USA U15 fall in tournament semifinal

The come-back kids ran out of time on Friday in the semifinals of the 2022 Torneo delle Nazioni, an international tournament held annually in Europe. The tournament has been a launching point for many top US talents as big clubs send scouts to watch the next wave of players at the event, which is held in Austria, Slovenia, and Italy. USA faced off against one of the host, Italy, in one of the semifinals on Friday. As has been the case in every game so far at the event, USA trailed first. Italy stuck the opening goal within the first five minutes of the game. USA responded well with a chance off a turnover in the build-out from Italy. It was Charlotte FC winger [player_tooltip player_id="14338" first="Nimfasha" last="Berchimas"] with the opportunity, but the attacker hit the shot right at the goalkeeper for a comfortable save. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> Here’s some USA U15 BNT highlights from the first half vs Italy <a href="https://x.com/hashtag/USYNT?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#USYNT</a> <a href="https://t.co/lmIW2xHrS9">pic.x.com/lmIW2xHrS9</a> — J.R. Eskilson (@JREskilson) <a href="https://x.com/JREskilson/status/1520085282674020352?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 29, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.x.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> Six minutes later, Berchimas had another look at the equalizer. This time the winger was wide-open on the end of a cross to the far post. However, Italy’s defense recovered well and put bodies in front of the shot to block it out for a corner kick. USA had a dangerous look on a free kick with 10 minutes left in the half. New York Red Bulls midfielder [player_tooltip player_id="13111" first="Nathan" last="Worth"] hit a bending shot that just missed the inside of the post. With five minutes left in the half, Italy doubled the lead on one of the few chances in the opening half. The home team took the 2-0 advantage into the break. USA head coach Tom Heinemann made three subs at the half with Rohan Rajagopal, [player_tooltip player_id="17227" first="Gavin" last="Turner"], and Davi Alexandre coming on for Bryce Outman, [player_tooltip player_id="13111" first="Nathan" last="Worth"], and Neil Pierre at the break. USA was knocking on the door for a goal early on in the half with Santiago Morales getting on the end of a header knocked down in the box from [player_tooltip player_id="33304" first="Kyrome" last="Lumsden"]. Morales’ chance was blocked at the last second by a defender. USA finally broke through in the 61st minute with substitute Turner capitalizing on a mistake from Italy. The winger picked off a bad touch from the goalkeeper and then showed good composure to elude the diving recovery before calming finishing the chance to pull USA within a goal. The emotional high from the goal was short-lived with Italy returning to the attack moments later. It was a questionable sequence of events that resulted in a penalty kick for Italy. The play started with a hopeful ball forward from the Italian midfielder. Luis Rivera, the RSL defender, was there first and attempted to clear the ball from danger, but as he wound up to kick it, Rivera was shoved in the back and thrown off balance. The referee allowed play to continue. USA goalkeeper Zackory Campagnolo came off his line and forced the attacker wide. Rivera recovered, but put in a sliding challenge from behind that took out the attacker. The referee pointed to the spot for a penalty kick. USA tried to protest the decision, but the official did not overturn his decision even after consulting with his assistant. Campagnolo, the Orlando City SC prospect, stood tall in his net in the face of the chance for Italy to seal the victory. The goalkeeper guessed correctly and made a stop on the initial effort. The rebound fell kindly to the shooter and Campagnolo did not recover quickly enough to block it, but luckily Alexandre, the New York Red Bulls center back, got behind his goalkeeper and kept the shot out of the goal with a last second save off the line. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> USA U15 BNT highlights from the second half against Italy - Morales chance, Turner goal, PK save <a href="https://x.com/hashtag/USYNT?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#USYNT</a> <a href="https://x.com/hashtag/USMNT?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#USMNT</a> <a href="https://t.co/vUQKUFwsZW">pic.x.com/vUQKUFwsZW</a> — J.R. Eskilson (@JREskilson) <a href="https://x.com/JREskilson/status/1520097677488254976?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 29, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.x.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> The injection of momentum had USA buzzing, but the attack could not capitalize on the enthusiasm. USA did not generate many chances over the final minutes of the game despite throwing numbers at the Italy defense. Caden Glover had the best opportunity when he beat the Italian goalkeeper to the ball as the net minder waited for a bouncing ball to enter the 18-yard box. However, Italy had foreseen the danger and already recovered enough to have a player back to clear the danger off of Glover’s touch. USA takes on Portugal in the third place game on Sunday. USA Starting XI: Zackory Campagnolo; Michael Cortellessa, Neil Pierre, Luis Rivera, [player_tooltip player_id="13008" first="Jeremiah" last="White"]; [player_tooltip player_id="13111" first="Nathan" last="Worth"] (C), [player_tooltip player_id="33304" first="Kyrome" last="Lumsden"], Santiago Morales; [player_tooltip player_id="14338" first="Nimfasha" last="Berchimas"], Ruben Ramos, Bryce Outman USA Scoring summary: [player_tooltip player_id="17227" first="Gavin" last="Turner"] 61’