USA-Mexico: Concacaf champions fall in U-20 showdown at Revelations Cup

The USA fell to Mexico, 2-1, in a battle of under-20 men's teams at the Revelations Cup in Mexico City.

The loss was the first in 10 international games in 2022 for the USA, which won the 2022 Concacaf U-20 Championship to qualify for the 2023 Under-20 World Cup and 2024 Olympic men's soccer competition. The USA and Mexico did not meet in Honduras, where Mexico fell to the Dominican Republic in the Concacaf semifinals.

Mexico went up 2-0 on goals by Mexican-American Christain Torres (LAFC) following a turnover in midfield and on a free kick by Joshua Mancha in the first 22 minutes.

The USA reduced the deficit on a penalty kick in Diego Luna (Real Salt Lake) in the 35th minute but could not find an equalizer. It dominated possession but struggled to find clear-cut opportunities against a compact Mexico defense.

Mexican referee Guillermo Pacheco did the USA no favors. He could have awarded a second penalty when U.S. midfielder Alejandro Alvarado was wiped out in the penalty area.



The U.S. U-20s will play their final game at the Revelations Cup against Paraguay on Tuesday.

Sept. 24 in Mexico City
Mexico 2 USA 1. Goals: C.Torres 18, Mancha 22; Luna 35 pen.
Mexico -- Eulogio; Freyfeld; Alcantar, Violante, Ambriz, C.Torres (Huescas 58), Campos (García 69), Picon; Zamora (Mariscal 69); Avila (Lozano 69), Mancha (R.Torres 87).
USA -- Brady; Cuevas, Ferkranus (Hopkins 83); Neal, Wiley, Edelman, Luna, Alvarado (McGlynn 58), Sullivan (Gpmez 90), Aaronson, Paredes (Gutierrez 58).
6 comments about "USA-Mexico: Concacaf champions fall in U-20 showdown at Revelations Cup".
  1. Sean Guillory, September 25, 2022 at 7:34 a.m.

    So we played Mexico in Mexico with a Mexican referee...seems fair.

  2. Kutama Nenty replied, September 25, 2022 at 8:34 a.m.

    Lol....apart from that, I didn't think the referee was that bad

  3. Santiago 1314 replied, September 25, 2022 at 3:16 p.m.

    "Yes, Mrs Lincoln, but other than that, how was the Play"

  4. Santiago 1314, September 25, 2022 at 3:23 p.m.

    The article didn't mention that there was an "AGUACERO" during there game... The Pitch actually held up pretty well..
    I enjoyed the game very much, I thought our guys played terrific,..
    I am not sure I have ever seen a Mexico team play so defensively on home field, that they were just booting the ball out to the Midfield line and out of bounds even sometimes.
    This USA Squad continues to impress me with their Professionalism and Twitchiness.
    They could have very easily fallen into a Mano-a-Mano, Tit-for-Tat Brawl at any point; But they Kept their heads and keep on playing Positive.

  5. Santiago 1314 replied, September 25, 2022 at 3:30 p.m.

    Especially loved LUNA, who up until now has not impressed me all that much.  He was all over the field, creating all kinds of havoc.
    But the best part was: when he scored the penalty kick he grabbed the crest of USA and kissed it.!!!!( Won't be able to do that with the New Shirts... Crest is higher in the middle.... Stupid NIKE)
    Imagine for a Mexican-American boy to go down to Mexico and score a goal against his family's culture, and still have the Balls to kiss the US flag.!!!... He's on my team forever.!!!
    As for the 2 US Players that WOULDN'T PUT THEIR HANDS OVER THEIR HEARTS DURING THE NATIONAL ANTHEM; DROP THEM TO THE BENCH .... AND IF THEY DO IT THERE....DROP THEM FROM THE SQUAD.!!!

  6. Kent James replied, September 27, 2022 at 11:01 a.m.

    The highlights certainly showed some good play by the US.  A Mexican referee for a US-Mexico game puts the ref in a tough spot.  From the highlights, the first no PK call early in the game I think was the right one.  The one near the end of the game should have been a PK, but in the refs defense, we got rid of the ball so the foul did not impact play (and might be considered trivial in its impact, but should have been called because it was so dangerous).  

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