CLEVELAND, Ohio — Team USA football is headed home empty handed after a pair of losses in a matter of days at the International Federation of American Football (IFAF) Under-20 World Championships.
A stout defensive first half saw Japan advance to the gold medal match against Canada after beating Team USA 41-20. Team USA was able to put a few drives together to inch closer in the second half, but had no answer for the Japanese offense.
The loss set the American squad up with a matchup against Austria in the bronze medal game.
Team USA got on the board first with a TD pass from Anthony Luna to Layton Duncan. A fake extra-point led to a completed 2-point conversion by Matt Jung, but the 8-0 lead wasn’t nearly enough for comfort.
Broken tackles led to a 35-yard TD for Austria’s Leonhard Foidl before Mateo Hoppel’s pick-six helped Austria to a 14-8 lead at the end of the first quarter.
With 51 seconds to go Austria was firmly in the drivers’ seat leading 32-18. Then, with 51 seconds remaining, Jung returned a blocked punt for a TD and cut the Austrian lead to 32-25.
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Team USA recovered an onside kick with 34 seconds left to give themselves a chance, but turned the ball over with six seconds to go to secure a 32-25 win for Austria.
Foidl scored two touchdowns, had a two-point conversion and took home the game MVP award. Austrian quarterback Michael Sazabo completed 24 of 32 passes for 291 yards and three touchdowns.
The win also made Austria the first European team to earn a medal at the World Championships.
Meanwhile, Canada beat Japan to win it’s third straight gold medal and social media was in a frenzy as upset Americans were questioning how Team USA could lose back-to-back football games.
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