The U.S. U-17 boys national team’s month-long trip to South America quickly turned into a nightmare.
In the first of nine games in Uruguay and Argentina, the U-17s were crushed by Uruguay, 6-1, at the Estadio Centenario, site of the inaugural World Cup final in 1930.
Uruguayan referee Fernando Falce whistled the USA for two red cards and four penalty kicks, including three penalties in the final 15 minutes.
U.S. captain Jared Jeffries recorded the lone goal for the U.S., converting a free kick to keep the Americans in the match in the first half. In the second half, Jeffries and Danny Wenzel were sent off.
Coach John Hackworth‘s reaction: “Although the end result seemed rather lopsided, we were very much in the game until the second red card. There’s nothing we can do about the penalty kicks that were called. Having said that, I was disappointed in the way the team performed. We did not execute anywhere close to our ability. We’ve played some very good soccer in recent months, and at the same time we’ve had some crazy results. Inconsistency happens at this level; the important thing is to learn from your mistakes.”
(Click here for the Uruguay-USA summary.)