He didn’t get the start, but Derrick Jones’ play off the bench earned plenty of praise in the opening game for the United States in the U20 World Cup in South Korea Monday morning.
The 20-year-old Philadelphia Union midfielder checked into the game in the 34th minute for the injured Gedion Zelalem with the U.S. already down a pair of goals. And as he has so often in his young Union career, Jones wasted little time putting his stamp on the game, giving the U.S. a much-needed physical presence to combat an Ecuador team that pushed the Yanks’ back line around with two goals inside seven minutes.