Three rounds of US U-23 Olympic qualifying victory against Dominican Republic Charles Boehm

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Two matches, two victories and on the way for the very important semifinals.

In terms of results, the US men’s under-23 national team is checking all the boxes they need so far at the CONCACAF qualifying tournament.

Sunday’s 4-0 win over the Dominican Republic leads them to six points out of six in Guadalajara, and with the playoffs in sight they can intensify to the usual intensity of a US-Mexico match with clear hearts and calm nerves when they meet theirs Three counterparts in Wednesday’s group stage final.

Now, in terms of performance? This is a more nuanced story, as the young Yankees were hardly dominant until a young, well-drilled team got tired in the late stages of the game. Let’s start from there.

Polishing the stone

I use the term “sanding” to describe this US outing, which has some negative connotations – we all want to see football flowing, slick, sandless in steps, right? But in some cases, a power grinder can do a job, especially when you are a regional giant looking to assert your dominance against minuses and upstarts.

Coach Jason Kreis said after the game that DR threw a US curve with their 3-4-2-1 formation, “a completely different shape than we’ve seen them play so far,” and the discipline and intensity of the Caribbean side avoided Goliath time an hour long enough to stir his nerves before Jackson Yueill’s instinctive end breaks the ice.

“We felt that our boys were a little too cautious about this business. I think our boys were more concerned with the transition than with creating the moments of attack, “said Kreis. “These two things add to a great performance in the first half. But what we saw in the second half was much improved and we are happy to come out with three more points. ”

Yueill usually doesn’t move that far from the defensive midfield. It seems that, in fact, he was not number 6 in this case, Kreis explaining that Andres Perea was assigned the unique pivot with Yueill and Johnny Cardoso from 8, and the final result aside, not everyone seemed completely comfortable. For the coach, “he looked a little different just because of the qualities of the players” and I will agree with that.

Was this a confusion of tasks and trends, or a team that found its way, step by step, to solve the problems in a tournament? Well, some players definitely find their feet …

Stock, stock down

No prize to guess the big winner on Sunday: Hassani Dotson, whose 62nd place in Cardoso’s place coincided with the assertion of control by the United States and culminated in his two goals taken by the expert. The Minnesota United utility also played a role in the winner of the game vs. Costa Rica; proves that it is here for much more than its versatility and that it should be the first choice beginner from now on.

Djordje Mihailovic gave up at the same time and showed much more dangerous working from wide positions than he had as a center in the first game. Kreis will now have to consider whether the CF Montréal man could be more useful on the bench, with tired defenders and, in general, more space to exploit.

Elsewhere, right-back Julian Araujo was not as clean on the ball as usual and could have missed a chance to push him in front of Aaron Herrera for the starting role, while Henry Kessler proved to be a solid option of the central defender, with little to no handover from Mauricio Pineda. Whether it was the lack of impact or the failure of his teammates to understand and reward his movement, Jesus Ferreira saw little of the ball and it seems likely to be turned in favor of Sebastian Soto vs. Mexico.

The funny thing about all of this is that Wednesday’s XI may not reflect the above at all. Although he claimed that the USA fully intends to win that game, Kreis has every reason to gather the resources to be full for the next game after that – the mandatory semifinal against a TBA enemy in Group B. And if not only the qualification, but and winning this live tournament is a top goal, as he said before, they can meet Three again in the final.

In praise of adults

DR is looking for a last place in Group A, but this is not really the real story. The beginners of this event, with the youngest list, Quisqueyanos they were impressive, given the gap between them and the United States. Edison Azcona, Inter Miami’s colleague, and his colleagues were not afraid and executed their game plan effectively, even if their legs and mind disappointed them in the last half hour.

MLS and USL scouts should take into account what is happening with Dominican football. Mexican manager Jacques Passy is a former concacaf who oversees a promising renewal of the limited resource program; On Sunday, he left U-23 at the helm of his assistant Jonathan Himelfarb to prepare for the senior team’s preparation for their upcoming World Cup qualifiers.

“We played 60 minutes, which I think were very good, which was at the level of the game, which is a challenge in itself for us,” said the post-game Himelfarb. “If you look at our range, we have six players who are at least 20 years old and this has become, because of the pandemic and any tournament under 24, so maybe it’s the lack of experience, maybe we’re a little out of rhythm. Mentally, I think we can do better, but yes about the effort and the first 60 minutes I am very proud and certainly the future is bright for the football association in the Dominican Republic. ”

There will be more talents like Azcona rising among the ranks, both at home and among the large populations of Dominican Americans in the states. Many of their youngsters find opportunities in Spain’s lower divisions, and hopefully some wise American or Canadian clubs will also look for diamonds.

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