It’s one thing to lose your opener at the U17 World Cup. It’s quite another to be dominated like this.

The U.S. U17 Men’s National Team opened its account at this month’s World Cup with a deflating 2-0 loss to 2013 champion Nigeria in Chile on a clear, pleasant Saturday afternoon. The Americans didn’t manage to put a single shot on target all game, ceded 58 percent possession and looked incoherent in and around Nigeria’s box. The Nigerians ultimately out-shot the U.S. 19-5.

Not quite the start the U.S. and head coach Richie Williams had in mind after such a successful two-year cycle.

Nigeria spent most of the game forcing the U.S. into a defensive crouch, from which it was behooved into building counters and quick-fire forays forward. The only real chance the Americans enjoyed came about 15 minutes into the match when Christian Pulisic, by far the most dangerous player for the U.S., lost his marker down the endline and shuttled in a low-driven cross for Haji Wright. But Wright redirected the ball well over the crossbar from six yards, and the U.S. never came close to scoring again.

For their part, the Nigerians were patient in the build-up if profligate in front of goal in the opening half. After absorbing some pressure early, they kept the U.S. out of dangerous positions for the final hour of the match, and they scored both of their goals in the space of 11 minutes in the final 45. The dangerous Chukwudi Anor opened his account via a series of Auston Trusty missteps in the 50th minute, and in the 61st, an interception off a William Pulisic goal kick led in Victor Osimhen to double the lead one-on-one with the keeper.

William Pulisic, Christian’s cousin, was one of the few players to exit this game with few demerits to his name. His cousin joined him on that list. Christian routinely ran at defenders and sought pockets of space in his favored left-central channel underneath the striker. But without possession behind him or hold-up play in front, the U.S. was caught between styles and, therefore, was without any at all.

The U.S. lacked bite in the buildup. Defensive midfielder Eric Calvillo looked to have an uncomfortable positional relationship with box-to-box midfielder Alejandro Zendejas. The latter started in place of more regular Fulham midfielder Luca de la Torre, and as a result there was little cohesion in the soft tissue between the bone provided by Calvillo’s defensive work and the muscle typically furnished by Christian Pulisic’s chance creation.

With Trusty struggling at center back in place of more routine starter and West Brom defender Daniel Barbir, the team’s spine was broken into disconnected chips. The U.S. already lacked width with pinch-in wingers Wright and Joshua Perez, and so the fact the U.S. couldn’t generate any possession through its typically strong fleet of central midfielders was an ultimate death knell.

The U.S. did well in pockets. Nigeria tested left back John Nelson heavily all afternoon, and neither of their goals came via that avenue. The Nigerian attack inevitably shifted to right winger Funsho Bamgboye and overlapping fullback Lazarus John, who were dangerous but didn’t get on the scoresheet thanks to Nelson’s heady, practical defending. Hugo Arellano also enjoyed a positive game, as did Perez and de la Torre, once he sprung off the bench with a little less than a half hour to play.

But it was too sporadic to matter. The U.S. at times looked too confused to counter and too overloaded to knit together an attack from the back. Striker Joe Gallardo, who’s easily one of the most technically gifted players on the team, hardly touched the ball all afternoon. With a No. 10 as creatively inclined as Pulisic on the field, that tells you how difficult the U.S. found buildup to be throughout the game.

Give Nigeria credit, of course, for taking the game to the U.S. The Nigerians could well be contenders again, despite the fact that, as with every other team, this team is completely different from stem to stern than the one that won the nation's fourth U17 World Cup in 2013. This was easily the Americans’ most difficult challenge in the group stage, which still includes a matchup against an unforgiving Croatian side and an always difficult game against the home nation in Chile. The former of those two, which comes next, is now critical. The U.S. can either win against Croatia or face near certain extinction.

This particular team has shown resiliency in this cycle, as it did in qualification when it survived a penalty shootout just to get here. It’ll need to display that character again in its final two games if it hopes to advance to the knockout stage.

Over 30 years through 14 U17 World Cup tournaments, the U.S. has won a single game in the knockout stage of the tournament, in 1999. If it hopes to even advance to that stage to have a chance at making it two, it’ll have to perk up significantly in the coming games.

---

RECOMMENDED FOR YOU

ECNL Girls N. Atlantic Players to Watch

Women's NCAA Tournament Round Two Preview

Best of Men's College Soccer Week 13