KADUNA, Nigeria -- With the American team eliminated from the FIFA U-17 World Cup after a 2-1 loss to Italy, an evaluation of the team's performance -- in their knockout round match Wednesday with Italy and in the tournament in general -- is really a matter of recognizing that there are two sides to every coin.
On one hand, maybe the U.S. U-17 team never played to their full potential in Nigeria. They demonstrated plenty of skill and flair, and outpossessed all their opponents, but couldn't quite put all the pieces together. On the other hand, the team left little evidence that they could do better, as chance after chance to prove their quality on the international stage slipped away over 10 days.
"Italy won; they deserve it," coach Wilmer Cabrera said of this match, the fourth in a row in which his team managed a single goal from multiple chances to score. "They are clinical to finish the opportunities that they had. They had two, three opportunities and they put the ball in the net. For us throughout the competition it's been difficult to put the ball in the net. So now we have to leave the tournament."
As has become a custom for them here in Nigeria, the Americans wasted a number of chances in this quarterfinal matchup in Kaduna -- including a penalty kick early in the first half -- on their way to losing to an Italian side stocked by players affiliated with Serie A clubs, who knew exactly how to do everything they had to in securing a 2-1 victory and moving on to the quarterfinals.
On this day, the U.S. had its best opportunity in the early going, when the Americans were awarded a penalty kick after Italian defender Federico Mannini -- alone in the box -- handled a throw-in from a teammate. But Jack McInerney was unable to get the resulting shot past goalkeeper Francesco Bardi. That turn of events took the wind out of the American sails, and things went downhill from there.
After a series of half chances for the Europeans, Italy took the lead through AC Milan starlet Giacomo Beretta on the half-hour mark, and the Americans were forced to chase the game against a resolute Italian defense. Cabrera's team did little to help themselves in a subpar first half replete with turnovers in the midfield that sent the Italians off on the counter, along with some shaky play on the back line.
However, the second half was a different story, as the U.S. managed to turn things around quickly. After McInerney saw another point-blank attempt pushed onto the bar by Bardi, Nick Palodichuk equalized off a corner kick six minutes into the half.
"We got ripped apart in the locker room," McInerney said. "We figured out what we needed to do to fix it, and came out with the attitude that this could be our last 45 minutes, and came out and played better. But it was just one of those days. It wasn't my day."
The Americans outplayed the Italians for long stretches but couldn't do the little things needed to defeat a team that was every bit as good as they were technically and tactically. Just a few minutes after the U.S. had evened the match, it gave the Italians a little too much space in back, and forward Pietro Iemmello took advantage from 25 yards, for what would be the deciding strike.
The Americans spent the rest of the game elaborating on the same old theme of wasted opportunities, even with five forwards on the field in the final minutes. For the final half hour, they showed one more glimpse of what could have been, controlling the tempo and playing with a lot of flair, as they have throughout the tournament.
"The American team is a very strong team, with technically impressive players in the attack," Italian coach Pasquale Salerno said. "They complicated the game for us greatly, and I'm really happy to have been able to get away with the victory. If we had to play 30 minutes more, we would likely have lost."
So with another American youth team headed home from a World Cup at a relatively early stage, despite some praise and positive developments along the way, is the glass half full, or half empty?
The team seems to have a number of players with bright futures, and if this attacking style is a sign of things to come, perhaps this generation could still be the first in a renaissance of American soccer. Coach Cabrera, at least, is among the believers.
"I leave the tournament proud of my kids, because they respect the game," said Cabrera. "Everywhere we went, we tried to play, to put the ball on the ground, create several options. We showed that personality. So this is a step up, but obviously the difference in this sport is when you score goals, and we couldn't make the difference."
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