The Under-20 World Cup gets underway on Friday with five matches taking place. Among those is a bout between the United States and Spain.
The Americans enter the tournament with a tremendous task ahead of them. They are seeded into a group that includes Spain, France, and Ghana; their first opponent will be a highly favored Spanish side.
"The thing about Spain is they play the same way in all age groups," said United States Tab Ramos. "We just saw the U-21 team win the European Championships [in a 4-2 victory over Italy] a few hours ago, playing the same way as the first team...We've gotten to know this particular U-20 team in the way they play. It's something that is very difficult for us and something we're going to have to deal with."
Ramos is referring to Spain's tremendous possession game that includes methodic passing and a slow pace that requires tremendous concentration from opponents. Ramos has hope for his team's chances and is inspired by the United States' 2-0 victory over Spain in the Confederations Cup semifinals in 2009.
"It's a game we'd like to go back to," he noted. "We're probably going to show a little bit of that video to the players to make sure they remember. Our first team upset Spain four years ago, and there's no reason we can't do that same thing on Friday."
The United States have never finished better than fourth place in this tournament; they achieved the feat in 1989. Spain is looking for its second championship in this tournament. The team won the championship in 1999 and has made the final on three occasions; the team recently finished second in 2003.
- Contribute to this Story:
- Send us a tip
- Send us a photo or video
- Suggest a correction
