U-17 ’90 MNT Finish Fourth in Japan Tournament  

TOYOTA CITY, Japan (August 13, 2006) - The U.S. Under-17 ’90 Men’s National Team battled the Nagoya Grampus youth club to a 2-2 draw in regulation before falling 11-10 in penalty kicks to finish fourth in the Toyota International Championship in Toyota, Japan.

The U.S. took the early lead in regulation when Sheanon Williams buried a penalty kick, but the Japan professional youth squad bounced back with two goals from Ando Ryota before halftime. The U.S. continued to pressure in the second half and Brendan King scored the equalizer to force the game to penalty kicks.

The teams needed 11 rounds of penalty kicks to determine who would win the third-place match. Both teams were clinical in the spots from the kick as they each buried the first 10 shots before U.S. goalkeeper Josh Lambo was unlucky to hit the crossbar.

The U.S. was playing for third place after finishing second in their group to Japan. The U.S. and the hosts both finished with four points, but Japan went through to the final with a better goal differential (+4 to +1).

In the third-place match, the U.S. went up 1-0 when Williams was brought down in the penalty area. Evan Raynr started the attack when he stole a pass and quickly fed Williams. The defender fed the ball through to Ellis McLoughlin and he beat two defenders before giving it back to Williams who was taken down from behind. Williams stepped up to bury the spot kick in the 14th minute.

Nagoya Grampus scored the equalizer in the 25th minute when Ryota unleashed a 25-yard blast that got past the outstretched arms of Lambo. Eight minutes later, Ryota struck again when he was taken down in the box and was awarded a penalty kick, which he convered for the 2-1 lead.

The U.S. came out strong to start the second half and created a number of opportunities before finally equalizing in the 77th minute. McLoughlin got free down the wing and crossed the ball into the penalty area for King who hit it first-time towards goal, getting a deflection off a defender before it found its way into the back of the net.

The fall semester of U.S. Soccer’s U-17 Residency Program will kick off on Aug. 22. A roster for the semester will be released on ussoccer.com in the upcoming weeks.

A week after the semester kicks off, the U.S. ’90s will travel to England to participate in the Pepsi International Tournament on Aug. 27. The U.S. will play three games in the round-robin tournament, going up against Portugal (Aug. 30), England (Sept. 1) and Turkey (Sept. 3).

U.S. Under-17 ’90 Men’s National Team Match Report

Participants:     U.S. Under-17 ‘90s Men’s National Team vs. Nagoya Grampus
Competition:     Toyota International Championship
Location:    Toyota Ball Game Grounds; Toyota, Japan
Date:    August 13, 2006
Weather:    Clear, 85 degrees
Attendance:    1,500

Scoring Summary:    
           1st    2nd   1OT     2OT    PK   Final
USA     1        1        0          0       10       2           
NGA    2         0        0          0       11       2

USA – Sheanon Williams (penalty kick)        14th minute
NGA – Ando Ryota                                             25.
NGA – Ando Ryota (penalty kick)                     33.
USA – Brendan King (Ellis McLoughlin)        77.

Lineups:
USA: 18-Josh Lambo;, 5-Howard Turk, 6-Brek Shea (2-Matt Uy, 65), 9-Sheanon Williams (8-Jared Jeffrey, 38), 17-Lonnie Carter (4-Brandon Lee, 41); 12-Bryan Dominguez, 11-Kirk Urso (3-Brandon King, 65), 16-Brandon Zimmerman (7-Danny Wenzel, 53), 10-Ellis McLoughlin, 14-Evan Raynr, 15-Greg Garza (13-Danny Barerra, 53)
Subs not used: 18-Zac MacMath

NGA: 1-Iwata Atushi; 2-Nishibe Masanari, 3-Nakamura Ryota, 5-Isomura Ryota, 17-Takahashi Kazuya; 6-Ando Ryota, 7-Kishi Hiroshi (15-Yokota Takuya, 51), 8-Suzuki Takahiro (10-Okumura Jo, 54), 11-Aiba Tatsuro; 9-Alves Derek Takeo (18-Morita Yoshinori, 65), 14-Nakurawa Shinji.

