Two matches, two wins and on the way to the important semifinals.
In terms of results, the US under-23 men’s team is checking all the boxes it needs so far in the Concacaf Olympic qualifying tournament.
Sunday’s 4-0 win over the Dominican Republic brought the team to six points against six in Guadalajara and, with the knockout stage in view, they can reach the usual intensity of a game between the United States and Mexico with a pure heart and calm nerves when facing them El Tri counterparts in their last group stage match on Wednesday.
Now, in terms of performance? This is a more nuanced story, as young Yankees were hardly dominant until a young, well-trained DR side grew tired in the final stages of the game. Let’s start there.
Polishing the stone
I use the term “grinding” to describe this tour of the United States, which carries some negative connotations – we all want to see smooth and fluent football with no sand in the gears, right? But in some cases, an electric sander can do the job, especially when you’re a regional giant looking to assert your dominance against small fish and beginners.
Coach Jason Kreis said after the game that the DR got in the way of the USA with his 3-4-2-1 formation, “a completely different form than we’ve seen before”, and the discipline and intensity of the Caribbean side pushed Goliath away by one hour, enough time to get some nerves on edge before Jackson Yueill’s instinctive finish breaks the ice.
🇺🇸 @USMNTCoach Jason Kreis: “It was a difficult game in many ways. it is very difficult to break a team that was so far away, now we want to win @miseleccionmx 🇲🇽 and win the Group ”. pic.twitter.com/zb6h2IRRcr
– Concacaf (@Concacaf) March 22, 2021
“I thought our boys were a little too cautious about the case. I think our people were more concerned with the transition than creating moments of attack, ”said Kreis. “These two things do not add up to a great performance in the first half. But what we saw in the second half improved a lot and we are happy to leave with three more points. “
Yueill does not usually go far beyond the defensive midfield. It turns out he wasn’t really No. 6 in this, with Kreis explaining that Andres Perea was assigned the only center with Yueill and Johnny Cardoso as the 8s, and the end result aside, not everyone seemed completely comfortable. For the coach “it seemed a little different just because of the players’ qualities”, and I agree with that.
Was it a mess of assignments and trends or a team finding their way, step by step, to solve problems in a tournament environment? Well, some players are certainly recovering …
Stock up, stock down
No prizes to guess Sunday’s big winner: Hassani Dotson, whose entry into 62nd place in Cardoso’s place coincided with the United States’ claim to control and culminated in his two goals scored with mastery. The Minnesota United service man also played a role in winning the game against Costa Rica; he is showing that he is here for much more than his versatility and should be the first choice from now on.
Djordje Mihailovic replaced at the same time and looked much more dangerous working in open positions than as a pivot in the first game. Kreis will now have to consider whether the CF Montreal player can be more useful off the bench, with tired saves and generally more space to explore.
OTHER! Hassani Dotson gets his second and third from USYNT 😤 pic.twitter.com/UuebzwSbWC
– FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) March 22, 2021
On the other hand, right-back Julian Araujo was not as clean with the ball as he normally is and may have missed the opportunity to move ahead of Aaron Herrera to the starting role, while Henry Kessler proved to be a solid central defense option, with little to no drop-off from Mauricio Pineda. Whether it was because of his lack of impact or because his teammates didn’t understand and rewarded his move, Jesus Ferreira saw little of the ball and it looks like it will be reversed in favor of Sebastian Soto x Mexico.
The funny thing about all this is that Wednesday’s XI may not reflect what was said above. Although he stated that the United States fully plans to win that game, Kreis has every reason to pool his resources in order to be in full swing for the next game after that – the mandatory semifinal against a Group B TBA opponent. not only qualifying, but also winning this tournament is a main objective, as he said earlier, they may well meet El Tri again in the final.
In praise of the stragglers
DR is about to finish last in Group A, but that is not the real story. Debutants at this event, with its younger cast, Los Quisqueyanos were impressive, given the chasm between them and the USA. Edison Azcona of Inter Miami and his teammates showed no fear and carried out their game plan effectively, even though their legs and minds disappointed them in the final half hour.
MLS and USL scouts must be aware of what is happening with Dominican football. Mexican manager Jacques Passy is a former member of Concacaf who is overseeing a promising renewal of the program with limited resources; on Sunday, he left the Under-23s in charge of his assistant Jonathan Himelfarb in order to prepare for the World Cup qualifiers.
“We played 60 minutes which I believe were very good, which were at the game level, which is a challenge in itself for us,” said Himelfarb after the game. “If you look at our lineup, we have six players aged 20 or under and that has become, because of the pandemic and whatever, a tournament under 24, so maybe it’s a lack of experience, maybe we are a little out of pace. Mentally, I think we can do better, but yes, about the effort and the first 60 minutes, I am very proud and, definitely, the future is bright for the Football Federation of the Dominican Republic. “
There will be more talents like Azcona moving up the ranks, both at home and among the large populations of Dominican Americans in the United States. Many of its young people are finding opportunities in the lower divisions of Spain and, with luck, some more experienced clubs in the United States or Canada will also dig for diamonds.