USA Aims To Bounce Back Vs. Japan At U-17 World Cup

U.S. Under-17 Men’s National Team vs. Japan

2019 FIFA Under-17 World Cup – Group D

Estadio Kleber Andrade; Cariacica, Brazil

Oct. 30, 2019 -6:50 p.m. ET; FS2, Universo

 

U-17 MNT LOOKS TO GET BACK ON TRACK: The U.S. U-17 MNT will return to action at the FIFA U-17 World Cup vs. Japan on Wednesday, Oct. 30 (6:50 p.m. ET; FS2, Universo). After dropping its first match vs. Senegal, the USA will rebound against the Asian champion, who won its first match 3-0 against Netherlands.

The top two teams in each of the six U-17 World Cup groups advance to the Round of 16, plus the four best-ranked third-placed teams. Follow the U-17 MNT throughout the tournament on ussoccer.com , Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

DIGITAL MEDIA GUIDE: For more information on the U.S. U-17 MNT at the U-17 World Cup in Brazil, check out the team’s digital media guide here.

USA GROUP D SCHEDULE

 

WATCH THE FIFA U-17 WC: All of the USA’s matches at the U-17 World Cup will be broadcast on the Fox Sports and Telemundo platforms. The second and third matches will be broadcast live on FS2 and Universo. The full Fox broadcast schedule can be found here.

USA VS. JAPAN

• The USA is 0-2-0 against Japan all-time at this tournament, falling in the 2001 group stage in Trinidad and Tobago and the 1995 group stage in Ecuador.

• The U.S. is 6-7-1 all-time against Asian Football Confederation teams at the U-17 World Cup.

• Defender Tayvon Gray will miss the match vs. Japan after receiving a red card in the 87th minute vs. Senegal.

• This year marks Japan’s ninth appearance at the U-17 World Cup. The Samurai Blue reached the quarterfinals as host in 1993 and in 2011, their best performances at the tournament.

• All 21 players are based domestically in Japan, with the most players coming from Shonan Bellmare. Thirteen of 21 are currently on the books at clubs in the J1 League, Japan’s top flight.

• Head coach Yoshiro Moriyama made seven appearances for Japan’s senior National Team.

GROUP STANDINGS AND RESULTS

 

Date                Match-up                                Venue

Oct. 27            Senegal 4, USA 1                     Estadio Kleber Andrade; Cariacica, Brazil

Oct. 27            Japan 3, Netherlands 0           Estadio Kleber Andrade; Cariacica, Brazil


TOUGH OPENER VS. SENEGAL: Despite a fast start, the USA dropped a disappointing 4-1 result to Senegal to kick off the World Cup. Gianluca Busio tied the U.S. record for a fastest goal at the U-17 World Cup with a third-minute header off of a Joe Scally cross to give the red, white and blue an early lead. While Damian Las parried a few dangerous attempts from Senegal, the tournament debutants equalized just before the half.

The U.S. had a few chances to reclaim its advantage after the break, but it wasn’t able to find the back of the net. Senegal broke through in the 72nd minute to open the floodgates with an electric counterattack and added another just four minutes later. The final blow came in the 88th, as Senegal ripped a free kick from just outside the box into goal following a red card to Tayvon Gray.

STRONG START FOR THE SAMURAI BLUE: Japan emerged victorious from a showdown of confederation champions in its first match. The Samurai Blue, champion of Asia, downed European champs Netherlands in a resounding 3-0 win. While things were back and forth in the early going, Japan netted before the break as Jun Nishikawa teed up Yamato Wakatsuki for the opening goal in the 36th minute. The pair combined again in the 69th minute and Nishikawa put the game away from the penalty spot in the 77th.

