FRISCO, TEXAS - Another day, another red card for the U.S. U20 Men’s National Team, but this time Thomas Rongen’s squad was able to eke out a 1-0 in difficult circumstances.

While the score had been even Sunday night vs. Mexico when the U.S. went down a man, in Monday’s match vs. Vancouver, the U20s were already leading 1-0 from an early goal by Moises Orozco. When goalkeeper Justin Luthy was sent off late in the 1st half, it was déjà vu for Rongen’s squad, but the team defended well enough to maintain a clean sheet for substitute goalkeeper Zac MacMath and the squad took the victory.

Vancouver turned on the pressure in the 2nd half and got a couple of good chances to score, but the U.S. team showed a lot of grit in its defensive effort and held on. Rongen said afterward that a repeat exercise in playing a man down was not ideal for his developmental and evaluation goals for the event, but that it did serve some good purposes.

“I just said to the team, and it’s not what you preach first and foremost, but it’s the intangibles that we talked about yesterday as well. With my Dutch background I want to play good technical, attacking football with structure and organization, but with both games having red cards in the 1st half, then you have to start looking at workmanlike performances, character, and this team over two games has shown they have a pretty good understanding of how to grind it out,” he said. “We didn’t get a result against Mexico but we got one here today, so those are encouraging things. We’re only going to get better as a group and we have quite a few players who aren’t here that will make us better. It’s a valuable exercise for us to find out who can defend and who can’t defend. Hopefully we’ll find out in the last game who can attack.”

One of the players who really stood out in that massive defensive effort was San Diego State forward Jose Altamirano. Known from his U15 BNT and Del Mar Sharks club days as an attacking player with flair, Altamirano was very blue collar in the 2nd half, working hard in his own end to help limit the Vancouver offensive effort. He said better finishing from his team could have brought some relief to the situation, but noted that he has learned about defensive responsibility from his coach at San Diego State, Lev Kirshner.

“Everyone played good, but we should have finished our chances. If we’d finished better we would have done less running,” Altamirano said. “My coach in college has helped me a lot to know it’s not just attacking but getting back in defending also. You have to work as a team, especially when you’re a man down. I wanted to work for my team and that’s why I was dropping back.”

Altamirano was involved in the game’s only goal, taking a pass from Will Packwood out wide and then hitting a good cross that Orozco headed home from the edge of the 6-yard box. He looked good in attack for much of the 1st half, but the wasteful finishing he mentioned kept the match to a one-goal margin.

Then the U.S. saw red for the 2nd straight day. Boston College goalkeeper Justin Luthy pulled down an attacker just outside the area and by rule was dismissed. Maryland’s Zac MacMath came on, with Duke forward Ryan Finley having to be sacrificed. The teams went into the break still at 1-0.

Vancouver pressed forward in the 2nd half and created some chances, most notably when former U17 MNT forward and future Hoffenheim professional Joseph Gyau got behind the defense for a 1v1, but the diminutive winger’s shot went over the bar.

The U.S. got good defensive work from Jesus Gonzalez, Ian Hines-Ike, Jared Watts and the right back tandem of Zarek Valentin (1st) and Kofi Sarkodie (2nd). Packwood was good in the middle and Tyler Polak filled in well in a rare midfield role during the 2nd half.

The team plays Wednesday night vs. Eintracht Frankfurt. With Mexico winning again Monday, the likelihood of the U.S. advancing out of its group for the weekend semifinals is very small. Rongen said the team likely would not arrange a friendly match for the weekend in the event it fails to qualify.

U.S. Lineup
GK: Justin Luthy (Zac MacMath)
D: Zarek Valentin (Kofi Sarkodie), Jared Watts, Ian Hines-Ike, Jesus Gonzalez
M: Jose Altamirano, Will Packwood, Moises Orozco (Tyler Polak), Ruben Gonzalez
F: Ryan Finley, Will Bates (Bryan De La Fuente)