US Under 20s begin World Cup with 1-1 draw

The U.S. is tied for second place with one point, while Poland sits atop the group with three points after a surprising victory over group favorite Brazil. Poland scored in the 23rd minute and then went down to 10 men a few minute later, but were still able to hold off the four-time champions.  The United States will play its second game in Group D against Poland at Olympic Stadium on Tuesday, July 3 at 5 p.m. ET. Fans can follow the match live on ESPNU, Galavision and ussoccer.com’s MatchTracker.

“We are happy with tonight’s result, but we’re not happy with the way we played,” said U.S. Under-20 Men’s National Team head coach Thomas Rongen. “Quite frankly, we are lucky to have come away with a draw against a very good Korean squad. They were strong and fast and to be honest we didn’t do our part to match up with them tonight.”

Despite having just one shot on goal to South Korea’s six, the U.S. took advantage of their first quality chance of the game in the 16th minute, when Sal Zizzo advanced the ball to the end line and played a ball in the air towards goal. At the near post Freddy Adu flicked the ball in front of the net where the onrushing Szetela dove forward to beat goalkeeper Jin Hyeon Kim to put the U.S. on top.

The goal came against the run of play in the first half as Korea controlled much of the possession early on. The U.S. goal opened the game up a bit as the Koreans began a more direct attack. Several long balls over the top looking for Chung Yong Lee put the U.S. under a lot of pressure, but the backline did well to bend and not break for most of the first half.

U.S. goalkeeper Chris Seitz came up big for the U.S. throughout the match, and made his first big save of the game in the 25th minute when Chung Yong Lee got behind Tim Ward and slotted the ball across the goal for Young Sung Shim. The Real Salt Lake goalkeeper came up big with a full extension save to keep the U.S. in the lead. In the 35th minute, Shim slotted a ball across for Young Rok Shin in the box, and Seitz came all the way off his line to dive and intercept the ball.

In the 38th minute, the South Korean attack finally broke through the U.S. backline. Shim played a perfect through ball to a Shin, who collected the ball just inside the box and found himself one-on-one with Seitz. Shin was able to beat Seitz and even the score.

The second half was more of the same as South Korea kept the U.S. defense under attack, but, led by Seitz, the U.S. were able to repel the majority of the pressure. The most nerve-racking moment came in the 50th minute when Seitz got beat for only the second time, but Shin’s long-range shot hit the far post and was then cleared out of danger.

In the 70th minute, Adu played a ball into the box that bounced to defender Julian Valentin who was finishing a long offensive run. Valentin’s first touch allowed goalkeeper Jin Hyeon Kim to recover after coming out to play the cross, and the pending shot was blocked away.

The best chance for the U.S. in the second half came in stoppage time. Defender Nathan Sturgis played a long ball out of the back and over the South Korean’s backline for Josmer Altidore to run onto. Altidore seemed to have his defender beaten in the footrace, but he was surprisingly called for a foul as he collected the ball and sprinted towards goal.

The United States will play its second game of Group D on Tuesday, July 3 at 5 p.m. ET against Poland, who upset Brazil earlier in the day by a final 1-0 score. The Americans will then conclude group play on July 6 against Brazil in Ottawa’s Frank-Clair Stadium with a kickoff time of 7:45 p.m. ET.

- U.S. Under-20 Men’s National Team Game Report -

Participants: USA vs. South Korea
Competition: 2007 FIFA Under-20 World Cup
Location: Montreal, Quebec
Date: June 30, 2007
Weather: 64 degrees, mostly cloudy

Scoring Summary: 1   2    F
USA                            1   0   1
KOR                           1   0   1

USA – Danny Szetela (Freddy Adu)                    16th min.
KOR – Young Rok Shin (Young Sung Shim)    38.