U17s Advance in World Cup

Mass. Native Makes Appearance in Win Over UAE

Nov. 2, 2009

IJEBU-ODE, Nigeria -- The U.S. Under-17 men’s national team advanced to the second round of the 2009 FIFA Under-17 World Cup with a 1-0 victory against United Arab Emirates at Gateway International Stadium in their final match in Group E Sunday.

Jack McInerney’s first half strike proved the difference in the USA’s second consecutive shutout in the tournament.

McInerney scored his second goal of the tournament off a rebound of a Nick Palodichuk shot in the 35th minute, slotting home inside the left post from six yards out with UAE goalkeeper Ahmed Shambih scrambling to recover.

Concord, Mass. native William Packwood made his first appearance of the tournament, replacing Palodichuk in the 73rd minute.

With the win, the U.S. finished second in Group E with six points and advanced to the round of 16 at the tournament, where they’ll face Italy, winners of Group F, Wednesday at 10 a.m. ET in Kaduna, Nigeria.

Spain, who defeated the U.S. 2-1 in their opening match, took first in Group E with nine points from a perfect record, while UAE has also advanced on three points as one of the four best third-place teams.

It is the fourth consecutive FIFA Under-17 World Cup where the U.S. has advanced past the group stage, and seventh overall. The United States is the only nation to have participated in all 13 events.

“We are really pleased with today’s performance,” said U.S. head coach Wilmer Cabrera. “I want to congratulate UAE, who have a very good team and were very competitive. The play was very good from the kids tonight. They moved the ball around well and created good opportunities. We came to play good football, play a good match and move the ball forward. We were only able to score once, but that one was enough to give us the chance to get to the next round.”

Cabrera started Stefan Jerome in place of Victor Chavez, but otherwise kept the same starting XI that earned a 1-0 victory against Malawi on Oct. 29.

Focused on getting the win and an assured spot in the round of 16, the U.S. began the game on the attack, particularly down the left flank. In the 10th minute, a Tyler Polak throw-in resulted in a pass to McInerney, who began a give-and-go between him and Alex Shinsky. As he dribbled into the left side of the box, Shinsky sent the final pass towards the penalty spot for McInerney to run onto, but his errant touch went just a step too far and he was forced to stretch a shot wide of the right post.

The U.S. almost found the net in the 23rd minute when UAE goalkeeper Ahmad Shambih fumbled what seemed to be an innocuous cross. Corralling an errant UAE defensive clearance along the left sideline, Shinsky sent the ball into the box with his left foot. As the ball swung towards the net, Shambih slapped the ball off the underside of the crossbar. The ball landed dangerously inside the six-yard box, but Marwan Al Saffar cleared it out of danger.

The pressure by the U.S. attack eventually paid off in the 35th minute when McInerney capitalized on another mistake by Shambih. Deep in UAE’s defensive end, Polak sent a throw-in to Marlon Duran, who squared it to Luis Gil. Dribbling across the top of the box from the left, Gil laid the ball back for Palodichuk, who one-timed a left-footed shot towards the right post. Shambih dove to palm the shot but couldn’t hold on, and McInerney pounced on the loose ball to slam it into the net from the edge of the six-yard box.

The goal was his 11th on the year for McInerney, extending his team lead.

The second half brought much of the same in terms of run of play, with the U.S. creating most of the better chances. UAE finally got their first good shot on frame in the 61st minute, but U.S. goalkeeper Earl Edwards was there for the save.

With the U.S. defense falling back, UAE forward Ahmad Ghuloom sent a pass to Mohammed Sabil on the left side of the box, who took it around Jared Watts and managed to fire with his left foot from 15 yards out. Diving to his right, Edwards forcefully punched the ball out to concede the corner.

Two minutes later, Shambih came up big for UAE again to keep the U.S. with a one-goal lead. Gil teed up a shot from 23 yards after McInerney laid off a ball to him during a 4-on-3 counter. Picking out the top right corner, Gil’s shot appeared to be curving in before a diving overhand save from Shambih kept his team in the game.

Packwood slotted into a defensive role in replacement of Palodichuk as the U.S. tried to preserve their lead.

With five minutes of extra time added, partly due to a broken corner flag, UAE looked for the equalizer, but a strong U.S. defensive effort broke up the late attacks well before they got near goal.

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