The Under-20 World Cup has been a tale of two very different matches so far for the United States and Ukraine teams. Both struggled mightily in their first match of the group stage, with the U.S. having to come from behind against Myanmar to win, and Ukraine scuffling their way through a scoreless draw against host New Zealand. Both teams recovered fantastically, though, blasting their second round opponents, the U.S. 4-0 over New Zealand and Ukraine a whopping 6-0 over Myanmar.
Ukraine vs. USA 2015 live stream: How to watch the Under-20 World Cup online
Both the United States and Ukraine have gone through two very different matches so far in the U-20 World Cup. Which version of these teams will we see when they square off against one another, especially with first place in the group on the line?
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So with the U.S. locked into a knockout round spot and Ukraine all but assured of one of their own, which team do we see in this third match? The flat sides that struggled to get going in the openers, or the explosive ones that scored 10 goals between them in the second round? These two teams have the talent at both ends of the pitch to make this an exciting match, but given the safety both teams have in the standings, we may not necessarily get that excitement. Hopefully we do, though, because matchups this potent at the U-20 level don’t come around very often.
Key player - Emerson Hyndman (United States)
Simply put, when the U.S. has done well during the first two matches of this tournament, Hyndman has been at the center of it. While it’s likely Hyndman’s role will be somewhat smaller in this match -- he’s one of four outfield players for the U.S. to play all 180 minutes of action so far and could probably use a rest -- while he’s on the pitch, he’s going to continue to be at the heart of things just by the nature of who he is as a player.
Hyndman's two goals scored lead the U.S. at this early stage of the World Cup, including the winner against Myanmar in the opener, and he's been involved in almost every other U.S. goal scored, as well, either making a key pass during the buildup or helping pull defenders out of position to clear space for others to exploit. If he can keep up that level of play in this match, even just for 45 minutes, the U.S. should be in great shape.
Key factor - Who wants first place?
As mentioned before, the United States has already secured a place in the knockout rounds, and Ukraine have all but punched their ticket as well, with a disastrous turnaround in goal differential required for New Zealand to overcome them. While the most important part of any tournament like this is just to get out of the group stage, finishing first gets you a theoretically easier draw in the first knockout round, as well as potentially a softer opponent in the quarterfinal as well with the way the matches are paired.
A Ukraine win will see them finish first and force the U.S. down the tougher road, meaning that the Americans can’t rest on their laurels in this match. We’ll probably see who wants that top spot in the group very early on by how driven and energetic these teams are, and whoever scores first will probably be even more important than usual in this match.
Match Date/Time: Friday, 3 a.m. ET, 7 p.m. local
Venue: North Harbour Stadium, Auckland, New Zealand
TV: Fox Sports 1 (U.S. - English), NBC Universo (U.S. - Spanish), TSN3, TSN4 (Canada), Sky Sport 4 NZ (New Zealand), Eurosport 2 International
Online: FOX Sports Go and Fox Soccer 2 Go (U.S. - English), NBC Deportes en Vivo Extra (U.S. - Spanish), Sky Go NZ (New Zealand)
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