First game is against N. Korea, and the roster was just announced. Anyone know why Adu isn't on the roster?

It's a waste of his time. He's already moved up to play with the U-20s. In fact, there may even be a rule that says once you play for the U-20s you can't play for the U-17s. Seems logical anyway.

Did you see that all the games are going to be televised? Pretty impressive. Galavision for the first game and FSC for the other two.

Actually the rule is you can't play in 2 U-17 World Championships.

I'm not sure what to think about this U-17 team. They have some good players in Besagno, Kirk, and Zimmerman, but no one who really stands out. One positive thing I've heard about this team is that they are deeper than any group we've taken in the past. The one player I'd like to see have a good tournement is Josmer Altidore. He's the youngest player on the roster at 15 and, from reports I've seen, if you put him on the field he'll score.

[This message has been edited by dubag (edited 9/13/2005 2:24a).]

I copied this from another site. Here's a little insight to our team for those of you who might watch some of their games. Probable starters denoted by *

Forwards:

*Zimmerman is a white kid. The game I watched he did not play too good, but he is kind of a power forward. Like McBride. Great work rate, but I didn't see his foot work. Suppose very good with goal scoring instinct. A strong and tough kid.

*Kirk is part of MLS club LA Galaxy (Landon's club), but haven't train with the club yet. He is super fast and strong. Kind of like Eddie Johnson in US team. He used to play forward then dropped to play wing midfield. Now as he moved back to forward, so maybe his scoring ability is improved now. The games I watched him, he was dribbling from the wing then cut in the middle, taking a strong shot at the goal. He can do that from both of left and right and can hit with both his feet. His shoot is very strong but not accurate. The game I watched that he cannot keep the shots on the frame and they are over the cross bar. He may improve on that. Or forget that he is a black kid and over 6'.

Arvizu is a Hispanic kid. He has great feet and great ball control. He is a playmaking forward and is around Landon's height but has better foot skills than Landon. He is most of the offense creativity in this team.

Gonzales is also a Hispanic kid but not a small one. He is 6'5" and has OK speed but good foot skill.

Altidore is a black Hispanic kid. You know like those in Brazil or Colombia? I haven't watch his game yet, but suppose he is fast, strong, skill and can score. A full package. He is only 15 so playing up 2 years.

Midfielders:

*Soroka is a white kid and very crafty player. He can dribble, he's pretty fast and has a good shot at the goal. He is a very typical wing player who can really dribble.

*Besagno is a white kid and he is tall, strong and tough as a d-mid. He played for Real Salt Lake in MLS already and looked like he belongs in MLS. Covers a lot of space and can control the midfield and know how to score when he gets forward and in set pieces.

*Nakazawa is an Asian (Japanese) kid and he is very crafty and move a lot. Very capable and doesn't have much weakness in his game.

*Farfan Gabe and Mike are twin brothers. Of course they are Hispanic. Both of them are wing players who can play in wing midfield and wing back positions. Very skillful.

Hall (if my memory is right) is a black kid and very strong and fast. Have good foot skill and can score. The games I watched he played as back up forwards. So he can play in midfield and forward positions.

Kelly is a white kid and I haven't watch him play yet. Heard that he is very skillful and very fast. He is new face.

Defenders:

*Sarkodie is the captain and center defender. He is a black kid and is not tall about 5'10". But he really can jump and good on both defense and offense balls. Can score in set pieces. He is also strong and able to muscle a forward off the ball. He used to play wing back, so his foot skills are very good.

*Subotic is a white kid (probably Bosnia background) and is about 6'4". Haven't see him play. He is a new face too and played as center midfielder for the team before. So his foot skill is pretty good. Don't know how fast he is but should be good because everyone on this team has some wheels.

Wagner is also a white kid and used to play as wing midfielder and wing back. Very good skill and capable of going forward.

*Igwe is a black kid and used to play left midfielder. Tall and strong and has good ball skill. I watched one game he played that he was substituted in, and when he got the ball on left side, he just dribbled over three players. He plays left wing back now.

