Filled with players playing at MlS and European clubs, USA team to watch out in Group A
The United States of America under-17 team arrived here, on Sunday night, with just one objective in their mind, to reach the Final of the FIFA Under-17 World Cup - in Kolkata on 28th October - and take the glittering silverware back home.
Despite the poor outing in the previous edition in Chile, 2015, where they finished last in the group stages, coach John Hackworth has got a squad full of top quality players. It consists of as many as 12 players plying their trade in the Major league Soccer (Premier division football in US) and five boys with professional contracts with top European clubs.
Star-struck side
The US colts are propelled with young stars that have been grabbed by big clubs in Europe. Following footstep of Christian Pulisic (Borussia Dortmund) who represented United States in 2015 U-17 World Cup Joshua Sargent (Werder Bremen), Timothy Weah (Paris-Saint Germain), CJ Dos Santos (Benfica) and Sergino Dest (Ajax FC) have already signed their contracts with respective clubs.
Aware of their attacking strength, Indian coach luis Norton de Matos gave us an idea about their star-struck forwards.
"Attack is their main strength. They have a fantastic striker in Sargent. Also they have two very good wingers on the flanks - Weah, (Ayo) Akinola and (Andrew) Carleton," said de Matos.
Sargent has been making some noise on social media for a while now as he is the only player at this World Cup to also feature in the Under-20 World Cup this year - played in Korea Republic. The 6-feet tall striker is an adequate balance of physique, speed and poacher skills. He impressed the world with four goals in four matches in Korea.
Sargent is supported by Akinola, who is a speed machine on the left flank with a knack of scoring, and has 24 goals to his name already.
Weah is another name to watch out for. Unlike his father George Weah, former AC Milan striker and ballon d'or winner, Tim is a combination on skill and physical strength in a winger. He is a confident dribbler of the ball who can penetrate into the box at will.
In midfield, skipper George Acosta is the heart of the team in and out of the field. A dynamic footballer, Acosta is a jack of all trades as he can play anywhere in midfield and attack.
The No 10 player has a vital role in keeping possession and playing one-two touch passes in short spaces.
Justin Garces, with a 6-feet-1-inch height, is an ideal goalkeeper with quick reflexes and was the winner of golden gloves award during the CONCACAF youth championship in 2016.
Coach Talk
"United States is a very organised side," said India coach de Matos. "They are developing the team for the past two years and they have done a pretty good job in doing so. They have a lot of alternatives in their game."
Highly rated by then-USA manager Jurgen Klinsmann for his positive football style, Hackworth took the charge of the under-17 team for the second time and has developed a strong team for the World Cup. Over the past two years his US team has taken part in many international competitions and have garnered reputation of giant-demolishing team.
They defeated teams such as Portugal (7-1) and Brazil (4-0) by huge margins, also ended a 25-year hoodoo of not winning against neighbours Mexico in CONCACAF U-17 Championship, rising as a prominent contender for the World Cup in due process.
Hackworth's boys have won 8 out of their 10 competitive matches played this calendar year. Their highflying preparation was given a shock when Japan — who are in Group D and will play their group matches in Guwahati — defeated them 4-0 in Prague this August. The stars and stripe quickly recovered from the loss as they defeated Iceland by reverting the exact scoreline in the next match.
Style of play
Hackworth likes to play a Sir Alex Ferguson-style 4-4-2 formation, which heavily attacks from the wings. Using pace of their forwards, the US team is a threatening counter-attacking side.
Playing a high-defensive line, which stretches as far as the centre line, the centre-backs almost play the role of midfielder by keeping hold of the possession. Hackworth plays a deep lying midfielder to form a triangle with the two central defenders to deal with the pressing from their counterparts.
Due to big names and dominating football style, the USA must be seeing themselves as one of the favourites for this tournament and are deservingly so. But the huge 0-4 loss against Japan exposed their deficiencies. Besides, playing with a high defensive line and a lack of numbers in the middle, with overlapping fullbacks, makes them vulnerable to counter attacks. With no time to work on the weakness, it would be a huge task for the stars and stripes to depend only on their attack to lift the trophy.
Squad
GOAlKEEPERS: Alex Budnik, Carlos Joaquim Dos Santos, Justin Garces
DEFENDERS: George Bello, Sergino Dest, Christopher Durkin, Christopher Gloster, Jaylin lindsey, James Sands, Tyler Shaver, Akil Watts
MIDFIElDERS: George Acosta, Taylor Booth, Blaine Ferri, Chris Goslin, Alex Mendez, Indiana Vassilev
FORWARDS: Ayo Akinola, Andrew Carleton,Ulysses llanez, Jacobo Reyes, Bryan Reynolds, Joshua Sargent