Seeded USA gets favorable draw for U-20 World Cup

By Mike Woitalla

The USA, which earned a seed for the 2017 World Cup, was drawn into Group F, with Ecuador, Senegal and Saudi Arabia. Of the three first-round foes, only Senegal,a 2015 semifinalist, has ever advanced past the round of 16 in previous U-20 World Cups.

“We are proud to have earned a group top seed for the 2017 U-20 World Cup,” U.S. coach TabRamos said. “As Concacaf Champions and 2015 U-20 World Cup quarterfinalists, we have put ourselves in a great position for this tournament. Our youth national team program has been on anupward trend and we need to continue to push forward in Korea Republic. This was a difficult draw, but we are ready for the challenge. Our plan is to treat each game like a final, so our preparationnow shifts to Ecuador.”

The USA, which faces South American runner-up Ecuador on May 22, Africa runner-up Senegal May 25 and Asia runner-up Saudi Arabia May 28, qualified by winning theConcacaf U-20 Championship in early March, beating Haiti, St. Kitts & Nevis, Mexico, El Salvador and, in the final, Honduras.

The USA lost in the quarterfinals on PKs at the 2015 U-20World Cup to eventual champion Serbia, which did not qualify for the 2017 U-20 World Cup. The USA’s best finish in the biennial tournament launched in 1977 was fourth place in 1989 in SaudiArabia.

Diego Maradona helped out at the drawin Suwon.

Group A
South Korea, Guinea, Argentina, England

Group B
Venezuela, Germany, Vanuatu, Mexico

Group C
Zambia, Portugal, Iran, Costa Rica

Group D
South Africa, Japan, Italy, Uruguay

Group E
France, Honduras,Vietnam, New Zealand

Group F
Ecuador, USA, Saudi Arabia, Senegal

USA OPPONENTS
Ecuador
•Previous appearances: 2001 (round of 16), 2011 (round of 16).
• 2015 U-20 World Cup: did not qualify
• Qualifying: Finishedrunner-up as host to Uruguay. Its nine games included two wins over Colombia (4-3 and 3-0), a 3-0 rout of Argentina and a 2-2 draw with Brazil. As host, Ecuador had an edge by playing its games athigh-altitude venues.
• Key player: Midfielder Bryan Cabezas moved to Italy’s Atalanta last year after making 68 appearances for Independiente del Valle,for which he played in the 2016 Copa Libertadores final. It finished runner-up to Colombia’s Atlético Nacional.

Senegal
•Previous appearances: 2015 (semifinals).
• 2015 U-20 World Cup: Finished third in Group C with a loss to Portugal (3-0), a tie with Colombia (1-1) and a winover Qatar (2-1). Beat Ukraine on PKs in the round of 16 after a 1-1 tie, beat Uzbekistan, 1-0, in the quarterfinals, and fell to eventual runner-up Brazil, 5-0, in the semifinals.
•Qualifying: Fell to host Zambia, 2-0, in the final after wins over Guinea, Cameroon, South Africa and a tie with Sudan.
• Key player:  MidfielderKrepin Diatta, who was Man of the Match in two qualifying games, signed with Norwegian Tippeligaen club  Sarpsborg 08 FF last month.

SaudiArabia
• Previous appearances: 1985 (group stage), 1987 (group stage), 1989 (group stage), 1993 (group stage), 1999 (group stage), 2003 (group stage), 2011 (round of16).
• 2015 U-20 World Cup: did not qualify.
• Qualifying: Fell in the final of the Bahrain-hosted Asian championship to Japan on PKs after ascoreless tie. Beat South Korea, Iraq and Iran en route to the final.
• Key player:  Captain Sami Al Naji, who has made seven appearance for hisclub Al Nassr in the Saudi top flight league, was the leading scorer at the Asian championship with four goals.

Complete 2017 U-20 World Cup Schedule

U.S. U-16 girlshead to California camp

Coach Jaime Frias’ second camp of 2017 for the U.S. U-16 girls national team takes place March 18-25 at the Chula Vista EliteAthlete Training Center in San Diego with 24 players born in 2002. Fifteen of the players attended the first camp of the year in January.