Statistical Summary:                              USA    NGA
Shots                     17        11
Saves                      3          2
Fouls                      21       18
Corner Kicks          7         0
Offside                     1         2

Misconduct Summary:
USA – Sheanon Williams (caution)           16th minute    
USA – Brandon Zimmerman (caution)      31.
USA – Brek Shea (caution)                          32.
USA – Howard Turk (caution)                      44.
USA – Danny Barerra (caution)                   56.

TOYOTA CITY, Japan (Aug. 12, 2006) - The U.S. Under-17 ’90 Men’s National Team drew, 0-0, with Japan in their second match of the Toyota International Championship in Toyota, Japan.

With the scoreless draw against the hosts, the U.S. finshed in second place in their group and does not advance to the championship match.  Despite finishing tied with Japan with four points, the hosts finished ahead of the U.S. due to a better goal differential, plus-4 to plus-1 (the U.S. had defeated the Czech Republic 1-0, while Japan defeated the Czechs 4-0).

The U.S. had the better of chances in the match, outshooting Japan 12 to 6. During the entire 90 minutes, Japan only forced U.S. goalkeeper Josh Lambo in to one save. Similar to their first match against the Czech Republic, after dominating the first half the U.S. lost control of the match during the first 25 minutes of the second half before regaining control.

The fall semester of U.S. Soccer’s U-17 Residency Program will kick off on Aug. 22. A roster for the semester will be released on ussoccer.com in the upcoming weeks.

A week after the semester kicks off, the U.S. ’90s will travel to England to participate in the Pepsi International Tournament on Aug. 27. The U.S. will play three games in the round-robin tournament, going up against Portugal (Aug. 30), England (Sept. 1) and Turkey (Sept. 3).

U.S. Under-17 ’90 Men’s National Team Match Report

Participants:     U.S. Under-17 ‘90s Men’s National Team vs. Japan
Competition:     Toyota International Championship
Location:    Toyota Ball Game Grounds; Toyota, Japan
Date:    August 12, 2006
Weather:    Humid, 95 degrees
Attendance:    1,500

Scoring Summary:   
              1st    2nd    Final
USA        0        0         0
JPN        0        0         0

Lineups:
USA: 18-Josh Lambo; 2-Matt Uy, 4-Brandon Lee, 5-Howard Turk, 12-Bryan Dominguez (3-Brendan King, 72); 7-Danny Wenzel, 8-Jared Jeffrey (16-Brandon Zimmerman, 73), 9-Sheanon Williams, 10-Ellis McLoughlin; 11-Kirk Urso (6-Brek Shea, 55); 13-Danny Barerra (14-Evan Raynr, 55)
Subs not used: 3-Lonnie Carter, 15-Greg Garza, 18-Zac MacMath

JPN: 1-Hironaga Ryotaro; 2-Kanai Takashi, 3-Yamaji Sho, 5-Takahashi Shunki, 7-Kai Kimihiro; 8-Kakitani Yoichiro (14-Yonemoto Takuji, 74), 10-Mizunama Kota (11-Saito Manabu, 41), 12-Okamoto Tomotaka, 13-Yamada Naoki; 15-Ostuka Shohei, 17-Hanato Jin (16-Higa Kohei, 41).

Statistical Summary:
                               USA    JPN
Shots                      12        6
Saves                       1        6
Fouls                      15        2
Corner Kicks           7        7
Offside                      1       2

Misconduct Summary:
USA – Howard Turk (caution)                    52nd minute
USA – Bryan Dominguez (caution)           57.
USA – Jared Jeffrey (caution)                    62.
USA – Brek Shea (caution)                        70.
USA – Brandon Zimmerman (caution)    76.