The U.S. U17 Men’s National Team coughed up a two-goal lead on Tuesday and likely extinguished any hopes of advancing from pool play at the 2015 U17 World Cup. 

The U.S. took a 2-0 lead shortly before half thanks to a header from Brandon Vazquez off a cross from Christian Pulisic. The talent from Borussia Dortmund scored the opener off an assist from Luca de la Torre in the 20th minute. 

Trailing 2-0, Croatia’s coach elected to make two substitutions before half, which began shifting the tide of the game. The U.S. sat back in the second half with the advantage and the European side slowly picked apart the flimsily laid fountain of the U.S. defense. 

Croatia’s first goal came in the 65th minute when a cross floated to the far post resulted in two U.S. defenders colliding. Croatia striker Karlo Majic pounced on the free ball and hammered home a shot from six yards out. 

Croatia continued to exploit the lack of pressing from the U.S. midfield and generated endless chances with little creativity. The equalizer came from a miscommunication between the right side of the U.S. after head coach Richie Williams had taken off Joshua Perez and shifted Pulisic out wide. Right back Tyler Adams was caught up in cover of Pulisic and Croatia snuck in behind the defense, which left the whole U.S. side unbalanced. A shot from the top of the box put the teams back on level terms with 13 minutes to go in the game. 

It did not get any better for the U.S. afterward. Croatia looked like the more likely team to find the game-winner and finished the game with 29 shots compared to only six from the U.S. Croatia had 18 shots in the second half to only one for the U.S. 

Tactically, it was a sublime performance from the Croatia coaching staff especially with the adjustments after going down two goals. However, the U.S. offered very little resistance in the second half and did not set up well to even threaten the Croatia side on the counter. 

The U.S. squad returns to the field on Friday against Chile. The U.S. needs a lot of breaks in their favor in order to advance from the group. 

U.S. Starting XI: Will Pulisic; Tyler Adams, Danny Barbir, Hugo Arellano, John Nelson; Tommy McCabe, Luca de la Torre, Christian Pulisic; Josh Perez, Brandon Vazquez, Alejandro Zendejas

Scoring Summary: U.S. 1-0 C. Pulisic (de la Torre) 20’; U.S. 2-0 Vazquez (Pulisic) 40’; U.S. 2-1 Majic 65’; 2-2 Ivanusec 77’ 

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