The U.S. U-20s are in action in today's Milk Cup Final, taking on Northern Ireland as the European Youth tournament comes to a close.
Thomas Rongen's side is in the final after Wednesday's win over Denmark, and look to take home the trophy against the host side. The game kicked off at 1 p.m., and a BBC live stream of the action can be viewed here.
If you will be watching the action, please feel free to share your thoughts, opinions and some play-by-play in the comments section below.
Enjoy the action.
Starting line-up?
Wow…Big CB Agbossomounde scoring on a low FK. Love that!
BOSS!!!!!!!!!! USA 1 NIR 0
mr. Gale Agbossoumonde just scored on a nice little FK that found its way through the wall
Sweet, i was just wondering where the running commentary was as i walked away for a minute and missed the goal.
Great header and great save off the corner
looks like salgado and agudelo up top for the US. If they don’t score on a FK I’d be surprised. They tower over Northern Ireland
aaaaaand salgado picks up a card for mouthing off to the ref
Molano is a mini-Beckham. Got a great right foot on set pieces.
Disallowed goal????? Harsh decision. Is Coulibaly out there?
US goal called back for no good reason. Molano sent a free kick in. Keeper dropped it right onto the foot of Agudelo and he puts it in.
USA is robbed AGAIN of another goal.
Agudelo has a goal taken away for no apparent reason. Keeper dropped a free kick which Agudelo tucked away but the ref saw something…i guess.
Terrible decision on the disallowed goal. The NI keeper just couldn’t keep his hands on the ball.
Was it not offside? Dropped from keeper to US player to another US player and in. No defenders back there other than keep.
Only thing I can think of is if the ref deemed it offside, if Gale tapped it, in which case Agudelo mayyyy have been off. But that may be a reach.
Not sure if the ref thought the keeper was fouled or if he thought it was offside, but the replay showed neither was the case.
USA are dominating this game. It would be a farce if they lost.
USA is really dominating this game. Just need to put away our chances.
hehe, my analysis was a bit too slow.
From the NI Announcer:
“They are a big athletic side and I guess that is the way a lot of US sides are, but they can play”
Jeez, even the BBC announcers are suggesting that the visiting side should “politely” suggest that the score should be 2-nil their side.
Apparently half of the USA’s best players are missing due to their clubs not allowing them to go?
Nate- That’s what I saw. I thought it was the right call.
———-MacMath(18)———–
Valentin(2)–Kitchen(6)–Agboss(22)–Garza(5)
Molano(7)–Powers(8)–Agudelo(17)–Ibrahim(14)
——-Reulas(13)–Salgado(9)——–
It’s something like this.
More like Rongen left them to keep trying to earn spots at clubs. Jack Mac, Luis Gil, few others.
Some of it is guys coming off injuries and/or being in season.
AGUDELO WITH A ROCKET!!!
OUr boys are looking pretty good. Been particularly impressed with our right back, and our #7 I think it is. The one that has been taking the set pieces.
GOOOOLAZO!!
Wow. Agudelo gets his goal.
US 2 NIR 0
What a goal!
Agudelo!!!!
Everton looking at Zac MacMath?
Agudelo goal. Sillyness.
That was just ridiculous. Agudelo with the golazo azo azo.
I got to put on my sunglasses. The future is looking bright.
Commentators just said the Dax Mccarty and Charlie Davies led side from 2005(i think) was the best youth side they’d ever seen at the Milk Cup
#7 for Northern Ireland is good.
halftime US 2 NIR 0
US is absolutely dominating. Don’t think NIR has a shot on net.
Love watching games like these at quaint antique stadiums.
+1
Just able to tune in now. Who’s really stood out?
How do these analysts keep from cracking up with those guys running around in hamster balls behind them?
America’s Roberto Carlos, lol. Maybe not, but that goal was sweet.
Where’d you hear that about MacMath? It would be nice to keep sending out top-quality keepers to Europe
Damn. nice first goal by chelsea. two minutes in. bicycle kick. vs. cruz azul. in milk cup club final.
OK, second one for Chelsea might be even better.
The kid John Swift from the Chelsea Youth Team looks legit.
This colombian kis is great and he’s under the Red Bulls Academy which is even better. I say USA wins 3-1 and we’ll be champions of the 2010 Milk Cup
Agudelo beat FIVE guys on the dribble and unleashed a world class strike over the keeper, dipping down.
A beast of a midfielder.
Based on what? There was NO offsides. The goalie dropped the ball. Wrong call and the announcers have said so several times on the broadcast and the replay showed it to be a bad call.
it did take a deflection tho, thats why it dipped like that
Boss will be a starting US centerback one day.
He’s a forward, and pretty sure he’s playing on top with Salgado? But yes, beast is right. I think he already signed with NYRB off the team’s academy.
The US looks like they are in a class of their own.
Their possession, stamina, vision, and passing looks superb.
What happens between our youth teams and our first squad, where does that creativity and passion go?
Really? He’s playing back pretty far then.
The commentators brought it up…and it’s already spawned a thread on Big Soccer.