U.S. U-16 girlsnational team
GOALKEEPERS (3): *Mia Justus (PDA; North Brunswick, N.J.), Stephanie Sparkowski (Jacksonville FC; Fleming Island, Fla.), Alia Skinner (East Meadow SC; EastMeadow N.Y.).
DEFENDERS (8): *Devi Dudley (Utah Celtic FC; American Fork, Utah), Maya Evans (De Anza Force; Millbrae, Calif.), Katherine Groff (CASL; Raleigh, N.C.), SmithHunter (Seattle Reign Academy; Seattle, Wash.), Emily Mason (PDA Storm; Flemington, N.J.), Emily Matthews (Premier Soccer Group; Fraser, Mich.) *Makenna Morris (Bethesda SC; Germantown, Md.), *DasiaTorbert (Tophat SC; Buford, Ga.).
MIDFIELDERS (6): *Josephine Aulicino (Michigan Hawks; Northville, Mich.), *Aislyn Crowder (Hawaii Rush; Mililani, Hawaii), *Talia DellaPeruta(Tophat SC; Cumming, Ga.), *Alexa Gonzalez (Arsenal FC; Riverside, Calif.), *Isabel Loza (Arsenal FC; La Mirada, Calif.), *Michaela Rosenbaum (Santa Rosa United; Rohnert Park, Calif.).
FORWARDS (7): Michelle Cooper (Michigan Hawks; Clarkston, Mich.), *Kailyn Dudukovich (Cincinnati United; West Chester, Ohio), *Samantha Kroeger (World Class FC; West Milford, N.J.),*Kacey Lawrence (Connecticut FC; Monroe, Conn.), *Aryssa Mahrt (FC Wisconsin Eclipse; Wauwatosa, Wisc.), *Trinity Rodman (SoCal Blues; Newport Beach, Calif.), Joyelle Washington (Michigan Hawks;Canton, Mich.).

* Returnees from January camp

U.S. U-16boys prep for France in Florida

A 24-player U.S. U-16 boys national team squad trained under Coach Shaun Tsakiris  March 5-13 in Bradenton, Florida. Theteam was preparing for the April 11-17 Mondial Minimes Tournament in Montaigu, France, where the USA will face Belgium and Japan in first-round Group D play. Also at Mondial Minimes Tournament:France, Cameroon, China, Brazil, Denmark, Morocco, England, Mexico and Portugal.

Ten of the players are returnees from the U-16s’ early February trip to Argentina with a 21-player roster.

U.S. U-16 boys national team
GOALKEEPERS (2): Michael Collodi (FC Dallas; Frisco, Texas), Dane Jacomen (Pittsburgh Riverhounds;Pittsburgh, Pa.).
DEFENDERS (10): *Julian Araujo (Santa Barbara SC; Lompoc, Calif.), Nico Benalcazar (New York City FC; Wilton, Conn.), Edward Berumen (Sacramento Republic FC;Salida, Calif.), Eduardo Blancas (Real Salt Lake; Napa, Calif.), Justin Haak (New York City FC; Brooklyn, N.Y.), *John Hilton (LA Galaxy; Long Beach, Calif.), Alexsi Morel (New York City FC;Huntington Station, N.Y.), Eben Noverr (Colorado Rapids; Highlands Ranch, Colo.), Cole Rovegno (Sacramento Republic FC; Folsom, Calif.), *Nathan Toledo (FC Dallas; McKinney, Texas).
MIDFIELDERS (6): Oscar Cervantes (IMG Academy; Indio, Calif.), *Cameron Duke (Sporting KC; Olathe, Kan.), *Nelson Martinez (DC United; Woodbridge, Va.), *Matko Milijevic (A.A.Argentinos Juniors; Buenos Aires, Argentina), *Marcelo Palomino (Houston Dynamo; Houston, Texas), Thomas Roberts (FC Dallas; Frisco, Texas).
FORWARDS (6): Luis Arriaga (RealSalt Lake; Santa Rosa, Calif.), *Jordan Bender (Orlando City SC; Lake Mary, Fla.), Azriel Gonzalez (Seattle Sounders FC; Renton, Wash.), *Ben Ortiz (Real Salt Lake; Orem, Utah), *Gabe Segal (BethesdaSC; Bethesa, Md.), Scotty Taylor (New York Red Bulls; Millburn, N.J.).

* Returnees from February trip to Argentina.

Ice bath: New study doesn’t find benefits

Gretchen Reynolds in The New York Time: Slipping into a bathtub filled with frigid water after a hardworkout has long been routine for many athletes, who have believed that the chilly temperatures will reduce inflammation in their tired muscles and help their bodies to physiologically recover morequickly from strenuous exercise. But a new study finds otherwise, reports Reynolds, citing research by Queensland University of Technology in Australia that appeared in the Journal of Physiology. Cellular evidence suggests that a cold bath may do little for heavily exercised muscles except chillthem. Dev Mishra wrote about the ice bath fad for the Youth Soccer Insider last July: Taking the ice bath plunge for muscle soreness — helpful or not?