US U-17s Fall to Spain

It was a dream start for Wilmer Cabrera and the US U-17s in their opening match of the 2009 U-17 World Cup against Spain. Just 63 seconds in, Spain's Sergi Gomez was sent off for taking down Jack McInerney, who was in on goal after some nice buildup that started at the feet of Perry Kitchen. The Americans immediately took advantage, as McInerney scored in the fourth minute for a quick 1-0 lead. Marlon Duran floated a ball into the area, and McInerney won an aerial battle with Spanish goalkeeper Edgar, as his header was just enough to push the ball through Edgar's hands and into the net.With a man advantage, the US dominated possession early on, as Spain often had 9 men behind the ball. The US couldn't break down the Spaniards with passing, however, and were unable to add to their lead. Then, in the 22nd minute, Spain leveled the score on the strength of a Borja finish from 8 yards out. The US defense were caught flat-footed, as Iker Muniain was able to split the US defense with a pass into the 18 to winger Pablo Sarabia. Sarabia then played the ball across first time to an open Borja, who finished easily past a diving Earl Edwards.

With the goal, Spain became visibly more confident, pushing up into the attack and earning more than a few cheers from the crowd for crafty play. It wasn't long until they took the lead, as Pablo Sarabia scored an absolute gem of a goal. Sarabia took down a cross from the opposite side of the box and then hit a powerful volley past Earl Edwards on his next touch. Despite an acute angle, the Spaniard was able to find the back of the net.

Stefan Jerome had a wonderful chance to tie the game late in the first half, as he was able to flick the ball past the last defender and outsprint the Spain backline for a clear breakaway. Going in full speed at Edgar, Jerome tried to touch the ball around the keeper, but his touch was too heavy and took him all the way to the endline. This allowed Edgar to recover, along with a few of his defenders, and Jerome was unable to even get a shot off. This was the type of day Jerome had, as the Davie, Florida product did not have his best of performances. He had several bad touches that led to turnovers and was unable to finish his one golden opportunity. While he had a few flashes of great ability, such as the lead up to the breakaway and a couple quick turns that beat defenders, Jerome will be looking to turn in a much better effort in the next match. With European scouts in the stands, all of these players will be hoping to impress in a relatively short amount of time.

Due to several light outages at Sani Abacha Stadium, the second half had 14 minutes of added time. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough for the US, as they were never able to find the equalizer. They had several great opportunities to do so, but simply could not break through. Perhaps the best chance came in the 60th minute when substitute Victor Chavez broke in on goal all alone, but was unable to finish after deciding to shoot rather than square the ball to a wide open Alex Shinsky. Luis Gil, who had a solid second half for the Yanks, also had an opportunity late into stoppage time from the edge of the area, but his effort was saved.

The match ended 2-1 in favor of the Spaniards. Wilmer Cabrera and his team will be disappointed that they were unable to get a positive result from this match even though they had a man advantage for essentially the entire game. They will have to regroup and focus on their next match against Malawi on Thursday, who dropped their opening match against the UAE by a score of 2-0.