Jesus, Gale is a beast!
to be fair, I feel like we should beat N Ireland at any level on any day. Of course I’m sure England thought that too when NI beat them in a Euro qualifier a couple years back. Still, its good to see Americans playing well.
Not every youth player pans out regardless of nationality. And you can’t really ask what happens between youth and full squad when this is the first time we’ve had so many creative young guys. Anyway, the best part is that these aren’t even all our best guys, so we should have a good chance of a few going on to be good pros.
His natural position at least is forward. But you’re right, looks like he is playing at mid. US started with four natural forwards — Ruelas, Salgado, Agudelo and Ibrahim.
Who is Molano (7) and where does he play right now
Its worth noting that Northern Ireland have won the last two Milk Cups. They’re not exactly a slouchy team in this competition. I agree we should be them, but this isn’t a YMCA rec team they’re playing.
Gale just absolutely embarrassed the NI forward, making him fall over.
Ibrahim(sp?) looks good running down the left side with the ball at his feet.
Plays at Dinamo Zagreb. Very good young midfielder from Dallas.
Also, why aren’t they wearing the new jerseys? Did we just decide to shaft our U20s?
NI came to play in this second half. They certainly aren’t laying down. We better pick it back up and not concede or it could turn quick
Seriously? One player miss hit it and it fell to a player infront of him. CLEAR offside.
That Salgado kid is 16? He’s going to be good.
The 4th official could be Bob Bradley’s midget clone.
Let’s hope so. he’s also already a towering 6-4 and has what, 2-5 more years to grow in height? probably will end up 6-6 when he’s done. pretty comfortable on the ball and scored tons of goals for chivas’ youth teams too.
Damn. You beat me to it!
why is BB 4th officiating the game?
whose are left back?
oops..too slow
Well, if the regular joe consumer can’t get his hands on a new jersey after they sold out, maybe neither can the U-20s. I hope that’s not the case, though.
WHAT A GOAL!
Ruelas!! USA 3 NIR 0
Great placement and a great buildup!
Ruelas with his third of the tournament. Nice to see a young kid with a nose for goal.
The mexican connection: Salgado to Reulas
It’s officially a rout.
Greg Garza
As taht goal was in the making I was daydreaming of a Gooch-Boss combo in 2014.
Say what you want about Rongen, but he’s done well in finding some of these players and convincing them to join the US. Now the US has to work its magic and convince Hoyos to spurn Argentina.
I hope these players don’t fall off the face of the earth or get frustrated by the system and change nationalities. They look pretty good. I’d hate to see them turn into Subotic’s` or Rossi’s in that regard.
I think you mean “little person” twin. Don’t wanna offend anyone on here
This makes me happy inside.
Gale is already on his way to realizing his potential one of being one of great center backs in the world. 18 year old being picked up by Braga to play, awesome.
Gooch? He’s done, bro. One of the worst-rated defenders in SA. Hope one of these kids pans out into a rteal defender who can carry the ball out of the D and make good choices ditributing.
I hope Gale sees significant playing time with Braga this year. The experience at his age would be invaluable. Gooch could also use some field time as well
That’s priceless, the Irish commentators want one of the Irish players to win man of the match..
I don’t think that a single player on the Irish team is as good as many as 4 or 5 of the US players.
Irish…always fighting
Red for NI and Boss. Something had to be done. Probably fair.
Boss sent off? This #3 from NI is a total punk. Instigators.
NI player stepped on the US keepers ankle on purpose.
Pitiful.
If Boss was Mexican and in Azteca, he only would have gotten a yellow.
Totally fair call. The Boss threw a punch. No-no. Hegarty kicked the goalie, high school silliness.
I had a good laugh about that too.
Replay showed Boss pushing with a couple NI players and maybe poking/pushing one in the neck or something.
ah, i guess it was a punch.
Not sure I’d call it a punch, but the red was justified.
it was gale I was thinking of, kids got talent
It looked like the Irish player cleated MacMath as he was running by with the ball in his hands.
He fell and Boss protected him, and was apparently choked.
Yet Boss somehow gets ejected as well, and the guy who cleated our keeper gets nothing. At least the guy who looks like he choked Boss got sent off.
Hopefully FIFA bans that Irish punk for good.
Cleating a keeper as he runs by? Not surprised.
Looks like Gale was a little too protective.
Gotta say the Boss I thought was over-rated, but I’m impressed by how calm he is when he is turned backwards; five times in this game he made a play to control and then distribute after turning towards his own goal with the ball. That’s brilliant, and it’s not taught by Rongen and co. We’re too straight-ahead defensively, and this kid might be the final break from our kindergarten approach of kick the ball as far as you can!
I’m going to go ahead and believe that Gooch will recover from his injury just as many others have. He just wasn’t far enough along in his recovery/fitness. Gooch will be back.
Come on. It might have been a girl’s punch, but it was a punch!
Didn’t look like it to me. But it’s a red-worthy offense! I’m not one of those people that just protects his own guys.
I agree. All i’ve seen of him was his few matches in Miami.
I take everything back that I thought. It also shows why I’m an IT Tech and not a scout. Ha
Yeah, I think a lot of people were hard on Boss after the last U-20 world cup, but he was one of the youngest guys on the team I think and will still get another shot at the U-20.