*Alston is also a black kid but not as tall as Igwe. He plays the right wing back now, I watched him play as left back in one of games in Europe. He just got on the endline and dribbled over few defenders and passed the ball to his teammate who finished. If I told you that he played for Brazil, you would believe it.

Goalkeepers. All US goalkeepers are pretty good .

That is not the english language I grew up with.

I tried to make it a little easier to understand, but the guy who wrote this obviously speaks english as a second language.

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Actually the rule is you can't play in 2 U-17 World Championships.

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That makes sense too. Does that apply to U-20 as well?

If a player cannot play in two U-17 World Championships, why would we put a 15 year old on the field when he is sure to be a better player the following year (when 16)?

In addition, when 16, (except in very rare circumstances) he would probably not be able to make the U-20 team.

Thus, when 16, he will be unable to use his exceptional talents to play for any US team.

There is something wrong with this picture.

The U-17 teams are like minor league baseball teams. The idea is to develop players to play for Men's National Team, not win. Winning is certainly important. But improving Adu's (and others) skills is larger goal.

Everybody has played soccer, basketball, etc against little brother or somebody inferior in skill. Doesn't do much to improve your game.

When do these games start? Thanks.

U-17 game against North Korea this Saturday afternoon. It's on one of Spanish channels live.

You can play in more than 1 U-20 World Championship. Adu has already played in 2 and will most likely play his third in 2007. BTW, Adu was only 13 or 14, I believe it was the latter, when he played in his first U20 World Championship.

[This message has been edited by dubag (edited 9/14/2005 2:10a).]

BigJim -

Link to the FIFA U-17 Tournament matches:

http://www.fifa.com/en/comp/U17/tournament/0,4129,U17-2005-24,00.html

And for a TV schedule, I like to use this website:

http://www.soccertv.com/intl.cfm

[This message has been edited by randy828 (edited 9/15/2005 1:42p).]

US wins their first game 3-2. Goals by Zimmerman, Sokora and Nakazawa. Tied with Italy in the group with 3 points.

Anybody know for sure the time of the game today? Soccertv.com is saying 3:30 central, but the Houston Chronicle had it listed at 2:30 central today. Grr! The FIFA site has it at 15:30 local time..anyone know what time that would be central? I'll do some searching on the web.

OK, I just did the search on the net, Peru is in the same time zone as Texas! Game is at 2:30 central.

[This message has been edited by randy828 (edited 9/20/2005 7:24a).]

[This message has been edited by randy828 (edited 9/20/2005 7:28a).]

US beat Italy 3-1. From all reports it sounds like the Italians were a bunch of whiney punks. They got 6 yellows and 1 red. Apparently after the game some Italian kid was running around looking to punch someone, but I guess nothing came of it. Anyway, Arvizu supposedly was the best player on the field and completely dismantled the Italians. Goals by Sarkodi, Nakazawa, and Sororka.

rdub, what are you doing up so early? i figured you went back to sleep after the wife went to work. i always do.

check your email tomorrow morning. i'll send something at work manana.

Dubag, you got it right. I stayed home yesterday to do some Rita prep and just so happened, got to watch the game! Arvizu was awesome up front and he should have had a couple of goals. Zimmerman's assist on Sororka's goal was a beaut! The US really played wonderfully. The one goal was just a brain fart on the US goalie..easy floating free kick that he seemed to take his mind off of.

The Italian player was #9...forgot his name..what a classeless buffoon..kicking balls in the stands, kicking water bottles.

Did anyone see the "hand ball" they claim should have been called. I believe it was 2-1 at the time..even the replay you could not see (but the replay was horrible). I taped the game and will go back and review it, but I did not see the handball at the time. Got their coached kicked out a few minutes later because he kept moaning about it.

Did any of you watch the next game? Brazil vs Netherlands? AWESOME game!!! Beautiful..Brazil and Netherlands put on an offensive show and both of their goalies played GREAT games. Amazing the game only ended up 2-1.

