The United States fell, 2-0, to the Netherlands in the quarterfinals of the U-17 World Championship in Peru, failing to become the second U.S. team to win a second-round game in 11 U.S. appearances at the competition.
The John Hackworth-coached Americans went undefeated in the first round and outplayed the Dutch for much of the first half of the quarterfinal before conceding a goal just before halftime.
The Dutch resorted to fouling to keep the Americans at bay in the first half and one of those fouls, by John Goossens, broke Kevin AlstonÆs left leg in the 16th minute.
The best U.S. chance came in the 56th minute when Kyle NakazawaÆs free kick banged off the crossbar.
U.S. defender Neven Subotic was ejected in the 73rd minute and the Netherlands Jordy Buijs received a red card five minutes later.
''I think we came out in the second half and did everything we could in search for the equalizer,'' said Hackworth. ''I think we were just a little bit unlucky not to score. To HollandÆs credit, they are a very good team and I congratulate them on a fantastic win. They did what they had to do and they didnÆt let us score. We couldnÆt buy one today.''
The Dutch face Mexico in the semifinals.
The tournament marked the fifth time the United States has reached the second round. Its only second-round win came in 1999, when the team that included Landon Donovan and DaMarcus Beasley finished fourth.
Sept. 26 in Trujillo, Peru
Date: Weather: Warm, 70 degrees
Netherlands 2 USA 0
Goals: Sarpong 45, 84.
Netherlands û Krul, Hiariej, Buijs, Van der Kooij, Pieters (Van der Laan, 46), Vormer, Sarpong, Anita, Biseswar, Goossens (Roord, 82), Emnes (Zaalman, 54)
USA û Rueckner, Alston (Hall, 16), Sarkodie, Subotic, Wagner, Kirk, Nakazawa, M. Farfan (Altidore, 79), Soroka, Zimmerman, Arvizu (7- Gonzalez, 85)
Yellow cards: Netherlands — Goossens 13, Buijs 55. Buijs 78. USA — Subotic 34, Subotic 73.
Red cards: Netherlands — Buijs 78; USA — Subotic 73.
Referee: Horacio Elizondo (ARG)