Photo courtesy Philadelphia Union II Communications
Former Philadelphia Union II head coach and current Union II parent Marlon LeBlanc led the USYMNT U18s to first place in the UEFA U18s Friendship Cup Tuesday, June 10th. LeBlanc’s U18 side has now won both European tournaments into which he has led them this year. They did the same in a four-sided contest on Spain’s Costa del Sol in March.
LeBlanc is the only Philadelphia connection to the current US men’s U18 side because Neil Pierre was unavailable due to injury.
The tournament was held at UEFA’s headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland from May 31st to July 10th.
Eight under-18 (U18s) national teams participated, hailing from five of the world’s six football confederations. Only the Oceania Football Confederation did not have a team in the cup.
|
Group A |
Group B |
| Argentina |
Japan |
|
Australia |
Portugal |
| France |
Senegal |
|
USA |
Uruguay |
Each team played four games as reported below, the three against the other members of its group, and then a placement game against the team from the other group that finished in the same place in that group’s standings. First place played first place; second, second; third, third; and fourth, fourth.
Group A – Round 1
| Results – Sat, May-31 | # | Table – after Sat, May-31 | |||
| Team |
Score |
Team | 1 | USA | 2 points |
| USA |
2-2(5-4) |
France | 2 | Argentina | 2 points |
| Argentina |
0-0(4-3) |
Australia | 3 | France | 1 point |
| 4 | Australia | 1 Point | |||
Group B – Round 1
| Results – Sat, May-31 | # | Table – after Sat, May-31 | |||
| Team |
Score |
Team | 1 | Senegal | 3 points |
| Portugal |
1-1(3-4) |
Japan | 2 | Japan | 2 points |
| Senegal |
4-0 |
Uruguay | 3 | Portugal | 1 point |
| 4 | Uruguay | 0 points | |||
Group A – Round 2
| Results – Wed., Jun-04 | # | Table – after Wed, Jun-04 | |||
| Team |
Score |
Team | 1 | USA | 5 points |
| USA |
2-0 |
Argentina | 2 | France | 4 points |
| France |
3-0 |
Australia | 3 | Argentina | 1 point |
| 4 | Australis | 1 Point | |||
Group B – Round 2
| Results – Wed, Jun-04 | # | Table – after Wed, Jun-04 | |||
| Team |
Score |
Team | 1 | Senegal | 5 points |
| Uruguay |
0-3 |
Portugal | 2 | Portugal | 4 points |
| Japan |
3-3(1-3) |
Senegal | 3 | Japan | 3 points |
| 4 | Uruguay | 0 points | |||
Group A – Round 3
| Results – Sa, Jun-07 | # | Table – after Sa, Jun-07 | |||
| Team |
Score |
Team | 1 | USA | 8 points |
| USA |
3-2 |
Australia | 2 | France | 5 points |
| France |
1-1(2-4) |
Argentina | 3 | Argentina | 3 points |
| 4 | Australia | 1 point | |||
Group B – Round 3
| Results – Sat, Jun-07 | # | Table – after Sat, Jun-07 | |||
| Team |
Score |
Team | 1 | Portugal | 7 points |
| Uruguay |
1-4 |
Japan | 2 | Japan | 6 points |
| Portugal |
5-2 |
Senegal | 3 | Senegal | 5 points |
| 4 | Uruguay | 0 points | |||
Placement games – Round 4
| Results – Tue, Jun-10 |
# |
Final Table | ||
| Team – GpA |
Score |
Team – GpB |
1st |
USA |
| USA |
1-1(3-2) |
Portugal |
2nd |
Portugal |
| France |
3-0 |
Japan |
3rd |
France |
| Argentina |
1-3 |
Senegal |
4th |
Japan |
| Australia |
4-1 |
Uruguay |
5th |
Senegal |
|
6th |
Argentina | |||
|
7th |
Australia | |||
|
8th |
Uruguay | |||
That’s an impressive performance. I sure hope Marlon L lands a head coach job in MLS some time soon.
That’s a pretty nice run against pretty good teams. Congrats to Marlon and the boys!