To put things in historical perspective, this is the fifth time we've reached the quarterfinals. The U20s have failed to qualify six times since 1977 (only once since 1995), qualifying 14 times. Of those 14, five resulted in group stage exits, four campaigns reached the R16, four reached the QF (including this one), and one reached the SF.
The U20s made the semifinals in 1989 (featuring Kasey Keller and Mike Burns), but that was in a 16-team format and only required winning one knockout game. Likewise, the 1993 U20s (featuring Gregg Berhalter) made the quarterfinals, which only required advancing from the group stage.
The 2003 and 2007 teams reached the QF under the current format. That 2003 team is chock full of players who really should have had better NT careers than they did - Freddy Adu, Chad Marshall, Justin Mapp, Bobby Convey, Santino Quaranta, Ned Grabavoy. Lack of dedication to fitness, injuries, and drug use took their toll in various ways. Rico Clark was on that team, as was Clint Dempsey. But Deuce was only a bit player on that squad at the time. And of course, Eddie Johnson won the Golden Shoe at the tournament.
The 2007 team had Bradley, Adu (his third U20 tournament), Altidore and some others who were highly prized prospects at the time like Danny Szetela and Robbie Rogers. There were a lot of outright busts on that team, especially in defense. Rongen built fun teams, but he never could identify the right defenders. Three of his seven defenders here were out of the game by age 24, while a highly-rated defender at Maryland named Omar Gonzalez couldn't get much of a look.
Colombia finished second in CONMEBOL qualifying, behind only Argentina.
All in all, a good showing so far from the U20s. There are some clear weak points, but from an NT perspective all that matters is the prospects at the high end, and I think we have a few on our hands here. That's borne out by one of our better U20 runs ever, although admittedly it hasn't been the toughest draw. Still, Colombia wasn't an easy opponent.
I'm optimistic about Steffen, Carter-Vickers, Miazga, Payne, Hyndman, Zelalem, and Rubin. Some others could pan out, too. What CCV is doing right now, 2-3 years younger than most players at the tournament, is immense.
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Serbia finished atop a group of Uruguay, Mali, and Mexico and beat Hungary in the round of 16. The US will be without Maki Tall and (presumably) Bradford Jamieson IV because of injury. Jordan Allen and Kellyn Acosta are suspended. That leaves the team with seven midfielders & forwards for six spots. Delgado, Hyndman, Zelalem, and Arriola will start in the midfield and Rubin will start up top. The only questions are which of Tommy Thompson and Joel Sonora will start and where they'll slot into the lineup. Both would probably be best playing underneath Rubin, but we'll see.
