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FIFA U-17 World Championship Preview: US v Italy [Tue Sep 20th, 2005]
US (1-0-0, 3 pts) v Italy (1-0-0, 3 pts)
When: 4:30 pm ET, Tuesday, September 20, 2005
Where: Estadio Elias Aguirre Romero, Chiclayo, Peru
There may be a measure of revenge on the line for the US when they clash with Italy. That's because Italy knocked the Americans out of the U-20 World Championship earlier this summer.
The players involved for both countries that day are completely different, but from the American perspective, US U-17 forward Preston Zimmerman summed it up best:
"It’s Italy. They’re a world power in football and they beat our U-20s, so we want to get a little revenge for that," said Zimmerman." We don’t want them to think they can walk all over the Americans."
On Saturday, Italy were involved in a spectacular 4-3 victory over tricky Ivory Coast. The last four minutes produced a range of emotions for the Azzurini, who scored to go ahead 3-2, only to see the lead evaporate when Ivory Coast tied it at three apiece. But Salvatore Foti rescued all three points for the Italians one minute from time.
The United States saw off North Korea 3-2, but they certainly did not convince anyone of their pre-tournament prowess. John Hackworth's young men failed to find much of a rhythm or to keep consistent tabs on the Korean attackers. The play was sloppy and choppy at times, but perhaps it was due more to fatigue from the 31-hour journey from America to Peru than it was to poor skill levels.
At any rate, skipper Ofori Sarkodie faces a hard task marshaling the back line and communicating better with goalkeeper Bryant Rueckner. A miscommunication between Rueckner and defender Kevin Alston gifted the Koreans their first goal of the match. And the Azzurini present a much more significant attacking threat than the Asians.
Forward Quavas Kirk will have to take more initiative on the right wing and to assert his size and significan skill on the match if the Americans hope to break down a well-organized Italian defense and steal a result.
Neither camp reports any major injury concerns, so both sides should be lining up full throttle for this pivotal match.
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