In the team's final friendly before the FIFA Under-20 World Cup, the United States defeated Chile 2-1 at Giants Stadium on Saturday afternoon in the first game of an international doubleheader.
The U.S. women's national team faced rival Brazil in the second game.
Freddy Adu (Real Salt Lake) and Robbie Rogers (Columbus Crew) scored goals late in each half, Adu in the first and Rogers in the second, to give the USA the victory, before Chile scored a late penalty kick for the final margin.
Adu had the first chance of the game, but he put his free kick from 22 yards out off the outside netting to the left of goalkeeper Christopher Toselli in the 10th minute. Adu nearly connected with Jozy Altidore on another free kick in the 18th minute, but Toselli did well to punch the ball away from the Red Bulls forward.
U.S. forward Johann Smith was the first player carded on 20 minutes and Gerardo Cortes put the free kick from 20 yards out wide to the right of Chris Seitz (Real Salt Lake). Chile's Mathias Vidangossy also pressured Seitz, but the Real Salt Lake keeper stepped back and grabbed the ball just before the goal line.
The pair of MLS standout forwards combined for the goal as Altidore outmuscled a Chilean defender, dribbled into the box and crossed to a wide open Adu at the top of the box. The Real Salt Lake forward took one touch before beating Toselli with a left-footed shot from 16 yards out on 34 minutes.
Danny Szetela (Columbus Crew) nearly doubled the U.S. lead, but his low rocket from the top of the box was just wide to Toselli's right in the 39th minute.
Rogers also came close in the first minute of first-half stoppage time, but his shot from 20 yards out just missed the target. The Crew forward didn't miss, though, in the 77th minute, taking Adu's cross, cutting outside of a defender and blistering a shot into the upper 90 to give the U.S. a 2-0 lead in the 77th minute.
Adu nearly added a third goal two minutes later, but his glancing header caromed off the crossbar.
Chile pulled within a goal in the 81st minute after Real Salt Lake defender Nathan Sturgis was called for pulling down Jaime Grondona in the box. Alexis Sanchez took the penalty and beat Seitz down the middle.
The physical match featured a combined eight yellow cards between the two World Cup qualifiers.
The U.S., which makes its sixth consecutive appearance in the U-20 World Cup, improved to 5-2-1 in international matches this year. The U.S., which has been drawn into Group D with Korea Republic, Poland and Brazil, will open the World Cup against Korea June 30 at The Olympic Stadium in Montreal.
Coached by Thomas Rongen, the U.S. will then take on Poland July 3 in Montreal and finish group play against four-time U-20 world champions Brazil at Frank Clair Stadium in Ottawa.
Chile has been drawn into Group A with tournament host Canada, Congo and Austria. They open against Canada July 1 at BMO Field in Toronto.
Dylan Butler is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
