The United States Under-20’s ended Group A play at the U-20 World Cup on a sour note on Friday, falling 3-0 to Ukraine at North Harbor Stadium in Auckland.
Forward Viktor Kovalenko notched a second-half hat trick to give the Ukrainians the victory as well as the top spot in Group A. The U.S. will now play the runner-up from Group C on June 10 in Wellington. Their potential opponents include Portugal, Colombia or Senegal.
LA Galaxy forward Bradford Jamieson IV went the full 90 minutes in the American defeat.
The two sides were even after a tight—and relatively drab—opening 45 minutes but in the second half both teams began to display signs of life. Unfortunately for U.S. U-20 head coach Tab Ramos’ side it was the Ukrainians who drew first blood.
In the 56th minute, Kovalenko delivered a well-taken free kick that curled in the near post beating American goalkeeper Zack Steffen. The U.S. almost equalized just two minutes later when Real Salt Lake midfielder Jordan Allen was clipped in the penalty area drawing a spot kick for Emerson Hyndman. However, the Fulham midfielder saw his effort saved by Ukrainian ‘keeper Bohdan Sarnavsky.
From there, it was all downhill for the Americans.
Steeled by Sarnavasky’s save and content to absorb the pressure created by the Americans, Ukraine struck again in the 74th minute when Eduard Sobol slotted a cross to Kovalenko who found himself wide open in the penalty area for an easy finish.
The Kovalenko show ended with a third goal in the 79th minute to crush any hopes of an American comeback. Streaking forward on the counter, Artem Biesiedin found the young Shakhtar Donetsk talent all alone for an easy finish near the top of the penalty area to seal the comprehensive victory for the Europeans.
Adam Serrano is the LA Galaxy Insider. Read his blog at LAGalaxy.com/Insider and contact him at LAGalaxyInsider@Gmail.com.