2019 FIFA U-17 WORLD CUP USA ROSTER BY POSITION (CAPS/GOALS)

GOALKEEPERS (3): 21-Aaron Cervantes (Orange County SC; Chino Hills, Calif.; 4/0), 1-Damian Las (Fulham/ENG; Norridge, Ill.; 20/0), 12-Chituru Odunze (Leicester City/ENG; London, England; 7/0)

DEFENDERS (7): 15-Sebastian Anderson (Colorado Rapids; Highlands Ranch, Colo.; 4/0), 13-Adam Armour (North Carolina FC; Cary, N.C.; 19/0), 3-George Bello (Atlanta United FC; Douglasville, Ga.; 8/1), 4-Nicolas Carrera (FC Dallas; Frisco, Texas; 3/0), 14-Tayvon Gray (New York City FC; Bronx, N.Y.; 18/0), 5-Kobe Hernandez-Foster (Unattached; Los Angeles, Calif.; 24/3), 2-Joe Scally (New York City FC; Lake Grove, N.Y.; 20/1)

MIDFIELDERS (5): 18-Maximilian Dietz (Freiburg/GER; Frankfurt, Germany; 2/0), 17-Ethan Dobbelaere (Seattle Sounders FC; Seattle, Wash.; 4/0), 8-Bryang Kayo (Orange County SC; Poolesville, Md.; 8/1), 6-Daniel Leyva (Seattle Sounders FC; Las Vegas, Nev.; 8/0), 16-Adam Saldana (LA Galaxy; Panorama City, Calif.; 26/2)

FORWARDS (6): 7-Gianluca Busio (Sporting Kansas City; Greensboro, N.C.; 16/8), 20-Andres Jasson (New York City FC; Greenwich, Conn.; 12/1), 19-Alfonso Ocampo-Chavez (Seattle Sounders FC; Merced, Calif.; 25/9), 9-Ricardo Pepi (FC Dallas; McKinney, Texas; 16/5), 10-Gio Reyna (Borussia Dortmund/GER; Bedford, N.Y.; 16/8), 11-Griffin Yow (D.C. United; Clifton, Va.; 13/7)

JAPAN – 2019 FIFA U-17 WORLD CUP ROSTER BY POSITION (CLUB)

GOALKEEPERS (3): 12-Taishi Nozawa (FC Tokyo), 21-Masato Sasaki (Kashiwa Reysol), 1-Zion Suzuki (Urawa Red Diamonds)

DEFENDERS (6): 3-Riku Handa (Montedio Yamagata), 5-Taiga Hata (Funabashi High School), 15-Yosuke Murakami (Omiya Ardija), 4-Shinya Nakano (Sagan Tosu), 18-Kohshiro Sumi (FC Tokyo), 2-Kaito Suzuki (Jubilo Iwata)

MIDFIELDERS (10): 6-Joel Chima Fujita (Tokyo Verdy), 7-Shunsuke Mito (JFA Academy Fukushima), 20-Shuto Mitsuda (Nagoya Grampus), 14-Keita Nakano (Kyoto Sanga), 8-Hikaru Naruoka (Shimizu S-Pulse), 19-Sohki Tamura (Kashiwa Reysol), 17-Satoshi Tanaka (Shonan Bellmare), 9-Yamato Wakaatsuki (Shonan Bellmare), 16-Kakeru Yamauchi (Vissel Kobe), 13-Asahi Yokokawa (Shonan Bellmare)

FORWARDS (2): 10-Jun Nishikawa (Cerezo Osaka), 11-Shoji Toyama (Gamba Osaka)

HOW THEY GOT HERE:

• Japan qualified for the U-17 World Cup as champions of the 2018 AFC U-16 Championship in Malaysia after an undefeated six-game run.

• In the group stage, Japan took down Thailand 5-2, drew Tajikistan 0-0 and defeated Malaysia 2-0.

• After an evenly matched first half in the quarterfinals, Shoji Toyama netted a late goal to down Oman 2-1.

• Japan fell behind early to Australia in the semifinals, but roared back in the second-half with three unanswered goals. Toyama bagged a brace in the span of 10 minutes to help secure a 3-1 win.

• The Samurai Blue claimed its third AFC title with a 1-0 victory over Tajikistan. Jun Nishikawa scored the game’s lone goal in the 63rd.