Preview: U-20 MYNT Takes On Cuba In Second Match Of Concacaf U-20 Championship

U.S.Under-20 Men’s Youth National Team vs. Cuba

2024 Concacaf U-20 Championship

Estadio Miguel Alemán Valdees; Celaya, Mexico

10:06 p.m. ET (FS2, TUDN, and Vix)

July 22, 2024

U-20 MYNT CONTINUES WCQ VS. CUBA:

The U.S. Under-20 Men’s Youth National Team will continue its World Cup qualifying quest on Monday, July 22, against Cuba (10:06 p.m. ET; FS2, TUDN, and Vix). The USA kicked off the 2024 Concacaf U-20 Championship with a dominating 9-0 win over Jamaica as seven different players had a goal contribution in the match.

Cuba battled Costa Rica to a 1-1 draw in its first game despite taking the lead with a Samuel Rodriguez penalty kick in the 8th minute. The top two teams in each group automatically advance to the knockout rounds plus the two-best third place finishers.

2024 CONCACAF U-20 CHAMPIONSHIP

USA SCHEDULE - GROUP A

USA VS. CUBA

The USA is 4-0-2 vs. Cuba all-time at the Concacaf U-20 Championship. The nations last squared off in 2022, a 3-0 win for the U.S. in Tegucigalpa, Honduras.

Cuba is making its 15th appearance in the U-20 Concacaf Championship. The country’s previous best performance at the tournament is two runner-up finishes in 1970 and 1974.

Under the new tournament format, Cuba played in a qualifying stage to reach the group stage. Qualifying Group A took place in Managua, Nicaragua, From February 23-March2. Cuba went unbeaten through the group with wins over host Nicaragua, British Virgin Islands, Belize, and Anguilla.

At the 2022 Concacaf U-20 Championship, Cuba finished second in Group E with a 2-0-1 record and advanced to the Round of 16. In the round of 16, Cuba lost 1-0 to Panama.

All 21 of Cuba’s playrs are based domestically with six players coming from La Habana.

2024 CONCACAF U-20 CHAMPIONSHIP

GROUP A STANDINGS

GROUP A RESULTS

Friday, July 19

USA 10, Jamaica 0

Cuba 1, Costa Rica 1

ALL GAS NO BREAKS FOR USA:

The U.S. U-20 MYNT got off to a roaring start in World Cup qualifying with a 9-0 thrashing of Jamaica on Friday night. Midfielder David Vazquez led the way with two goals and two assist, netting his brace within the first three minutes of the match. Fellow midfielder Pedro Soma earned a brace of his own, scoring both of his goals following Vazquez to give USA a 4-0 lead 20 minutes into the match. The scoring continued throughout the match with Cruz Medina (39th minute), Marcos Zambrano (54th), Ruben Ramos, Jr. (67th), Nimfasha Berchimas (76th), and Nike Tsakiris (90+1) each netting a goal of their own.

CUBA CAN’T HOLD ON TO LEAD:

Cuba benefitted from an early penalty call to take a 1-0 lead in the 8th minute thanks to a Samuel Rodriguez penalty kick. The team got an even bigger boost in the 39th minute when goalkeeper Yurdy Hodelín made a big penalty save to preserve his team’s lead. But Costa Rica ultimately found an equalizer in 52nd minute to steal a point away on opening night.

2024 CONCACAF U-20 CHAMPIONSHIP ROSTER BY POSITION (COLLEGE OR CLUB; HOMETOWN)

GOALKEEPERS (3): Adam Beaudry (Colorado Rapids; Castle Pines, Colo.), Julian Eyestone (Brentford FC/ENG; Dallas, Texas), Duran Ferree (Orange County SC; San Diego, Calif.)

DEFENDERS (6): Luca Bambino (Los Angeles FC; Saugus, Calif.), Noah Cobb (Atlanta United FC; Chattanooga, Tenn.), Aiden Harangi (Eintracht Frankfurt/GER; Reston, Va.), Stuart Hawkins (Seattle Sounders FC; Fox Island, Wash.), Ethan Kohler (Werder Bremen/GER; Campbell, Calif.), Nolan Norris (FC Dallas; Fort Worth, Texas)

MIDFIELDERS (6): Taha Habroune (Columbus Crew; Columbus, Ohio), Cruz Medina (San Jose Earthquakes; San Francisco, Calif.), Sergio Oregel Jr. (Chicago Fire FC; Chicago, Ill.), Brooklyn Raines (Houston Dynamo FC; Chicago, Ill.), Pedro Soma (UE Cornella/ESP; Coconut Creek, Fla.), Niko Tsakiris (San Jose Earthquakes; Saratoga, Calif.)

