Two Sebastian Soto goals set the US U20 team away with the 3 points in this Group D clash at the quite beautiful stadium in Bielsko-Biala, Poland, www.aclsports.com reports.
The US team led by the prompting in midfield of skipper Paxton Pomykal and the speed of Tim Weah out on the left tied Nigeria Flying Eagles in knots all over the pitch. The Nigerians were never able to get hold of the game at any time.
The two coaches Paul Aigbogun and Tab Ramos of the US gave their reactions in the post match press conference.
“We started Tom (Dele-Bashiru) in an advanced midfield role almost like a second striker so we could stop the US from building up the games from the back. However, they were much better and managed to bypass him and our early press a lot to get through.”
Maybe this was the reason for the Man City starlets replacement? “Not at all. He was not doing anything particularly poor, we just wanted to combat the way our opponents were playing in a different manner.”
Towards the end of the first half, the Flying Eagles did respond slightly to the challenge and Aigbogun acknowledged this “we eventually started to get to grips with the game and started creating some chances but the early goal in the second half killed the game I felt”.
Coach of the USA side Ramos was full of praise for his midfielders Chris Durkin and Paxton Pomykal “Chris and Paxton were crucial in the way we wanted to play this game tonight. We love to keep the ball and recycle possession as much as possible and these two players were crucial”.
Two goal hero Soto also got praise from his manager “After the Ukraine game we knew we needed a proper no 9 be in the box for us. Fortunately he got the goals his overall game deserved”.
Images: FIFA via Getty Images
