On paper, the U.S. were favored against Austria in the first quarterfinal match of the FIFA U-20 World Cup on Saturday in Toronto. Of course, 'on paper' means very little.
Under cloudy, rainy skies at BMO Field, Canada's national soccer stadium, the Austrians pulled off the upset, defeating the Americans 2–1 after extra time courtesy of an Erwin 'Jimmy' Hoffer goal.
Hoffer was brought in as a 'super-sub', a player who isn't selected to start the game but instead is brought on as a substitute to score a goal. Hoffer played this role to perfection, as he did against Gambia in the round of 16, making his coach, Paul Gludovatz, look like a genius.
This contest was really a tale of two halves. The U.S. started strong, and took a deserved lead after 15 minutes when Freddy Adu whipped in a cross from the left wing that found Jozy Altidore who knocked it past Austrian goalkeeper Michael Zaglmair.
American goalkeeper Chris Seitz made his return to action but did not look 100 percent. Seitz also seemed to struggle with long dipping shots, twice failing to adequately deal with them in the first half. The second time lead to Austria scoring, much against the run of play.
Austrian striker Rubin Okotie battled for the rebound and fired it at the American goal where, somehow, the ball squeaked past Seitz.
Okotie told fifa.com: "For such a small country to reach the semifinals of a World Cup is an amazing thing. I can't describe it. I think we wanted the victory more than the Americans did and we fought for it." The Austrians did show more determination than the Americans today.
The second half was all Austria's. Renewed by the fact that they were back in the match, Austria started to take control of the situation. The Americans quickly picked up three yellow cards as Anthony Wallace, Danny Szetela and Michael Bradley all failed to control their challenges resulting in bad fouls.
Actually, by the end of the match, Swedish referee Martin Hansson had dished out a total of 12 yellow cards, seven of which went to the U.S.!
The game went to extra time and on came Austria's 'Jimmy' Hoffer. After Anthony Wallace was sent off for a second yellow card offense, Austria's free kick led to a scramble in the U.S. six-yard box. Hoffer managed to get the final touch of the ball before it rolled over the goal line. It wasn't pretty but Hoffer had managed to do his job.
The Austrians will move on to the semifinals where they will face the Czech Republic who defeated Spain in a penalty shoot-out.
The U.S. meanwhile know that a glorious opportunity has evaded them. Looking to go one better than 2003, where they lost in the quarters to Argentina after exra time, this match-up with Austria was definitely theirs to lose. Some poor defending at key moments and hard work and determination by the Austrians led to the undoing of the Americans.
"We fell short of our goal here in Canada, and we are bitterly disappointed about that. But there are more positives to take from this tournament than negatives," said U.S. coach Thomas Rongen to fifa.com.
"It's difficult. I don't know what it is. Things didn't go our way today. But that's soccer for you. Sometimes the bounces go your way and sometimes they don't," said a disappointed Freddy Adu.
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