KAYSERI, Turkey – After watching his team squander some good scoring opportunities and dangerous attacks through its first two Under-20 World Cup matches, US playmaker Luis Gil has a rather simple solution to unleashing their full offensive potential against their next foe, Ghana:
Create more shots.
With the US needing a victory in their Group A finale (Thursday, 1 pm ET, ESPNU) to continue their adventure in Turkey, they'll have to take advantage of a Ghanaian team that has leaked four goals in consecutive losses. The Americans have scored once in each of their games, but know an offensive outbreak against Ghana will give them a greater margin of error.
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"I think we just need to shoot more," Gil told reporters at Wednesday's pregame press conference. "We can be more aggressive in taking on guys one-on-one, get them on their heels early so that way we'll make space [for shooters]."
The Real Salt Lake midfielder hit the lone US goal in their tourney-opening loss to Spain on a spectacular individual play, but had a potentially game-tying penalty kick saved in game two against France. When asked by MLSsoccer.com whether it was easy to forget the spot failure, he took a brief pause before answering.
"A little bit," said Gil. "Every single player misses a PK. It's just about how you bounce back in the next game."
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Gil and his teammates will be hoping they all bounce back enough to guarantee at least one more game in their World Cup run.
