The USA qualified for its sixth straight FIFA U-20 World Cup
by winning Group A at the CONCACAF Final Round Qualifying Tournament.
After a 0-0 tie with Guatemala on Friday night left the USA in danger
of possibly missing out on this summer's U-20 championships in Canada,
Haiti did the Americans a favor by beating Guatemala, 2-0, and
mathematically advancing the USA and Panama to Canada '07 even before
they met in Sunday's finale.
Freddy Adu scored two
goals and Robbie Rogers, Johann Smith and Jonathan Villanueva all tallied
in the second half to give the Americans a 5-0 win over Panama at
Rommel Fernandez Stadium in Panama City. The USA finished in sole
possession of first place in qualifying for the second straight time,
and the first time ever outside the country.
The 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup will take place in Canada June 30-July 22
across six cities - Burnaby, Edmonton, Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto and
Victoria. The USA will find out its opponents on March 3 when the draw
is held in Toronto. With more than 350,000 tickets already sold for the
competition, the U-20 World Cup is set to become the largest
single-sport event in Canadian history.
GAME SUMMARIES:
Jan. 19 in Panama City
USA 0 Guatemala 0.
USA -- Seitz, Beltran,
Valentin, Sturgis, Ward (Igwe, 80), Wallace, Szetela, Adu, Zizzo
(Altidore, 61), Rogers, Akpan (Zimmerman, 78).
Guatemala -- Reyes, Sandoval,
Noriega, Howell, Vides, Priego (Leon, 66), Lopez, Ciani
(Ponce, 74), Morales, Lopez
(Santeliz, 58), Solorzano.
Jan. 21 in Panama City
USA 5 Panama 0. Goals: Adu 7,
90, Rogers 50, Smith 61, Villanueva 71.
USA -- Seitz, Kirk (Sarkodie,
46), Valentin, Sturgis, Ward (Arguez,
70), Szetela, Beltran, Adu, Smith, Altidore (Villanueva, 53), Rogers.
Panama -- Mejia, Ovalle,
Vasquez, Mitchell (Leslie, 58), Vergara,
J.Gonzalez, Brown (P.Gonzalez, 46), Castaneda, Jaramillo, Torres Barber
(Cooper, 57).

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