D.C. United fell 2-0 to the U.S. U-23 Men's National Team Saturday morning at IMG Academy in Bradenton, FL, as goals from Jozy Altidore and Charlie Davies paced the U.S.
The U.S. men came out flying and put heavy pressure on United's defense in the early going. In the ninth minute the 23s got on the board, as midfielder Arturo Alvarez carried the ball deep into D.C.'s left corner, before striking a low cross through the goal box. The ball went untouched to the far side and directly into the path of Stuart Holden who hit a first time ball back into the middle where a waiting Jozy Altidore had an easy put-away from six yards.
The U.S. controlled much of the possession throughout and created a handful of decent chances, before United's best chance to score in the 30th minute, when Niell was release down the right flank. The forward collected the ball and fed a pass centrally to Jaime Moreno who helped the ball along to Marcelo Gallardo. The Argentine hit a high, dipping shot but U.S. goalkeeper Chris Seitz was ready and jumped to corral the ball above his head.
A minute later, Domenic Mediate sent Moreno behind the defense with a well placed pass, which led to a driven cross from the Bolivian. Niell was on the end of the pass, but his first time shot sailed left.
Much like Friday's game versus the U-17s, Saturday's second half saw a complete lineup overall for Head Coach Tom Soehn's team, as 11 new players were put in during the break.
The beginning of the half saw a slightly more tepid pace as each team settled in. United's best chance to score came in the 72nd when Guy-Roland Kpene flicked a long ball over his defender and into the path of Ardalan Attar. Attar attempted to both corral the ball and fight off his defender, somehow managing to tap the ball up over the onrushing goalkeeper. The shot, however, sailed a few feet over the goal.
The U.S. would double their lead ten minutes from the final whistle when forward Charlie Davies was fed the ball deep in United's right side of the field. Davies fought off one defender and smashed a ball just inside the near post past a recovering James Thorpe. The 2-0 score line would stand at the close of the friendly.
United will regroup this evening for a light training session and prepare for its next friendly, which comes on Tuesday versus Toronto FC.
Scoring Summary:
U.S. - Jozy Altidore (Stuart Holden, Arturo Alvarez) 9
U.S. - Charlie Davies (Adam Cristman) 80
DCU Lineup:
Jose Carvallo (James Thorpe 45); Bryan Namoff (Tony Schmitz 45), Gonzalo Martinez (Jeff Carroll 45), Marc Burch (Brandon Owens 45), Domenic Mediate (Grady Renfrow 45), Clyde Simms (Dan Stratford 45), Marcelo Gallardo (Justin Moose 45), Devon McTavish (Ryan Cordeiro 45); Jaime Moreno (Ardalan Attar 45, Guy-Roland Kpene 73), Franco Niell (Jerson Monteiro 45)
USA lineup:
USA: 1-Chris Seitz (24-Tally Hall, 30; 24-Dominic Cervi, 60); 3-Marvell Wynne (22-Chance Myers, 45), 2-Pat Ianni, 4-Maurice Edu (5-Nate Sturgis, 45), 21-Mike Randolph (23-Anthony Wallace, 45); 8-Stuart Holden (6-Eddie Gaven, 45), 10-Dax McCarty (17-Kamani Hill, 45), 16-Sacha Kljestan, 7-Arturo Alvarez (14-Robbie Rogers, 45); 12-Josmer Altidore (9-Charlie Davies, 45), 15-Chad Barrett (20-Adam Cristman, 45)
Notes: Rod Dyachenko and Jamil Walker were held out of Saturday's game due to slight injuries picked up on Friday... Reigning MLS MVP Luciano Emilio was in attendance after arriving in Bradenton Friday evening... Fred is expected to arrive from Brazil at some point Sunday.
