Published 7/1/2011 12:51:13 AM by Shane Barrow from soccermogul

The German U17s look like legit contenders to win the tournament and on Thursday they ran roughshod over a poor US Under 17 squad 4-0 in a round of 16 match.

The game was never really close as Germany was just plain better in all phases.  The US defense sat back so deep it allowed the Germans acres of space to carve up the American midfield that was missing its captain Marc Pelosi due to suspension.  Once they carved up the midfield, the American back four had little chance against the classy Germans.

If not for several quality saves from US keeper Kendall McIntosh the score would have been much worse.  Germany broke the match open three times in a ten minute span around halftime.  From there it was just a matter of whether the Americans could hold them back at all.

They were more clinical and more accurate with their finishing. In the second half I told our players to be more focused and not to make mistakes, but sadly, right away they scored the fourth goal. Then we started to play, take the ball and create options, but it was too late. When you're down 4-0, it's too much. They were the better team. They proved it, and for us it's the end of the World Cup."

Germany has a perfect four wins from their four matches at the FIFA U17 World Cup in Mexico.  They are scoring goals at will and have wracked up a gaudy 15-1 goal differential.  Next up is a quarterfinal clash with rivals England who slipped past Argentina in penalty kicks.

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