The US U-20 national team may have fallen short of head coach Tab Ramos’ goal of winning the CONCACAF U-20 Championship, but that doesn’t mean he’s disappointed by the way his group has played.
And he fully expects them to live up to what he called a “big moment” when they face off against El Salvador in the third-place playoff game Saturday (5 pm ET; Fox Soccer Plus), with a spot in the U-20 World Cup this summer on the line.
“I want them to acknowledge that this is a big moment, so I do let them know that this is a big moment,” Ramos told MLSsoccer.com on Friday. “… A lot of the guys who have been successful at the next level have been successful at U-20, and one of the ways to do that is by qualifying for the World Cup.”
It was their first two games of the tournament – a 1-1 draw against Guatemala, thanks to a 90th-minute equalizer from the Blue and White, and a 1-0 loss to Panama – that cost them a spot in the tournament championship game. But the US bounced back in a big way, with an 8-0 win over Aruba, a 2-0 win over Jamaica and a 1-0 victory over Trinidad & Tobago to clinch second place in Group A and the No. 1 playoff seed.
“All the players are going to worry about is how well we play and doing the best we can,” Ramos said. “… I think the team has done well in bouncing back and continuing to play well, and now we’re at a point where we can qualify so that’s really all at this point that we care about.”
The US have featured the attacking prowess of Columbus Crew SC forward Romain Gall, who is tied with Mexico’s Hirving Lozano for the tournament lead with five goals and leads all players with 14 shots on goal. The US have proven to be one of the top offensive teams in the tournament and are second with 12 goals and first with 81 shots on goal in their five games.
“At this point, I really can’t see changing too much from what’s been working for us,” Ramos said. “But we also have to remember that El Salvador is a little bit different than Jamaica and Trinidad, so we may make some adjustments in terms of what types of movements we have on the field. But other than that, I’m happy in general of way the tournament is going.”
The US attack will face a stout defensive test in El Salvador, the third-place team from Group B and No. 4 playoff seed, who Ramos expects to be very organized in the back and look for chances on the counter. El Salvador have scored just nine goals but allowed eight.
“I expect them to play pretty similar to the way they’ve been playing throughout the tournament,” Ramos said. “They’re a very organized team defensively and they try to get you on the counter, and they’ve done that well in the tournament. They’re good players. They’re crafty. You can always expect a very good effort from them.”
The US U-20s are 3-3-1 against El Salvador in U-20 qualifying, with their last meeting a 2-0 win for the Red, White and Blue to secure a place in the 2009 U-20 World Cup on goals by Brek Shea and Tony Taylor. The US finished that game with nine men after two ejections.
Ramos expects passions to run high this time around, too.
“From previous matches where we’ve played El Salvador I know the games can get a little dirty, and I’m hoping that this one doesn’t go in that direction,” he said.
