POSTED: Thursday October 1st 2009
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
U.S. MOVES INTO SECOND PLACE IN GROUP C WITH 4-1 WIN AGAINST CAMEROON AT FIFA U-20 WORLD CUP IN EGYPT
* Four Different Players Score as Goals from Arguez, Taylor, Duka and Ownby Lift U.S. Attack * U.S. Moves Into Second Place in Group C with Three Points, Can Clinch Second Round with Victory Against Fourth-Place Korea Repubic on Friday * Match Against K
SUEZ, Egypt (Sept. 29, 2009) – Four different U.S. players scored in a FIFA Under-20 World Cup match for the first time as the U.S. U-20 Men’s National Team earned three key points in its second game of the 2009 U-20 World Cup with a 4-1 victory against Cameroon.
The three-goal win propels the U.S. into second place in Group C on goal difference heading in to the final group match against Korea Republic on Friday, Oct. 2, at 6:45 p.m. local time (12:45 p.m. ET) live on ESPN2 and Galavision. With a win, the U.S. ensures advancement to the Round of 16, but there are a myriad of other advancement scenarios with the top two teams from each group, plus the four best third-place finishers, advancing.
Fourth-place Korea Republic took a point from Germany in the early match to stay alive with one point. Going into the last match Germany leads with four points, and the U.S. sits ahead of Cameroon on goal difference.
U.S. head coach Thomas Rongen made two changes to his starting lineup in midfield, where he inserted Bryan Arguez and Dilly Duka to play alongside Jared Jeffrey. The change paid dividends as each of the debutantes scored a goal and registered an assist, and Jeffrey assisted on the fourth goal.
Arguez’s tally came on a Tony Taylor assist in first-half stoppage time, and in the opening moments of the second half Duka assisted on Taylor’s eventual game-winner. Duka’s goal game in the 67th minute assisted by Arguez, and second-half substitute Brian Ownby scored the fourth goal in second-half stoppage time.
“If you win 4-1 you’re clearly happy, but I’m more happy about the fact that our team responded well to a disappointing opening game against Germany,” said Rongen, who now has a 7-4-1 record in U-20 World Cup matches. “It showed some great character and resilience to manage this game, and it was a huge game for us. We felt we needed three points to get ourselves back in the race for the group, and we did that. I’m very proud of the way that the team handled the loss against Germany and focused our energy on Cameroon. We made a few changes that helped us and that was a result that we desperately needed.”
The other lineup chang es – Rongen made five in all – were Houston Dynamo’s Danny Cruz starting on the right wing while right back Sheanon Williams was available after missing Saturday’s game with a minor ankle injury. On the left side, Jorge Flores, who saw 55 minutes of action against Germany after coming in for an injured Kyle Davies, also got the nod against Cameroon.
As the first half was winding down, Cruz, who was working tirelessly on the right wing all night, earned a free kick just inside the touchline. Duka stepped over to take the out-swinger, which was directed on goal by Ike Opara and pushed wide by Francois Beyokol’s fingertips. Taylor chased down the loose ball and kept it in bounds. The Miami FC forward slotted the ball back across the goal mouth to Arguez, who took a touch and hit a shot that sent the ball into the roof of the net.
Cameroon came out firing in the second half looking for the equalizer early. Seconds after kick off, they played a ball into the box that was chested down by Olivier Boumale, but Opara recovered quickly to strip Boumale and sent the ball out wide for Jeffery to launch the counter attack.
He the ball over the Cameroon back line for an on-rushing Duka, who raced in behind the defense. Duka carried the ball into the penalty area, looked up and calmly slotted the ball centrally for Taylor, who had an empty net to finish in, doubling the U.S. lead.
In the 67th minute, Duka added a goal of his own. Arguez lifted a pass to the left side for the New Jersey native, who passed on the option to play an early ball and waited for the U.S. forwards to get into the box. He took a quick look up before lofting a searching ball to the far post that sailed over the Beyokol and dipped perfectly into the far side netting.
Seven minutes later, Cameroon was able to pull one back when Opara tugged on the shirt of Brice Owona inside the penalty area and referee Jorge Larrionda immediately pointed to the spot and cautioned Opara. Defender Banana Yaya converted the shot high and to his left.