FORWARDS (6): NimfashaBerchimas (Charlotte FC; High Point, N.C.), Keyrol Figueroa (Liverpool/ENG; Warrington, England), Zavier Gozo (Real Salt Lake; Eagle Mountain, Utah), Ruben Ramos Jr. (LA Galaxy; La Puente, Calif.), David Vazquez (Philadelphia Union; Los Angeles, Calif.), Marcos Zambrano (Vitoria Guimaraes/POR; Parkland, Fla.)

ADDITIONAL NOTES:

Fifteen players made their U-20 international debuts against Jamaica: goalkeeper Adam Beaudry, defenders Luca Bombino, Nolan Norris, Noah Cobb, and Aiden Harangi; midfielders Brooklyn Raines, Taha Habroune, Pedro Soma, Sergio Oregel, Cruz Medina, Ruben Ramos Jr., David Vasquez, and Zavier Gozo; and forwards Marcos Zambrano and Nimfasha Berchimas.

Midfielder Niko Tsakiris officially appeared in his second U-20 Concacaf Championship when he was subbed on in the 63rd minute. He also netted his fifth career goal with the U20MYNT.

• Four different players tallied at least one goal and one assist: Ruben Ramos, Jr., David Vazquez, Marcos Zambrano, and Nimfasha Berchimas.
• USA has won a match 9-0 just one other time in its U-20 Concacaf Championship history: a 9-0 win over the Dominican Republic on September 26, 1976.

CUBA ROSTER (CLUB):

GOALKEEPERS (3): 1-Yorlan Urgelles Wilson (Guantanamo), 12-Yurdy Hodelin (Guantanamo), Yurixander Zayas (Ciego de Avila)

DEFENDERS (5): 2- Elvis Casanova (FC Villa Clara), 3-Ricardo Polo (Las Tunas FC), 5-Karel Perez, 8-Leandro Mena (FC Santiago de Cuba), 16-Norlys Chavez (FC Matanzas)

MIDFIELDERS (6): 4-Walberto León (Las Tunas FC), 6- Marcos Campos (FC Holguin), 10-Michael Camejo (La Habana), 11-Ricardo Torres (FC Artemisa),14-Maikol Vega (La Habana), 20-Samuel Rodríguez (FC Sancti Spiritus)

FORWARDS (7): 7-Aniel Casanova (FC Villa Clara), 9-David Pérez (La Habana), 13-Didier Reinoso (La Habana), 15-Jade Quiñones (La Habana), 17-Cristin Mendoza (FC Granma), 18-Yordan Castañer (La Habana), 19-Enmanuel Torres (FC Santiago de Cuba)

ROAD TO MEXICO:

Head coach Michael Nsien had two training camps to prepare for World Cup qualifying. The team traveled to Morocco in late March and then traveled to South America for matches in Argentina and Uruguay.

In Morocco, the team beat England 3-2, followed by a tough 1-0 lost to host Morocco. In South America, USA swept its two matches, blanking Argentina and Uruguay in a pair of 1-0 wins.

TOURNAMENT FORMAT:

The biennial Concacaf U-20 Championship will qualify four teams to the 2025 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Chile and crown a confederation champion for North America, Central America and the Caribbean.

This year’s tournament will be the first using the new format approved by Concacaf’s Council in February 2023 for future U-17 and U-20 tournaments. Three major changes were made:

1. The number of automatically qualified teams for the final tournament was reduced from 16 to six. Teams ranked 7-41 in the CONCACAF Men’s Under-20 Rankings had to participate in a qualifying stage.
2. The group stage is now just three groups of four teams instead of four groups.
3. The round of 16 was eliminated.

Twelve teams from across the Concacaf region will compete at the tournament. The top six ranked U-20 Concacaf teams automatically qualified:

1. USA
2. Honduras
3. Mexico
4. Panama
5. Costa Rica
6. Dominican Republic.

The six remaining teams (Cuba, El Salvador, Guatemala, Canada, Haiti, and Jamaica) qualified for the main tournament through the qualifying round which took place from February 23 to March 2 in five different host countries.

The group stage is made up of three groups of four teams playing a round-robin format. Eight teams, the top two teams in each group and the two best third-place teams, advance to the quarterfinals to begin the knockout stage. The teams then play a single-elimination format to crown the champion.

The four quarterfinals winners will qualify for the 2025 U-20 FIFA World Cup in Chile.

All 25 tournament matches will take place at two venues in Celaya and Irapuato in Mexico.

The U.S. has participated in 25 of 28 Concacaf U-20 Championships, including each tournament since 1974, and qualified for the World Cup in 16 of 23 attempts. After missing the 2011 tournament, the U.S. has played in the last four U-20 World Cups and is the only nation to reach the quarterfinals in the last three competitions/meetings.