Jan. 22, 2007

PANAMA CITY, Panama -

Courtesy U.S. Soccer

Wake Forest junior Julian Valentin helped the United States U-20 men's national team to a spot in the 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup.  The defender started all three matches in the qualifying round to help the U.S. win its group with seven points.

Already qualified for their record-setting sixth straight FIFA U-20 World Cup due to the result the night's earlier match, the U.S. won Group A of the CONCACAF Final Round Qualifying Tournament with a 5-0 victory against Panama in front of a sea of red at Rommel Fernandez Stadium in Panama City, Panama.

Haiti upset Guatemala, 2-0, in the first match of the doubleheader, mathematically advancing the U.S. and Panama to the 2007 FIFA Under-20 World Cup in Canada this summer. With the pressure off, the U.S. dominated the hosts to go undefeated and finish in sole possession of first place in qualifying for the second straight time, and the first time ever outside the country. The U.S. pulled off the feat for the first time in 2005 in Carson, Calif., after being denied of the achievement in 1998 and 2001 when the Americans finished tied with Costa Rica on points both times but finished second due to tie-breakers.

The U.S. finished 2-0-1 with seven points and didn't allow a goal in the run of play over 270 minutes. The lone goal allowed by the U.S. was a penalty kick against Haiti.

The 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup will take place in Canada from June 30-July 22 across six cities - Burnaby, Edmonton, Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto and Victoria. The U.S. will find out their opponents for the FIFA 2007 U-20 World Cup on March 3 when the draw is held in Toronto. With more than 350,000 tickets already sold for the competition, the U-20 World Cup is set to become the largest single-sport event in Canadian history.

This will be the second team Rongen will take to a FIFA U-20 World Cup, having coached the U.S. Under-20s at the 2003 event in the United Arab Emirates (then named FIFA World Youth Championship), leading the team to an impressive fifth place finish.

The U.S. and Panama are the 11th and 12th teams to qualify for the 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Canada this summer and the first of four CONCACAF teams that will join the host this summer. The other two CONCACAF berths will come from Group B, which will occur a month later from Feb. 21-25 in Culiacan, Sinaloa, located on the west coast of Mexico. Competing with the hosts will be Costa Rica, St. Kitts & Nevis and Jamaica.

Freddy Adu scored on the first and last shot of the match, putting away the game-winner in the seventh minute and then closing out the scoring with just seconds remaining. On the first goal, Smith got the ball on the right flank, beat his first defender with a step over and then his second with speed before slipping the ball along the six-yard box for the unmarked Adu. The 17-year-old veteran showed poise by calmly placing his left-footed shot past the scrambling `keeper.

His second strike in the game's final moments came from another quality service, this time by Rogers who slalomed through defenders inside the penalty area before feeding the captain about 15 yards out. Adu lined up his shot and hit a laser inside the right post.

Rogers started off the second-half scoring spurt just five minutes in receiving a through ball on the left side from Adu. Once inside the penalty area, Rogers cut back and left the defender sprawled on the ground before blasting a shot under the goalkeeper from 12 yards out.

Using his phenomenal speed, Smith got behind Panama's defensive line to register the first international goal in his U-20 career in the 61st minute. Sturgis knocked the ball overhead and Johann burned past his defender, held him off while taking a settling touch before slipping it past the `keeper.

During the next four minutes, Panama won two dangerous free kicks but wasn't able to test Seitz as the frustration continued for hosts. In the 66th minute, that frustration boiled over when Francisco Casataneda fouled Rogers and earned his second yellow, forcing Panama to play with 10 for the rest of the match.

Up a man, the U.S. didn't let off the gas as Danny Szetela looped in long ball over the backline from the center circle to second-half substitute Jonathan Villanueva. The Virginia midfielder's first shot from the top of the box was saved, but the rebound fell directly back to him and he headed it home for the fourth goal.

Panama had only two shots on goal and created their best opportunity in the 29th minute, but goalkeeper Chris Seitz came up with one of the few saves he's needed to make during the tournament to keep the lead. On the attack, Panama quickly pushed the ball up to captain Gabriel Torres who tried to turn Nathan Sturgis with three cut backs, but despite the coos from the crowd the U.S. defender did well to hold his ground and Torres laid it across to Josue Jafeth Brown at the top of the box. Brown pushed the ball to his right for the crashing Fernando Barber who hit a first-timer that Seitz stretched out to knock away before Szetela cleared the loose ball from danger.

Along with the host, 10 teams from Europe and Asia have already booked a place in the World Cup. Japan, Jordan, Korea Republic and North Korea qualified from Asia, while Austria, Czech Republic, Poland, Portugal, Scotland and Spain are in from Europe.

In Canada, the U.S. will look to improve on its disappointing 12th place finish in the 2005 FIFA World Youth Championship, when they were knocked out of the Round of 16 by Italy after going undefeated in group play. In 2003, the U.S. led Argentina for most of the match until an equalizer in the final moments and a penalty kick in overtime ended their chances for their second appearance in the semifinals of a U-20 World Cup. The only appearance in the final four of a U-20 World Cup by a U.S. team was in Saudi Arabia in 1989 when current MNT goalkeeper Kasey Keller helped lead his team to a best-ever fourth place finish.