USA vs. Ecuador: 2017 U-20 World Cup Live Stream, Schedule and Prediction
The United States men's national team will start their 2017 Under-20 World Cup campaign on Monday, as they face Ecuador in Group F.
Both teams are expected to advance to the knockout stages and will be eager to set the tone with a strong showing.
Here's everything you need to know about the upcoming clash.
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Date: Monday, May 22
Time: 9 a.m. BST/4 a.m. ET
Venue: Incheon Football Stadium, Incheon, South Korea
Live Stream: Fox Soccer 2Go, fubo.tv
Prediction: USA 2-1 Ecuador
The USA and Ecuador are perceived as the top teams in Group F, with Senegal and Saudi Arabia also drawn in the group. Senegal impressed in 2015, but many of the top stars of that squad have since graduated to the senior side, and the team is in a bit of a rebuilding phase.
Ecuador haven't impressed on the international stage in the past few years, and compared to the American team, the South Americans don't have a ton of star power.
The Stars and Stripes are led by defenders Cameron Carter-Vickers and Erik Palmer-Brown, two experienced, athletic options who have already flashed their talent overseas.
The former is on the books at Tottenham Hotspur, while the latter spent time on loan at FC Porto before returning to Sporting Kansas City.
Per the team's official Twitter account, he looked ahead at the task at hand:
There's plenty of talent to be found elsewhere as well. The most well-known player in the squad is probably Arsenal's Gedion Zelalem, who has long been regarded as a future star. The youngster previously played for Germany's youth teams and was also eligible to represent Ethiopia―convincing him to play for the USA was quite the coup.
Zelalem didn't play his best on loan at VVV Venlo during the second half of the 2016-17 season, but he remains supremely gifted and should be highly motivated. A good showing in South Korea should lead to bigger and better things in pre-season and during the 2017-18 campaign.
The Stars and Stripes are unbeaten in official competition since their shock loss against Panama in February, and while they're not quite favourites to win the world title, they should be able to make a solid run in the tournament. The opener against Ecuador won't be easy, but it should end in victory.
