U.S. U-17 Top Performers v. Guatemala

<p class="has-medium-font-size">The United States U-17 team qualified for the U-17 World Cup with their five to three win over host nation, Guatemala. The U-17 World Cup will take place in Peru in November-December of this year. The game was a great test for the U.S. because the crowd was rowdy, the opponent was physical and every time the U.S. pushed the lead out to two goals, Guatemala would fight back with another goal. It was a very commendable and resilient performance for a group of 15, 16 and 17 year olds who have never played in an environment like that. The performance was still sloppier than I'd like to see from this group, but there was some really bright spots.</p>   <p class="has-medium-font-size">DM, Pedro Soma, UE Cornella Academy (Man of the match)</p>   <p>Soma has been the most consistent and top performer for the U.S. team all tournament and once again I thought he played at a top level against Guatemala. This was the first game that the U.S. faced some consistent attacking pressure and Soma did a fantastic job reading the game and breaking up Guatemalan possession. He was equally fantastic on the ball. He is so good at turning away from pressure, taking clever angles to eliminate defenders and breaking lines with perfectly angled and weighted passes. He almost got on the scoresheet when a well struck ball from about thirty yards just went wide of the post. </p>   <p class="has-medium-font-size">CF, Keyrol Figueroa, Liverpool Academy</p>   <p>Figueroa has been the most electric player for the U.S. in this tournament thus far. He now has back to back braces in his first two starts of the tournament and is the current golden boot leader with six goals. The six goals also ties Gio Reyna for the most by a United States player in this tournament. On Friday he will hopefully have an opportunity to break that record. His first goal came off a duel where the ball deflected away from goal and he fluidly turned and struck the ball with pace to the near post. His second goal came off his deflected shot that bounced back to him and he then shot a lazer that brushed off a Guatemalan defender into the side netting. Both were fortuitous, but both showed quick striker instincts. Unfortunately Figueroa was subbed out due to an injury right after his second goal, but he looked okay celebrating after the game, so hopefully he will be available for the semi-finals. </p>   <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://x.com/usmntonly/status/1628206128088719361?s=20 </div></figure>   <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://x.com/USYNT/status/1628218319760244736?s=20 </div></figure>   <p class="has-medium-font-size">AM, [player_tooltip player_id='7351' first='Cruz' last='Medina'], San Jose Earthquakes</p>   <p>It was not Medina's flashiest performance, but in a game where ball security was a major challenge, Medina was a calm amongst the storm. He maneuvered intelligently out of pressure and was quick to release the ball into smart spaces. He facilitated well and setup the second Figueroa goal as well as the Soma strike from distance. I thought he had some other good through balls that his teammates were a little slow to react to. </p>   <p class="has-medium-font-size">CB, [player_tooltip player_id='10412' first='Tyler' last='Hall'], Inter Miami Academy</p>   <p>Hall is the first center-back to make one of my top performer lists in this tournament and while it wasn't a standout performance, his stability was critical because his center-back partner had a really tough match. The team could not have afforded both center-backs to struggle. He showed great toughness in a very physical battle. He also had a couple very nice passes that broke through Guatemalas frontline and sprung wide open attacks. </p>

The United States U-17 team qualified for the U-17 World Cup with their five to three win over host nation, Guatemala. The U-17 World Cup will take place in Peru in November-December of this year. The game was a great test for the U.S. because the crowd was rowdy, the opponent was physical and every time the U.S. pushed the lead out to two goals, Guatemala would fight back with another goal. It was a very commendable and resilient performance for a group of 15, 16 and 17 year olds who have never played in an environment like that. The performance was still sloppier than I'd like to see from this group, but there was some really bright spots.