U-23 Soccer Tourney (Toulon, France)

USA 2-3 Turkey
USA 0-1 Ivory Coast
USA 0-2 Italy

It was a sorry display for American soccer which virtually never looked in control in any minute of these three games. Turkey (who brought their U-21 team incidentally) played with great pace and aggressively pushed the ball forward keeping the Americans on their heels for 90 minutes. None of the Americans were particularly impressive though Sammy Ochoa had a brilliant volley goal near the end (seriously, it was a fucking rocket!). USA played Ivory Coast a little closer and were on their way to a scoreless draw until a foul in the box (no complaints, clearly a foul, easy call) led to a PK goal. Ivory Coast played with great flair but didn't play much of a team game and developed few scoring opportunities. Italy controlled the entire first half and went to the break with a 2-0 lead. USA had their moments in the 2nd half but nothing terribly noteworthy.

USA had no punch up front, no creativity in the mid-field and no discipline in the back. Frankly USA sucked. Hopefully the next stage of development will show these guys moving forward.

(I caught USA playing the Ivory Coast in the U-17 World Cup of 2004 and I wondered how many players from that tourney were playing in this one. What I remember from that match was that the Americans were much taller and wider, thicker than their Ivorian counterparts who all looked like they were about 14. For the first 10 minutes or so of that match the bulky Americans simply imposed themselves on Ivory Coast and scored early on a corner kick. Ivory Coast controlled the ball with ease for the rest of the match. Once they got the ball to their feet, they neutralized the American size advantage and dominated the game, though as I recall USA made that 1-0 lead stand)