USA Cup: Day One

As I've mentioned many times, I'm coaching Under-15 boys soccer this summer and this week they are playing in the USA Cup. It's the largest youth soccer tournament in the Western Hemisphere at the largest soccer complex on Earth. If you asked it, the USA Cup would say: "I don't know how to put this...but I'm kind of a big deal."

Our bracket consists of Edina, New Brighton (two Minnesota teams) and...Brazil (yes, THAT Brazil). A few hours before our first game, I got a call from my co-coach who informed me that one of our more talented players had rolled his ankle severely the night before and could barely walk on it. He had gone to the emergency room to get it looked at and they referred him to a specialist...whom he couldn't see until later today. Basically: bad news. We were already missing two players who would be attending a wrestling camp this week and could not make any games. Missing this third player really puts a strain on our regular lineup.

Our first opponent was Brazil at 2:55 pm. The other two teams, Edina and New Brighton, played at 1:30 on a nearby field so I went early to scout them. New Brighton looked very sloppy, very small physically, and had only two players who stood out. They played a lot of "kick and run"-style soccer and didn't communicate much at all. Their goalie was very shaky too, mishandling many catchable shots.

Edina looked sharp, however. Their entire team was big physically and they communicated well. They had a speedy striker, a sound center defender who mopped up anything that got through and their center mids distributed the ball very well. They used the full width of the field too. The only weaknesses that stood out were one wing defender who mis-kicked the ball several times and looked very unsure of himself and their keeper. I left at halftime and the game finished 4-2 in favor of New Brighton, surprisingly. On to our game against Brazil.

It started evenly, with both teams moving the ball well but not creating any real scoring chances. Less than 10 minutes in, a ball was played into their box which their goalie came out to collect as one of our players charged in. They got to the ball at the same time and collided. Unfortunately, their goalie suffered a cut above one of his eyes and had to be taken out of the game.

We each had a few chances in the rest of the half, but we controlled most of the play. Brazil looked a little rattled, to be honest. We had a few corner kicks but they were put either out of play or in less-than-ideal areas. At halftime, I chatted with our corner kick taker and explained where they need to be played. I also explained to the other players when and where to make their runs on corners.

About 10 minutes into the second half, we had another corner kick opportunity. This time, the ball was played just outside the six-yard box, dead center, and our tallest player lept and headed one over their keeper. We went nuts. The kid who takes the corners ran by and said to me, "How was that one!?" I smiled and said, "Perfect!" and gave him a thumbs-up.

The next 15 minutes were tense as Brazil really started to push forward. They had a bunch of chances but our keeper really stepped up. With less than 10 minutes to go, a long kick from their defensive end flew well over our last defender's and their striker's heads. Their striker beat our defender to the ball and scored on the resulting breakaway. While unfortunate, it was only the tying goal and there were a few minutes left.

We played well the rest of the way and even had another corner kick-header opportunity but it sailed less than a foot wide of the left post. The game ended in a 1-1 tie, but after losing so many 1-goal games this year, we were more than happy with the result.

The final Group D standings after Day One are:

New Brighton 1-0-0 (4 goals for, 2 against)
IGH Heat 0-0-1 (1 goal for, 1 against)
Brazil 0-0-1 (1 goal for, 1 against)
Edina 0-1-0 (2 goals for, 4 against)

Tomorrow: New Brighton!