A couple of days after the US Under-17's amazing win over Belgium that, incredibly and improbably, propelled them from last with zero points to second with three points and six goals scored, I'm reminded how much fun it is to watch the youth teams play.

Though gamesmanship most certainly exists at the youth level - as a matter of fact, it seems to be creeping in more and more - there's still much less of it. It's nice to watch soccer players actually trying to stay on their feet after a little bit of contact.

Sunday's game was the first of the tournament that I was able to watch live and it sure made up for the first two disappointing losses. I'd been wanting to see what this Alex Nimo kid was all about, and I'd have to say that he did not let me down.

He's far from the finished product, and at his age, you really never know how a player is going to develop - but I'll give him the grade of "so far, so great."

The player that really stood out for me, however, was Kirk Urso. What a cannon the kid has got, as evidenced from his first goal. As the game wore on, it was clear that he had no fear of letting it fly!

The midfielder hadn't played in either of the two games prior and didn't come on until the beginning of the second half, but it was he who single-footedly changed the complexion of the game.

The United States entered the last half hour of the match still without a goal, basically because the guys who were putting shots on goal weren't finishing. That is not to fault them, by any means.

Scoring a goal at the highest level is about the most difficult thing to do in all of sports, and I would never expect a bunch of 17-year olds to have it mastered by that point. Just seeing them hold up under the pressure and expectations of it all is amazing enough for me.

Urso seemed to have tired of his teammates failed efforts to put one past Belgian keeper Jo Coppens, and abandoned finesse for power.

When the Illinois native finally was in a position to put a shot on goal, he seemed to say, "try and stop this, Monsieur Coppens." The Belgian certainly got a piece of it, but really never had a chance - I wouldn't be surprised if he were still feeling that shot the next day.

The only other time I had seen a goal like that from a US player was in 2002 when the senior side traveled to Rostock to play Germany, and gave up three goals in just seven minutes to fall behind fast. Clint Mathis, at the time literally the poster boy for US soccer, did pretty much the same thing as young Urso when he scored his second goal of the game.

One of my biggest gripes about American players is that rarely do you see them take shots from outside the penalty area. There has been some noticeable improvement - Benny Feilhaber scored from long distance in the Gold Cup final and Sacha Kljestan, Ben Olsen and Kerry Zavagnin have all had memorable shots in MLS this year. But at the National Team level, it seems to be the exception, not the rule.

Following the second goal against Belgium, I wouldn't say that the US stopped trying to score, but they seemed to take their foot off of the pedal - well, except for Urso.

After watching three or four US players pass up opportunities to test the Belgian keeper from long range, Urso finally took possession and I knew exactly what was coming. It was all Coppens could do to block the effort, and had there been any US guys following up from the other side, the score would have been 3-0 at that point.

In retrospect, it appears that he must have the reputation as a heavy hitter on the team as well, because when Nimo earned a free kick just outside the area in the 81st minute, there was no question who was going to take the ensuing free kick.

Now normally in that situation, the strategy is to pick out someone with a well-placed cross, or to have someone do their best Thierry Henry impersonation and bend it in some previously believed to be physically impossible way toward goal. But Urso once again just hit it as hard as he could and Coppens could only lay out to sacrifice his body for the good of his team.

I'm not sure why Urso didn't make an appearance in this tournament until the 46th minute of the third game (a friend of mine is convinced that his shoot first, ask questions later mentality is keeping him out of the lineup), but he certainly showed that he belongs.

Regardless of what happens in their next match, the final group contest was a great match of fearless, attacking soccer that we need much more of in the United States - the earlier they learn to shoot, the earlier they'll learn to score.

You can't win if you don't play and you can't score if you don't shoot.