U.S. U-18 Men’s National Team suffers last-gasp 1-0 defeat to Spain in first Copa del Atlantico match

CHICAGO – The U.S. Under-18 Men’s National Team suffered a hard-fought 1-0 loss to Spain in its first match at the 2014 Copa del Atlantico.

Attending the prestigious European tournament for the first time, the USA was minutes away from claiming a valuable point in its opening match, but conceded an 88th-minute strike to Spain midfielder Yelko Pino Caride.

Despite being the youngest team in the tournament – the U.S. U-18s are carrying eight players born in 1997 – the USA matched Spain on the stat sheet, creating one less shot (8 / 9) but firing just as many on target (3).

The USA next faces the Argentina U-20 national team less than 24 hours after completing its opening match of the tournament. Argentina, which is the only U-20 team at the tournament, beat the host Canary Islands 4-0 in Tuesday’s other match.

After playing Argentina on Wednesday, the USA will face the Canary Islands on Friday.

– U.S. U-18 Men’s National Team Match Report –

Match: United States U-18 Men’s National Team vs. Spain U-18 Men’s National Team
Date: February 4, 2014
Competition: 2014 Copa del Atlantico
Venue: Municipal Maspalomas, San Bartolome de Tirajana
Kickoff: 7:30 p.m. WET
Weather: 65 degrees

Scoring Summary: 1 2 F
ESP 0 1 1
USA 0 0 0

ESP Yelko Pino Caride 88 minute

Lineups:
USA: 1-JT Marcinkowski; 8-Shaquell Moore, 16-Erik Palmer-Brown, 6-Tommy Redding (4-Ahinga Selemani, 89), 14-Chase Gasper (15-Tyler Turner, 81), 9-Omar Castro (20-Ben Swanson, 81), 5-Emerson Hyndman (3-Jackson Yueill, 59), 13-Mukwelle Akale, 24-Sebastian Saucedo (19-Andrija Novakovich, 59), 7-Rubio Rubin (capt.), 17-Dembakwi Yomba (2-Alan Winn, 59)
Subs Not Used: 12-Christian Herrera
Head Coach: Javier Perez

ESP: 1-Carlos Morales Mora; 2-Antonio Marin Molina (3-Julio Pleguezuelo Selva, 76), 5-Rodrigo Tarin Higon (capt.), 18-Jorge Mere Perez, 4- Xavier Quintilla Guasch (15-Adrian Marin Gonzalez, 56), 6-Joaquin Fernandez Moreno (8-Madger Antonio Gomez Aju, 76), 14-Yelko Pino Caride, 16-Francisco Jose Sanchez Rodriguez,11-Ignacio Abeledo Rute (7-Jurgi Oteo Gomez, 46), 9-Roberto Nunez Manas (17-Alberto Vilarino Sobrado, 56), 10-Jose Angel Pozo la Rosa (12-Asier Villalibre Molina, 64)
Subs Not Used: 13-Antonio Sivera Salva
Head Coach: Santi Denia

Stats Summary: USA / ESP
Shots: 8 / 9
Shots on Goal: 3 / 3
Saves: 2 / 3
Corner Kicks: 4 / 0
Fouls: 16 / 9
Offside: 5 / 4