In the 90th minute, Ownby’s goal leveled out the USA’s overall goal differential and moved them ahead of Cameroon in the standings. Jeffrey quickly played a loose ball from just inside the U.S. half behind the Cameroon defenders for Ownby. He outran his defender into the penalty area, and was still able to find the inside of the far post despite being knocked down while taking his shot to make it 4-1.
The result marked the fourth time that the U.S. has scored four or more goals in a game in this event, and the first time that four different Americans scored in one FIFA U-20 World Cup game.
Four U.S. players went into Larrionda’s book in the second half, with Williams, Duka and Ownby joining Opara. Ownby’s caution in the 80th minute was his second of the tournament and he will miss the next match against Korea Republic.
The U.S. is participating in its 12th FIFA U-20 World Cup, and has a chance to win its group for the fifth consecutive time. Of the 24 teams participating in the 2009 event, 16 will advance to the knock-out stage.
- U.S. UNDER-20 MEN’S NATIONAL TEAM MATCH REPORT -
Match: U.S. Under-20 Men’s National Team vs. Cameroon
Date: Sept. 29, 2009
Competition: 2009 FIFA Under-20 World Cup
Venue: Mubarak Stadium; Suez, Egypt
Kickoff: 6:45 p.m. (12:45 p.m. ET)
Attendance: 28,000
Weather: 81 degrees, clear
Scoring Summary: 1 2 F
USA 1 3 4
CMR 0 1 1
USA – Bryan Arguez (Tony Taylor) 45+1th minute
USA – Tony Taylor (Dilly Duka) 47
USA – Dilly Duka (Bryan Arguez) 67
CMR – Banana Yaya (penalty kick) 75
USA – Brian Ownby (Jared Jeffrey) 90+1
Lineups:
USA: 13-Brian Perk (capt.); 4-Sheanon Williams, 2-Gale Agbossoumonde, 16-Ike Opara, 19-Jorge Flores; 8-Jared Jeffrey, 17-Bryan Arguez, 10-Dilly Duka (3-Dillon Powers, 76); 5-Danny Cruz, 7-Tony Taylor (15-Brian Ownby, 74), 20-Brek Shea
Subs not used: 1-Sean Johnson, 18-Josh Lambo, 6-Kyle Davies, 9-Peri Marosevic, 11-Mikkel Diskerud, 12-Aaron Maund, 14-Gerson Mayen, 21-Michael Stephens
Head coach: Thomas Rongen
CMR: 1-Francois Beyokol (capt.); 4-Banana Yaya, 6-Charley Fomen, 7-Olivier Boumale, 9-Brice Owona; 12-Adolphe Teikeu, 13-Parfait Essenque, 17-Germain Tiko (10-Jacques Zoua, 51), 18-Jean Bapidi (5-Enow Tabot, 73), 19-Donald Djousse (14-Patrick Ekeng, 51), 21-Andre Akono Effa
Subs not used: 11-Thierry Tangouantio, 16-Joseph Asong; 2-Olivier Mvondo, 3-Sylvain Abad, 8-Etienne Soppo, 15-Etienne Etoo, 20-Ghislain Mvom
Head Coach: Alain Wabo
Stats Summary: USA / CMR
Shots: 15 / 14
Shots on Goal: 8 / 6
Saves: 5 / 4
Corner Kicks: 3 / 8
Fouls: 14 / 17
Offside: 5 / 2
Misconduct Summary:
CMR – Charley Fomen (caution) 21st minute
USA – Sheanon Williams (caution) 61
USA – Ike Opara (caution) 74
USA – Jared Jeffrey (caution) 76
USA – Brian Ownby (caution) 80
CMR – Banana Yaya (caution) 90+3
Officials:
Referee: Jorge Larrionda (URU)
Assistant Referee 1: Pablo Fandino (URU)
Assistant Referee 2: Mauricio Espinosa (URU)
Fourth Official: Joel Aguilar (SLV)
ussoccer.com Man of the Match:
Dilly Duka
# # #
Keywords · U.S. · FIFA Under-20 World Cup · Cameroon · Thomas Rongen · Jared Jeffrey
Name: Jim Moorhouse
Organization: US Soccer Federation
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