ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (September 5, 2005) - Quavas Kirk tallied both goals for the U.S. Under-17 Men's National Team in a 2-0 victory over China this evening at Eckerd College in St. Petersburg, Fla. The match is the first to two meetings between the countries as they will face off again on Thursday, Sept. 8, in the final match for both teams before they head to Peru to compete in the 2005 FIFA Under-17 World Championship.

The U.S. controlled the tempo for most of the match and outshot China 13-5, putting one shot off the crossbar and forcing the Chinese 'keeper into a number of impressive saves.

Kirk, who is coming off a broken foot he suffered in early April, was dominant despite not being at full strength. After a scoreless first half, the U.S. won a penalty kick in the 60th minute and Kirk buried the spot kick for the lead.

Eight minutes later, Preston Zimmerman fed Kirk with a great feed in the box and the L.A. Galaxy draftee knocked home his second of the night.

The match was played on the artificial turf field at Eckerd College as the surface will be used for every game at the FIFA U-17 World Championship, which will be played from September 16-Oct. 2 in Peru.

The U.S. was drawn in to Group C with North Korea, Italy and Ivory Coast. The U.S. opens against North Korea (Korea DPR) on Sept. 17 at 12:45 p.m. CT, before facing Italy on Sept. 20 (3:30 p.m. CT) and concludes group play on Sept. 23 (3:30 p.m. CT) against Ivory Coast. The U.S. will play their first two group matches against North Korea and Italy at Elias Aguirre Stadium in Chiclayo, before moving to Lima to face Ivory Coast in their third and final group match at Nacional Stadium. Every U.S. match at the World Youth Championship can be followed live via ussoccer.com’s MatchTracker, presented by Phillips Electronics.

China is in Group A with host Peru, Costa Rica and Ghana. 

U.S. Under-17 Men's National Team Match Report

Participants:  U.S. Under-17 ‘88s Men’s National Team vs. China
Competition:  Friendly
Location: Eckerd College; St. Petersburg, Fla.
Date: Sept. 5, 2005
Weather: Warm, breezy 80 degrees
Attendance: 100

Scoring Summary: 
                  1st    2nd     Final
USA            0       2          2
CHI              0       0          0

USA – Quavas Kirk (penalty kick)                      60th minute
USA – Quavas Kirk (Preston Zimmerman)       68.

Lineups:
USA: 1-Bryant Rueckner; 3-Kevin Alston, 13-Blake Wagner, 5-Ofori Sarkodie, 14-Amaechi Igwe; 11-Ryan Soroka, 8-Kyle Nakazawa (14-Neven Subotic, 87), 19-Michael Farfan, 6-Quavas Kirk (17-Jeremy Hall, 77); 9-Preston Zimmerman, 10-David Arvizu (22-Josmer Altidore, 64)

CHI: n/a

Statistical Summary:
                              USA     CHI
Shots                      13         5
Saves                       3         5
Fouls                       15        16
Corner Kicks            6         3
Offside                      1          2 

Misconduct Summary:
USA – Ryan Soroka (caution)   12th minute.
CHI - #13 (caution)                      30.
CHI - #25 (caution)                      69.
CHI - #13 (caution)                      90.
CHI - #13 (ejection)                     90.