Candidly,, I was not impressed with the overall tournament performance. The boys labored past Costa Rica, Guatemala, Panama and looked overmatched by Mexico. It was always going to be a difficult tournament given the amount of talent that was not available to the United States, but I believe personnel decisions made things even more difficult. 

I thought Nimfasha Berchimas and Keyrol Figueroa were way underutilized throughout the tournament. Figueroa did not play at all in the final. I recognize that he didn’t score in the tournament, but he didn’t get nearly as many chances and he did well on other aspects of his game. Berchimas was the only real threat out wide and did not start in the knockouts until the final where l it was his moment of brilliance that gave the United States a chance. 

The group struggled physically. They looked outmatched physically against Panama and Mexico and that really became evident against Mexico. It was the first time I can remember Mexico looking the physically dominant team against us at any level. They relentlessly served balls into the box and our backline lost duel after duel. They also really struggled to win second balls and loose ball duels in general. I think this was a problem that was born with the roster selection of this group. 

Lastly, there  was the end of match management against Mexico. The boys played to not lose instead of to win. Time after time they cleared the ball long when they had many chances to counterattack and put the game away with transitional breaks that had numerical advantages. This is a critique of both the players and the coaches who really seemed to lose their composure in the last 20 minutes of regular time. 

Hopefully this was a game that the entire staff and team learn and grow from in the future.

Beaudry was one of the few pleasant surprises in this tournament. He came up huge for the United States against Guatemala, saving a penalty kick that kept his team from extra time. He also had some big saves against Panama and Mexico. I’d like to see him continue to improve in distribution, but the box control and shot blocking was excellent. 

Tsakiris was the sole source of danger for a lot of the tournament, oftentimes playing out of position as a winger. At times it felt like he was carrying a heavy burden and was trying to do too much. I don’t think he is the type of player that can carry a team, but would succeed more with better pieces around him, nonetheless, he was an impact player in this tournament and was recognized as the MVP it

Berchimas wasn’t consistent, which was to be expected, but he flashed elite ability, which was also to be expected. The youngest player on the team had arguably the most sensational moment in the tournament with a beautiful curling ball into the upper ninety from about 25 yards out. It looked like the goal that was going to win the tournament for the United States. It wasn’t, but it was a special moment and hopefully a sign of things to come from the young star. 

Raines got stronger and stronger as the tournament went on. I thought his best two games were the last two games against Panama and Mexico. He scored a true golazo volley at the death to beat Panama and he was composed and tough against Mexico. He doesn’t do anything at a spectacular level, but he does a lot of things well. 

Habroune had sort of an opposite trajectory as Raines. He was sensational early against weaker opponents, but faded a bit as the tournament went on. I still think he flashes some fantastic on-ball, technical skills that should continue to sharpen as he gets older. 

The U20 World Cup will take place in Chile in 2025, but the date has not been set. If the last U20 World Cup is any indication, it will start in May. That gives Michael Nsien and his staff around ten months to reimagine how this team will be structured and how it will function. A big part of Nsien and U.S. Soccer’s job is to start working with clubs to get releases for their top players. That was a major struggle for this tournament and it showed on the field. The United States has the potential to field a pretty strong group for the U20 World Cup, but it’s not an overly deep pool, especially at the full-back, center-back and winger positions. A few players being unavailable could really make a difference in the potential of this group. 

Right-back and left-back are both positions where it is critical that Nsien and his staff take a strong look at the pool and experiment with other options. The same can be said at the winger position. Hopefully U.S. Soccer invests the time and resources it will require to get this group enough camps and competitive matches leading up to the World Cup.