DAEJEON, Korea – The U.S. Under-20 Men’s National Team finished atop Group F at the 2017 FIFA U-20 World Cup after a 1-1 draw with Saudi Arabia, striking first and then being forced to play a man down for 45 minutes Sunday.

The result sees the USA advance to the Round of 16 for a second-straight tournament, where Group E runner up New Zealand awaits.

It was another solid performance from the U.S., which enjoyed the majority of possession and attacking opportunities in a first half that saw young Yanks take the lead but also suffer what could be some costly cards as right back Aaron Herrera and defensive midfielder Derrick Jones were both issued cautions that will keep them out of the next match.

The USA’s positive play was rewarded in the 40th minute when Brooks Lennon capitalized on a sleeping Saudi defense to tap home a rebound to give his team the lead and record his first goal of the tournament.

Shortly before the goal, U.S. center back Cameron Carter-Vickers had been shown a yellow card when a Saudi player went down easily after Carter-Vickers had touched his shoulder as the two found themselves in a footrace near midfield. Carter-Vickers and the USA would suffer from a second dubious caution five minutes later when referee Diego Haro harshly brandished another yellow card, reducing the U.S. to 10 men at the stroke of halftime.

Playing a man down for the entirety of the second 45, the well-organized U.S. defense dug in and surrendered very few opportunities, buttressed by the addition of center back Justen Glad.

The Green Falcons managed to get on the board via a corner kick in the 75th minute as Abdulelah Alamri headed home to level the match, but it was all they could muster as the U.S. maintained their defensive pressure and closed out the match without giving away a significant opportunity.

Simultaneously in Group F, Ecuador and Senegal played to a 0-0 draw. The result secured second spot for Senegal, while ending Ecuador’s time at the tournament as they exited bottom of the group.

The U.S. now moves on to play New Zealand in the Round of 16 at Incheon Stadium in Incheon, Korea Republic. Kickoff is set for 7 a.m. ET on FS1, FOX Sports Go and Telemundo En Vivo. The two nations previously met during the group stage of the 2015 FIFA U-20 World Cup, with the United States collecting a 4-0 shutout. Fans can also follow the action on Twitter@ussoccer_ynt and @ussoccer_esp.

2017 FIFA U-20 World Cup Group F Standings
Team GP W L D Pts. GF GA GD
USA 3 1 0 2 5 5 4 +1
Senegal 3 1 1 1 4 2 1 +1
Saudi Arabia 3 1 1 1 4 3 4 -1
Ecuador 3 0 1 2 1 4 5 -1

 

Scoring Summary: 1 2 F
USA                        1 0 1 
KSA                        0 1 1

USA – Brooks Lennon                             40th minute
KSA – Abdulelah Alamri (Sami Alnaji)       74

Lineups:
USA: 1-Jonathan Klinsmann; 3-Danny Acosta, 5-Erik Palmer-Brown (capt.), 16-Cameron Carter-Vickers, 14-Aaron Herrera; 20-Luca de la Torre (7-Eryk Williamson, 89), 18-Derrick Jones, 8-Tyler Adams; 11-Sebastian Saucedo (6-Justen Glad, 46), 19-Josh Sargent (9-Emmanuel Sabbi, 70), 17-Brooks Lennon
Subs not used: 2-Auston Trusty, 4-Tommy Redding, 12-James Marcinkowski, 13-Lagos Kunga, 15-Jeremy Ebobisse, 21-Brady Scott
Not available: 10-Gedion Zelalem
Head coach: Tab Ramos

KSA : 1-Amin Albukhari; 2-Anas Zabbani (20-Mansour Almuwallad, 73), 5-Abdulelah Alamri, 6-Sami Alnaji (capt.), 7-Khalid Alsamiri (19-Fahad Alrashidi, 58), 10-Ayman Alkhulaif, 11-Abdulrahman Alyami, 13-Hassan Altambakti, 14-Ali Alasmari, 16-Abdulrahman Aldosari, 17-Abdullah Tarmin (15-Naif Kireiri, 68)
Subs not used: 3-Mohammad Albassas, 4-Awn Alsaluli, 8-Yousef Alharbi, 9-Hassan Alqayd, 12-Saleh Alohaymid, 18-Nasser Aldawsari, 21-Mohammed Alyami
Head coach: Saad Alshehri

Stats Summary: USA / KSA
Shots: 9 / 12
Shots on Goal: 2 / 5
Saves: 4 / 1
Corner Kicks: 4 / 5
Fouls: 14 / 18
Offside: 0 / 0

Misconduct Summary:
USA – Aaron Herrera (caution)                          8th minute
KSA – Abdulrahman Aldosari (caution)              23
KSA – Sami Alnaji (caution)                             30
USA – Derrick Jones (caution)                          32
KSA – Abdullah Tarmin (caution)                       33
USA – Cameron Carter-Vickers (caution)           40
USA – Cameron Carter-Vickers (caution)            45
USA – Cameron Carter-Vickers (sent off)           45
KSA – Abdulelah Alamri (caution)                      65

Officials: 
Referee: Diego Haro (PER)
Assistant Referee 1: Jonny Bossio (PER)
Assistant Referee 2: Raul Lopez (PER)
Fourth Official: Mario Diaz de Vivar (PAR)

ussoccer.com Man of the Match: Tyler Adams

 

Front Row Soccer editor Michael Lewis has covered 13 World Cups (eight men, five women), seven Olympics and 25 MLS Cups. He has written about New York City FC, New York Cosmos, the New York Red Bulls and both U.S. national teams for Newsday and has penned a soccer history column for the Guardian.com. Lewis, who has been honored by the Press Club of Long Island and National Soccer Coaches Association of America, is the former editor of BigAppleSoccer.com. He has written seven books about the beautiful game and has published ALIVE AND KICKING The incredible but true story of the Rochester Lancers. It is available at Amazon.com.