The U.S. Under-20 national team scored an early goal through Brooks Lennon and then survived a first-half red card to center back Cameron Carter-Vickers to hold on for a 1-1 tie against Saudi Arabia in Daejeon, South Korea on Sunday and move on to the Round of 16 as the top team from Group F.
Thanks to a 0-0 result in the other Group F finale between Senegal and Ecuador, the USA (5 points) advance to face New Zealand, who finished in the second-place spot in Group E, on Thursday, June 1. The winner of that match will meet steamrolling Venezuela or Japan in the quarterfinals.
Senegal (4 points) moved on as Group F’s second-place team and will face eternal US rivals Mexico in the Round of 16. Saudi Arabia (4 points) took third place in Group F and will go up against Uruguay. Ecuador (2 points) were eliminated.
The USA took the lead five minutes from halftime as Lennon was first to pounce on a loose ball at the top of the six-yard box following a save by the Saudi Arabian goalkeeper on a close-range shot from Luca de la Torre.
However, the Americans proceeded to lose Carter-Vickers just seconds before the halftime whistle when he received a second yellow card, five minutes after receiving his first, for what replays showed to be a fair aerial challenge on Saudi Arabia’s captain, Sami Alnaji, who went down holding the back of his head.
Reduced to 10 men, the U.S. adjusted to start the second half by moving into a lone forward alignment, bringing on Real Salt Lake's Justen Glad into central defense and moving NY Red Bulls' Tyler Adams back into central midfield.
Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia would turn up the pressure by introducing a second forward with roughly a half-hour remaining and they ultimately found their equalizing goal off a 74th-minute corner kick as center back Abdulelah Alamri was free to head home a corner kick that easily beat US goalkeeper Jonathan Klinsmann.
With Sporting Kansas City center back Erik Palmer-Brown putting out fires and Philadelphia Union central midfielder Derrick Jones covering plenty of ground in midfield, the U.S. would hold on for the draw despite several desperate advances by the Saudi Arabian side.
U.S. head coach Tab Ramos will have some lineup shuffling to do ahead of the Round of 16 match as the influential Jones (yellow card accumulation) and right back Aaron Herrera (yellow card accumulation) will sit out to serve a suspension alongside Carter-Vickers (red card).
