SALT LAKE CITY - The Real Salt Lake trio of MF Freddy Adu, GK Chris Seitz, and DF Nathan Sturgis earned their second straight starts for the U.S. Under-20 Men's National Team, who turned things around in the 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup by posting a dominating 6-1 victory over Poland this afternoon at Olympic Stadium in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Adu would set the tone for the USA, scoring three goals on the day to give the Red, White & Blue a crucial three points that put the squad atop a tough Group D with one game remaining in pool play.
After the U.S. fell behind just six minutes into the match, Sturgis and his backline mates would put the clamps on the Polish attack, as the goal from FW Dawid Jancyzk would mark the only shot on goal faced by Seitz on the day. But the afternoon would belong to Adu, who hit a pair of stunning left-footed goals in the first half that allowed the U.S. to breathe a bit easier heading into the halftime break.
Adu would strike first in the 20th minute, hitting a rising drive from 15 yards out past fully extended Polish netminder Bartosz Bialkowski and off the far left post to give the Americans their first lead at 2-1. Just before halftime Adu would strike again, the 18-year-old collecting a square ball from FW Sal Zizzo after his lengthy run down the right flank and depositing a 12-yard shot into the upper left corner of goal to advance the score to 3-1. Adu would finish off his hat trick - just the second for an American player in FIFA U-20 World Cup play (Chris Faklaris v. Turkey in 1993) - four minutes from time, as he collected a through ball from FW Robbie Rogers and took two touches past a diving Bialkowski before calmly finishing at the left post to bring the score to its eventual 6-1 finish.
With the result, the United States (1-0-1, 4 pts.) moved into first place in Group D standings, sitting one point above Poland (1-1-0, 3 pts.), three points clear of South Korea (0-0-1, 1 pt.) and four points ahead of perennial powerhouse Brazil (0-1-0, 0 pts.). The USA is assured of finishing the day with at least a share of first place, as South Korea and Brazil square off this evening at Olympic Stadium. However, the USA's offensive onslaught today gives the side a +5 goal differential, which stands as the first tiebreaker at the finish of group play. The USA will close out Group D play this Friday, July 6, when the team heads to the Canadian capital of Ottawa, Ontario to take on Brazil at 5:30 p.m. MT (live on ESPNU and Galavision).
