After finishing second in Group E at the 2009 FIFA U-17 World Cup, the U.S. U-17 team continues its run in the Round of 16 when they face Italy on Wednesday, Nov. 4 at 4 p.m. local time (10 a.m. ET).

Despite an opening loss to eventual group winner Spain, the Americans bounced back for key wins against Malawi and United Arab Emirates to earn six points and a chance to play against the Group F winners. Wednesday’s game from Ahmadu Bello Stadium in Kaduna, Nigeria, can be seen live on ESPN360.com, and followed with ussoccer.com’s MatchTracker or at twitter.com/ussoccer.

QUICK HITS:

• The match will mark an appearance in the knockout round for the fourth consecutive event for the U.S. U-17s.
• The current team will be looking to turn the tables after losses in their first knockout round game in the three previous events.
• The Americans enter the game against Italy coming off two straight wins. The last time the U.S. won two consecutive games at this event was the opening pair in Peru 2005.
• Earl Edwards has a shutout streak of 240 minutes since allowing the second goal against Spain in the 30th minute of the team’s opening match.
• The two games since then were the eighth and ninth shutouts for the U.S. in 2009.
• Before this tournament, the last time the U.S. recorded two straight shutouts in the U-17 World Cup was in Italy in 1991.
• That tournament saw the U.S. win three straight games for the only team, including an opener against the host Italians.
• The two teams have met once since then, in 2005, when goals from Ofori Sarkodie, Kyle Nakazawa and Ryan Soroka lifted the U.S. to a 3-1 win.
• Defender Boyd Okwuonu and midfielder Will Packwood made both their international debut and U-17 FIFA World Cup debut for the U.S. in the last two games against Malawi and UAE, respectively.
• Wednesday’s game will be the first for the U.S. on natural grass. Both Sani Abacha Stadium in Kano and Gateway International Stadium in Ijebu-Ode had artificial surfaces.
• The 2009 FIFA U-17 World Cup has seen 94 goals scored through the group stage, an average of more than 2.61 goals per game.
• Goals have been hard to come by for many teams at the U-17 FIFA World Cup. Of the 24 teams, 14 complete group play averaging just a goal per game or less. Along with the U.S. and Italy who scored just one goal per game, Mexico, Brazil and the Netherlands also finished the group with three goals each.
• Germany’s Lennart Thy leads the tournament with three goals, while Jack McInerney and 15 others have two goals leaving the race for the scoring awards wide open. Five of the players on two goals also have an assist, which McInerney does not to trail for the top scorer honors based on the assist tiebreaker.
• Wilmer Cabrera has used all 18 of his field players in the tournament, with only reserve goalkeepers Spencer Ritchey and Keith Cardona yet to take the field.
• Six players – McInerney, Edwards, Tyler Polak, Marlon Duran, Zachary Herold and Luis Gil have played every minute for the U.S.
• Ten players on the U.S. roster have been in Residency since the fall semester of 2007: Andrew Craven, Duran, Edwards, Herold, Stefan Jerome, Perry Kitchen, Carlos Martinez, McInterney, Polak and Jared Watts.
• The best-ever finish for both the U.S. and Italy at the FIFA U-17 World Cup is fourth place. Italy’s semifinal run was in 1987 in Canada, while the U.S. finished four in 1999 in New Zealand.
• This is the third-consecutive event in which the U.S. faces a European team in the Round of 16, with the Netherlands and Germany knocking the U.S. out in 2005 and 2007, respectively.
• Three of the USA’s five knockout stage losses have come to European teams, with Poland knocking the U.S. out in 1993. The other teams to beat the U.S. are Brazil (2003) and Ghana (1999).

Press release courtesy of U.S. Soccer