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Senegal has emerged recently as a force to be reckoned with in African men's U-20 soccer, and that makes it a force to be reckoned with at the World Cup level too. CAF qualifiers have been regular visitors to the final four of the U-20 World Cup since Nigeria finished third at the 1985 edition. In the last tournament, in 2015, Mali and Senegal were in the semifinals - and that was Senegal's first appearance in the competition.
Fresh off its second consecutive runner-up finish at the AFCON U-20s, Senegal would surely like to match or improve upon its showing at the 2015 U-20 World Cup. The team proved too strong for Saudi Arabia in the opening round of games in Group E. It should find the USA a tougher test, but the tape of the Americans' first game - against Ecuador - will have revealed a fragile defense, physically and mentally vulnerable to pressure in the final third.
There will be eyes on Ibrahima Niane in this game after his sensational goal against Saudi Arabia in his last game, but watch out for Aliou Badji, who once had an improbable scoring record at the U-20 level (12 goals in his first 12 games) and is one of the few players in the squad to have landed a pro deal outside Senegal (he plays for Djurgardens in Sweden).
The USA proved against Ecuador that it has the talent and determination to fight its way out of a hole, but the hope will be that the defense has been shored up (by the return of Cameron Carter-Vickers to the starting lineup, for example), or at least that it has learned from its mistakes in the last game.
If the back-line can hold together, the Americans have the midfield talent to win and hold possession, and might just have unearthed one of the stars of the tournament. Josh Sargent is the USA U-17s captain, and was a somewhat surprising addition to the squad for this competition - but he scored twice on his U-20 debut to bring his team back into the game against Ecuador. He moves well off the ball and has the finishing ability to make the most of the chances he creates.
Per livesoccertv.com, here's where to find the game:
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