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IFAF U19 World Championship: Host Mexico stuns U.S. National Team, 33-6

By Adam Wire | Posted 7/18/2018

The U.S. National Team and Mexico line up for a play during Wednesday's IFAF U19 World Championship game at Olympic Stadium in Mexico City. Mexico won, 33-6.

The U.S. National Team will play for the bronze medal Sunday in the International Federation of American Football U19 World Championship after losing 33-6 to host Mexico on Wednesday in front of a spirited home crowd at Olympic Stadium in Mexico City.

The U.S. National Team, which defeated Australia 38-0 on Saturday, will play Sweden in the bronze medal game at 5 p.m. EDT (4 p.m. local time). Sweden defeated Australia 19-6 in Wednesday’s first game to move its record in the tournament to 1-1, same as the U.S. team.

"Hats off to Mexico," National Team coach Matt Hennesy said. "We didn't come out and match the passion and the effort they gave, but we still have to represent our country. The thing I think America's been built on is things not always going right, and not always winning, but coming back and finding a way to win after that."

Mexico was seeded third in the tournament and the U.S. was seeded second entering the tournament.

RELATED CONTENT: IFAF U-19 World Championships: U.S. National Team roster, game times, broadcast information

Japan, which fell just short of beating defending champ Canada in a 28-22 loss Wednesday, will play Australia in the fifth-place game, set for 1 p.m. EDT Sunday. Japan and Australia are 0-2 in the tournament so far.

Mexico (2-0) will play Canada (2-0) at 8 p.m. EDT Sunday for the championship.

The lone U.S. touchdown came with 2:55 remaining in the third quarter, when Treshaun Ward broke off a 22-yard run. Mexico already had built a 30-0 lead by that time.

The U.S. defense produced a sack (Rick D’Abreu) and an interception (Darius Waddell), and both of those efforts stalled or ended Mexico drives, but the Mexico offense had its way much of the rest of the game.

Waddell earned game MVP honors for the U.S. for his efforts.

Julio Hurtado scored a pair of touchdowns for Mexico, while quarterback Sebastian Hernandez threw a pair of TD passes. Kicker Aldo Galvan connected on 49- and 33-yard field goals.

WaddellMVP

U.S. National Team player Darius Waddell and Mexico's Milan Alejandro pose Wednesday after being named game MVP for their respective teams.

Now, the National Team will regroup and prepare for Sweden.

"The mark of the true character of a man is not when things are going easy; it's when you face hardships, what do you do now? And that's what we talked about," Hennesy said. "I think our kids will come back and respond well and win this bronze medal game."

RELATED CONTENT: U.S. National Team players to watch at IFAF U-19 World Championships

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TagsBlog National Team IFAF U-19 World Championship Tackle football
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