Recap: Palmer-Brown and U.S. rescue 3-3 draw against Ecuador in U-20 World Cup opener

Sporting Kansas City defender Erik Palmer-Brown and the U.S. U-20 Men’s National Team opened their 2017 FIFA U-20 World Cup campaign with a wild 3-3 draw against Ecuador on Monday at Incheon Football Stadium in Incheon, Korea Republic.

Palmer-Brown captained the side and played 90 minutes in central defense as the U.S. twice came from behind, using 17-year-old Josh Sargent’s brace and a 94th-minute equalizer from Luca De La Torre to rescue a precious point in the Group F opener.

The U.S. endured a tumultuous start, falling behind 2-0 within seven minutes as Herlin Lino and Bryan Cabezas scored for Ecuador. Head coach Tab Ramos’ men responded positively, however, and punched back on either side of the interval thanks to Sargent, a St. Louis native who was making his U.S. U-20 debut. The forward pulled one back in the 36th minute before restoring parity in the 54th minute, shortly after Palmer-Brown did well to prevent Washington Corozco’s cutback pass from finding Lino in the penalty area.

Ecuador surged back ahead on 64 minutes when Cabezas converted a U.S. turnover into his second goal of the night. The U.S. would press forward in the late stages and were justly rewarded four minutes into second-half stoppage time, as De La Torre ran onto a partially cleared cross from Brooks Lennon and beat Ecuador goalkeeper Jose Cevallos to salvage a valuable draw.

Palmer-Brown and the U.S. return to Incheon Football Stadium on Thursday to face Senegal in their second group stage contest. Kickoff is set for 6 a.m. CT on FS1, FOX Sports GO and Telemundo. Live updates will also be available on Twitter at @ussoccer_ynt and @ussoccer_esp.

The 2017 FIFA U-20 World Cup consists of six groups of four teams. The top two teams in each group, as well as the top four third-place finishers, will advance to the knockout rounds — beginning with the Round of 16 and culminating in the final on June 11.

2017 FIFA U-20 World Cup - Group F Table