U.S. joins Argentina in U-17 quarterfinal

SI.com's Grant Wahl LAHTI, Finland -- Another game, another U.S. win. Another chapter in the growing legend of Freddy Adu. The kid has a flair for the dramatic, doesn't he? In Sunday's game, the 14-year-old American 1) was hacked repeatedly and mercilessly by Sierra Leone's defenders, 2) drew two obvious penalties, both ignored by referee Ravshan Irmatov, and 3) actually was given a yellow card for "diving" while being stretchered off the field after a clear foul. After all that, he merely scored the winning goal in the dying moments of the 2-1 win, sending the Yanks to next Sunday's quarterfinals. FULL STORY

HELSINKI, Finland (AP) -- Freddy Adu scored a late game-winner as the United States edged Sierra Leone 2-1 Sunday, joining Argentina in the quarterfinals at the under-17 soccer world championships.

The unbeaten Americans worked hard to win the game at Lahti, about a two-hour drive north of the Finnish capital Helsinki.

Sierra Leone put pressure on the Americans and fired no less than 25 shots, hitting the target 12 times, keeping U.S. goalie Phil Marfuggi busy.

But 14-year-old Adu scored the winner in the closing minutes, showing trademark skill with his feet as he took the ball behind the goalkeeper in the 89th minute.

"I learned how tough I can really be, sometimes I get hit all he time and have to come out of games because it hurts so much, and today it was brutal," Adu said.

"But you had to dig deep, and go through it, and it ended with the winning goal."

The United States now leads Group D with six points from two games. Spain has four points, Sierra Leone one, and South Korea is pointless.

The Koreans were leading Spain by 2-0 about 20 minutes into the second half when Spanish substitute Silva struck with three goals in 11 minutes, scoring in the 65th, 73rd and 76th to lead the team to a 3-2 victory. Silva came on in the second half.

Spain, a group favorite before the tournament started, has to get a point against the United States Wednesday night to qualify for the quarterfinals, if Sierra Leone beats South Korea Wednesday afternoon.

After drawing Cameroon in the first round, Brazil showed classy soccer Sunday in Group C, routing Portugal 5-0 in Tampere with four second-half goals, and five different players on the scoresheet.

Yemen and Cameroon drew 1-1. Brazil has four points, Portugal three, Cameroon two and Yemen one.

Brazil's form Sunday made the team a favorite to beat Yemen on Wednesday and win the group, leaving Portugal and Cameroon to square it off for the second spot in the quarterfinals.

In Group A, Mexico and Colombia have four points, Finland three, while China is pointless. Argentina leads Group B with six points ahead of Nigeria, four, Costa Rica one, and Australia with no points.

 

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