Best player is Salgado. Surefire pro player. The Boss and Ruelas are right behind him. MacMath, Agudelo, Garza and No. 7 are all fab. Not sure I would tyake any of these guys over Sebastian or Zahadi, but this is the best crop of young players we’ve ever had.
Anyone notice that Hot for Powers. hehehe
“That’s brilliant, and it’s not taught by Rongen and co.”
yes, but let’s be sure not to give the credit to Rongen. It will serve all the haters right for BB to be replaced by Rongen – hahaha. All the negativity from US fans is rediculous.
Our players are rather large for this age.
Commentators again mentioned that Macmath (GK) is Everton bound.
Agudelo ends the game by dribbling through 3 Irish defenders like it was nothing.
Love it.
Nothing like the taste of Cup victory to cement the choice of dual-citizenship guys.
Did the commentator just accuse the US of cheating the age requirement?
I’m pretty sure that was the inference.
The American players were “faster, stronger and taller”
Haven’t heard that before
Also what was the NI manager ranting at Rongen?
Also another Charlie “Davis” reference
I know its not always wise to make decisions in the moment, but…. Rongen for Nats?
Would have liked to see Gil, Renken and Gyau. But in fairness, Rongen wanted to call up/check out some guys who have not been in the US system before and the three I just mentioned are still only 17-18. And not sure what the health situation is right now with Renken and Gyau. Still, would have been nice.
And what about Lester Dewee of Marseille?
Loving this coverage! Nice interviews
WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY to soon
I didn’t catch it, what did he say?
Congrats to our young boys!! Salgado looks physically like KAKA when he was young.:) If only he can play like him in the future.
Agudelo,Reulas,Agbo,Molano, these are going to be great players for us in the future. Definitely impressive.
I’m guessing you haven’t heard of Rongen before. haha.
I like him, he lets his players play. But some of his lineup decisions are questionable. But wouldn’t want him on the nats.
But what I was getting at … there are a legion of US fans that want this guy out of the US system.
They were talking about the stronger, taller aspect, and one of the commentators made a quieter comment about “looks like they are all a year older or so than the Irish team”.
Haha, I can understand the accusation. Our players are absolutely huge. Salgado, Ruelas, Ibrahim are all big boys.
salgado looks like a young kaka. LOVE IT.
IT’S DAVIES!
They just said that they look bigger and stronger than their age. He probably didn’t mean that they were older just that they are bigger and stronger.
That’s just his accent.
We dominated the tournament… and our best 3 or 4 players didn’t even come.
Great day for the US Youth program
has anyone else noticed that Salgado kind of looks like Kaka?
Didn’t see the above comment.
Yeah, use that milk for tea. Unnatural.
Chill out. He’s been speaking so highly of Davies all game and it’s just his accent that makes it sound like Davis. Have you ever heard British commentators pronounce Simon Davies of Fulham…sounds just like they’re saying Davis.
I want to know that as well. Not sure if he was angry at something or just fired up, but he was saying something for sure.
It’s been a pretty consistent team and winning this game will be a crown for the steadfast performance. All the best to this team!!!
I wouldn’t hold my breath on that one.
Is this satire?
man alive, our young bucks can FINISH. love it.
Does anyone else believe Salgado loooks just like Kaka from Brazil???
Ha! Kaka from Brazil — thanks for clarifying which Kaka you meant.
Gale > then Subotic
He and Opara will rule our backline one day.
The opposition gets a lot tougher.
Adu was a star at this level then he had to face real men. Northern Ireland are just not very good at this point.
US fans get so eager to anoint these youngsters as the next saviors; it’s bad idea.
played against him in highschool, facebook friends with him and im in one of his facebook photos
Charlie Davies had some good goals back in 2005, beating his man and using his pace to get to goal, which was effective. The thing I like about this team is that they absolutely dominated play and controlled the game as a complete 11 man team. If you consider how Charlie Davies has somehow become essential to our best XI after his showing back in 2005, the future is definitely bright for our national team. I hope this U-20 generation really gets out and into European play as quickly as possible – the MLS can keep taking NCAA players like Ream, Tchani, & Ike Opara.
yep, and if davies had gotten the nod and played half a game you’d be saying the same thing about him. Gooch should not have gone, but we really didn’t have many other options did we?
omar gonzalez
nah, they blamed henry….
no way. just cause he’s a good developmental coach doesn’t mean he’s good for that end of the pipeline.
beside the best best coaches should be working with our youngest teams.
as opposed to kaka from one’s bum?
Lets temper our enthusiasm guys. Gale had a nice tournament but his play in the first 12 minutes in the second half in this final was atrocious. He had two horrible turnovers that had NI capitalized on would of both brought the NI Side even but worse, could of also given them momentum had they finished the chances created on these turnovers.
Please.
wow you are so cool
Based on the fact the ball hit a player and went to another player in an offside position. Yeah the goalie mishandled it, but that doesn’t deny the fact that he might have had a chance at it had the goalscorer not been in an offside position.