Ukraine drops United States in U-20 World Cup Opener

Set piece spells doom for Tab Ramos’ Under-20 United States team.

The United States had high expectations for their U-20 National Team as their group stage matches in the 2019 World Cup got underway in Poland Friday afternoon. After 90 minutes against Ukraine, the Americans’ road to the knockout stage got a lot tougher.

Ukraine got on the board first off a counter-attack when Serhiy Buletsa beat American keeper Brady Scott for the opening goal in the 26th minute. The Americans answered quickly with a 32nd-minute goal from Brandon Servania.

With the score tied at 1-1, Ukraine’s Denys Popov found the right side of the net with a header off a corner kick. Scott was frozen.

Popov went nearly unmarked in the box on the set piece, having nearly two yards of space between him and the nearest defender. That is inexcusable, even at the U-20 level. Marking attackers in the box on corners is a defensive foundation taught from early club days.

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The Americans had their chances to get a result.

In the 87th minute, Paxton Pomykal made a run in the box and appeared to be taken down by Popov, which would have resulted in a penalty. The referee did not deem it foul-worthy. A later replay would confirm the no-call, showing that Popov barely got a foot on the ball prior to contact.

Multiple times Konrad De La Fuente got behind the Ukrainian defense and placed terrific crosses into the box. The issue for the Americans was that there was no one charging to the front of goal to slot the ball home.

Perhaps the most well-known member of the United States side is Paris Saint-Germain‘s Timothy Weah. The decision of the United States Senior Men’s National Team to leave Weah off the Gold Cup roster was a curious one, but one that left Weah available for U-20 selection.

There were brief glimpses of what he can do in an open-field attack, but those were few-and-far-between.

For the Americans to advance in this tournament, Weah must be more involved in the final third and the U.S. must find a second attacking option to make a run on the De La Fuente crosses.

The United States will look to get back into contention on Memorial Day Monday when they playgroup leader Nigeria.