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If you missed the opening matches of the 2015 Toulon Tournament because of that FIFA stuff, don't worry: OaM has you covered.
The USA's campaign did not get off to a great start: three goals conceded in the opening 21 minutes of the U-23s' game against France was a hole too deep to climb out of, even with NYRB II's Dan Metzger in the starting lineup. The game ended 3-1 in favor of the home team, and Andi Herzog's side now regroups to face the Netherlands.
The Dutch started their tournament in similar form to the French: they put three past Costa Rica in 32 minutes, before slipping a little, and allowing David Ramirez to bag a couple of goals and inject a little tension into the game. Still, the Netherlands won 3-2, and should be confident heading into their next match.
This tournament seems to mean slightly different things to almost every team in it. France has sent a U-20 squad. For the USA, it is a chance to prep for Olympic qualifying, hence the U-23 team: these are players at the senior end of the age-eligibility for the Olympic tournament.
For the Netherlands, it is an opportunity for U-21 players to make a name for themselves. Foremost among those players is Anwar El-Ghazi. The 20-year-old attacking player just wrapped up an impressive debut season for Ajax, and he scored his country's first goal in this tournament. PSV's Rai Vloet has yet to match El-Ghazi's achievements at senior club level, but he scored the other two goals for the Dutch against Costa Rica. Vincent Janssen is almost a full year older than El-Ghazi and Vloet (he is one of the true U-21s in the team), and has scored 29 goals for Almere City in the Eerste Divisie over the last two seasons.
This Dutch squad is a little bit older and quite a lot more experienced than the team France sent to Toulon.
Only the top two teams from each group will progress to the knockout rounds (final and third-place playoff). The US U-23s don't actually need to win a game until Olympic qualifying in October, but they will hope for at least a stronger performance this time around than they managed in the tournament-opener.
Note: the match is not being broadcast live on beinSports - coverage is scheduled to start at 11:30 am (Eastern).