I didn't see the handball, but if it was there it falls under the incidental contact or nonintentional. Guy is runnin back to his goal with this arms at his side, ball gets cleared into him, no handball is called. The ref actualy did a pretty good job, as the italians were playing very dirty all game. We pretty much dominated them, although you can tell its U-17. A lot of just knockin long balls back and forth, but about a third of the time we had a lot of nice 1-2 passes and nifty dribbling going on.

I just saw a few of their dirty incidents and the one that probably pissed me off the most was when the US player Josmer Altidore was outrunning his defender(the last defender before a 1v1) and was taken down in the box and then the Italian kid starts flailing his legs and kicking Altidore in the back and once in the head. I'm not sure if Altidore could have gotten to the ball before the keeper, but in that circumstance I think at least a yellow card is warranted and possibly even a red and a PK. I would have liked to see Altidore pop that kid in the mouth, but, to his credit, he stayed calm and just jogged away.

I remember that play. That was such a punk move. At least when Altidore got up, he overturned the jerk and could have got him good. But you are right, he did the right thing and turned away.

It looks like the US is going to play Brazil in the quarters if it all pans out. What a tough draw for winning the group.

You gotta remember though, at this level we have been pretty dominate. I think we have the talent to play with them.

OK, I just watched the replay, there clearly was a handball, but it was definately unintentional...it hurt the USA more than helped...American defender kicked the ball to clear it and it deflected off the elbow of another US defender which kept the ball in the penalty area. So why were the silly Italians all up in arms over that?

Anyone watching this Ivory Coast vs USA game? This ref is horrible. The foul against Zimmerman when their defender had him in a headlock?? What the hell? And then he called Zimmerman over to tell him to calm down. Ridiculous. Good early goal and we look great defending. Hope we get another goal before this ref calls some penalty kick.

I watched the Ivory Coast game and came away unimpressed. I'll give them the benefit of the doubt, though, considering they'd already clinched a quarterfinal spot. They put some good strings of passes together in the midfield, but it didn't seem like the US got much going offensively. Ivory Coast seemed like the more dangerous team upfront. Hopefully they'll play better in the quarters because Holland is going to be a tough match.

you only watched one game buddy, you dont know crap.

Have to agree with Pat here. If you didn't watch the first two games then you don't know. They had already qualified for the next round, I am doubting that they were truly playing to their ability with nothing to gain from it.

Jesus you guys are harsh. These are a bunch of 16 year olds and they have been very up and down. Hell, 2 of their first 3 games they didn't play very well. I like that these guys have that ability to get a win even when they're off, but you have to agree this will be a very tough matchup for our boys.

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you only watched one game buddy, you dont know crap.

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that does seem a little harsh, and i gave my opinion on that game.

did you watch the game? Ivory Coast outshot us 18-7. They were the more dangerous team all game long. How can you not come away unimpressed with that type of effort? as i said before, they already had a spot clinched so you can't expect too much, but i still wasn't impressed with the U.S.'s performance. i fully expect their performance to be better against Holland, but i was unimpressed with their performance against IC.

you, sir, are uninformed.

[This message has been edited by CadeLBB (edited 9/26/2005 8:27a).]

[This message has been edited by CadeLBB (edited 9/26/2005 8:28a).]

also, just found this.

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U.S. Head Coach John Hackworth will be the first to tell you that the U-17s didn’t play their best match against Ivory Coast

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http://www.ussoccer.com/news/fullstory.sps?iNewsid=246062

Seems like I'm not the only one who felt this way, so don't give me the you don't know crap speech.

obviously I went overboard with the whole "you dont know crap? thing. But the fact remains, you are judging this team on our worst performance in a game we could have just forfeited and still advanced on. That IS a little silly. Game on FSC(fox soccer channel, the greatest channel ever invented) at 4 against Holland.

I should have prefaced my statement. I was unimpressed with their performance that game. I will be watching today, though.

OUCH!! Anyone see the guy hurt his leg. On the replay it looked like a fracture for sure.