CHICAGO (March 11, 2021) – US Under-23 Men’s National Team coach Jason Kreis selected the 20 players who will represent the United States at the Concacaf Olympic Qualifying Championship, which will take place in Guadalajara, Mexico, from 18 to 30 March.
Kreis selected the team from a 28-player training camp that he started training on March 1 in Mexico.
“We know that qualifying will be a challenge, but it is a challenge for which we are prepared. We will need all 20 players on this list to contribute so that we can reach our final qualifying goal for the Olympics, ”said Kreis. “We had a productive training camp in Guadalajara and our players are looking forward to the opportunity to compete. After starting this journey almost two years ago, we are looking forward to starting the tournament. “
The tournament features eight nations divided into two groups of four teams. The top two in each group advance to the semi-final decisive matches, which will send two winners to the Tokyo Olympics as representatives of Concacaf. The two winners will also face each other in the final on March 30.
The US journey to Japan begins when the Group A game begins on Thursday, March 18, against Costa Rica (16:30 Eastern Time; FS1, TUDN). The United States faces the Dominican Republic on Sunday, March 21 (7:00 pm Eastern time; FS1, TUDN) and ends the group stage against Mexico on Wednesday, March 24 (9:30 pm Eastern time; FS1, TUDN) . The U-23 USMNT intends to qualify for its first Olympic Games since 2008.
ROSTER OF THE CONCACAF MAN OF OLYMPIC QUALIFICATION CHAMPIONSHIP BY POSITION (CLUB; HOMETOWN):
GOALS (3): Matt Freese (Philadelphia Union; Wayne, Pa.), JT Marcinkowski (San Jose Earthquakes, Alamo, California), David Ochoa (Real Salt Lake; Oxnard, California)
DEFENDERS (6): Julian Araujo (LA Galaxy; Lompoc, California), Justen Glad (Real Salt Lake; Tucson, Arizona), Aaron Herrera (Real Salt Lake; Las Cruces, NM), Henry Kessler (New England Revolution; New York, NY), Mauricio Pineda (Chicago Fire FC; Bolingbrook, Illinois), Sam Vines (Colorado Rapids; Colorado Springs, Colorado)
MIDFIELDERS (7): Johnny Cardoso (Internacional / BRA; Denville, NJ), Hassani Dotson (Minnesota United FC; Federal Way, Wash.), Ulysses Llanez (Heerenveen / NED; Lynwood, California), Djordje Mihailovic (CF Montreal / CAN; Jacksonville, Florida. ), Andrés Perea (Orlando City SC; Medellin, Colombia), Sebastian Saucedo (UNAM Pumas / MEX; Park City, Utah), Jackson Yueill (San Jose Earthquakes; Bloomington, Minnesota)
ADVANCES (4): Jesús Ferreira (FC Dallas; McKinney, Texas), Jonathan Lewis (Colorado Rapids; Plantation, Florida), Benji Michel (Orlando City SC; Orlando, Florida), Sebastian Soto (Norwich City / ENG; San Diego, California)
The final list features 11 players who were internationalized at the senior level of the USMNT and 10 who were on the final list of a FIFA Youth World Cup. Ten players had already won Concacaf championships at the Under-20 level in 2017 and 2018.
Six cast members were part of the USMNT’s 7-0 victory over Trinidad and Tobago in January, when strikers Jesús Ferreira and Jonathan Lewis scored their first international goals, while defender Aaron Hererra and midfielder Andrés Perea made their debut in the main selection. The Olympic qualifying tournament will be Ferreira and Perea’s first official competition with the U.S., after the dual nationality players elected to represent the U.S. in January 2019 and 2021, respectively.
The Olympic qualifying tournament was originally scheduled for March 2020, but has been postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Players born on or after January 1, 1997 are eligible by age for the competition and Kreis selected players from five different birth years: nine born in 1997, three born in 1998, one born in 1999, three born in 2000 and four born in 2001.
ROSTER’S NOTES
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The squad features players from 11 MLS clubs, with Real Salt Lake contributing more (3). Colorado Rapids, Orlando City SC and San Jose Earthquakes each had two players named to the list.
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Four players compete in countries with competitions outside the MLS: Cardoso (Brazil), Soto (England), Saucedo (Mexico) and Llanez (Netherlands).
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Eighteen of the 20 players spent time playing at the US Football Development Academy, including all current domestic players.
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Twelve players were also named to the U.S. list in March 2020 for the originally scheduled Olympic qualifying tournament.
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In addition to the 10 MLS players who emerged from their respective academies, the remaining eight played for the last time on the following DA teams: Dotson (Crossfire Premier), Kessler (Beachside FC), Lewis (Kendall SC), Llanez (LA Galaxy), Mihailovic (Chicago Fire FC), Saucedo (Real Salt Lake), Soto (Real Salt Lake) and Yueill (Minnesota Thunder Academy).
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Ten MLS Homegrown players are on the list. Striker Sebastian Saucedo also began his career as a player at Real Salt Lake.
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With five caps for the Under-23 team, striker Djordje Mihailovic is the one with the most experience in this age group. He was the team captain in the last three international matches.
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Goalkeeper JT Marcinkowski appeared on all nine U-23 USMNT training camps during this cycle, including the team’s joint camp in June 2019 with the senior team.
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International midfielder Johnny Cardoso scored his first professional goal on March 4 against Pelotas in the Brazilian championship game.
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In addition to leading the Real Salt Lake to the 2009 MLS Cup, Kreis also succeeded at the Confederation level in the professional club game, taking RSL to the highest ranking ever for a team based in the United States in the UEFA Champions League. Concacaf. The team reached the final of the 2010-11 tournament, losing a tight aggregate result of 3-2 to Mexican power Monterrey.
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In addition to the 10 players with experience in the Concacaf Championship at the U-20 level, strikers Jonathan Lewis and Djordje Mihailovic were part of the USMNT senior vice-championship in the 2019 Gold Cup.
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Defender Justen Glad was voted Best XI in the 2017 Concacaf U-20 Championship, while Ulysses Llanez received the Best XI award in 2018 as one of the tournament’s top scorers.
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The four players born in 2001 are eligible by age for the 2024 Olympic Games.
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CJ Brown, Jeff Cassar and Steve Ralston will serve as assistant coaches for Kreis during the tournament, and Rob Vartughian will coach the team’s goalkeeper.