Mykell Bates, Tommy Meyer, Kofi Sarkodie
Midfielders: Daniel Wenzel, Jared Jeffrey Bryan Dominguez, Gregory Garza
Forwards: Alex Nimo, Ellis McLoughlin