US U-17 opened with a victory

Chad Marshall scored the winning goal in the 76th minute to lead the United States past Jamaica 2-1 in an opening-round match of the CONCACAF Under-17 World Championship qualifying Tournament on Wednesday night.

Marshall's goal capped a U.S. comeback from an early 1-0 deficit. Santino Quaranta had tied the game with a penalty kick in the 70th minute. The 16-year-old Quaranta, who plays for D.C. United, is the youngest player on a Major League Soccer roster.

Jamaica took a 1-0 lead on a goal by Luton Shelton in the 36th minute. The United States dominated play, outshooting Jamaica 30-7 in the match. U.S. goalkeeper Adam Schuerman only had to make one save. Richard McCallum had 11 saves for Jamaica.

Both teams will play again in the round-robin tournament on Friday. Jamaica will play El Salvador while the United States plays Canada.

Do our youngsters get to play friendlies against real competition?

If you mean playing against full fledged nationals from other countries, no. They won't get that chance until they are part of the U-20 team and then they will play friendlies against some 'not so great' nations such as Amania.

However, this U-17 World Champions provides a good measure on how our boys will fair against the other national players of the same age. They need our support more than the full nats do. Last time in Australia, bunch of us fans faxed them encouragements to their hotel where they were staying and Landon's father, Tim Donovan, said that they were greatly appreciated!

Agreed! I've been injected with newfound interest and enthusiasm over our prospects for the future. I'll make a point to stay informed. Thanks for making it easy to do that.!:)

Pila, you are being so literate and refined. These newcomers will freak the first time you start talking about weird sex stuff again. ;) :D

... but not to derail OSF's (can I call you that?) thread, well done indeed by the young lads. Thanks for the quick report.

Absolutely, Freddie! As a matter of fact, I used 'Old soccer fan' to post on the old MSNBC soccer board and people started referring me as OSF instead since it's so much easier. So, I am quite used to OSF already, among other names that I won't mention here. :)