Kreis Narrows USA U-23s Down to 31 Players Before Making Final Olympic Qualifying Picks


Jason Kreis will select a final 20-player roster for this month's qualifying tournament after a training camp in Mexico.

U.S. U-23 coach Jason Kreis and U.S. Soccer were able to secure the release of only four players based outside of MLS for this month’s Olympic qualifying tournament, which will take place in Guadalajara from March 18 to March 30.

Kreis on Monday unveiled a list of 31 players who have convened in Mexico for training camp. Twenty will make the cut for competition, which kicks off with a group-stage game against Costa Rica at the Estadio Jalisco. Among those who didn’t progress from the preliminary team sheet released last week was coveted LA Galaxy midfielder Efrain Álvarez, the focus of a tug-of-war between the USA and Mexico.

Álvarez represented his native USA as a U-15 player, but then switched to Mexico and starred at the 2019 FIFA U-17 World Cup. He remained eligible for both countries, however, and was named by both federations on their preliminary Olympic roster.

So the focus shifts to those who will represent the U.S. in Mexico, led by several players who’ve already appeared for the senior squad, including San Jose Earthquakes midfielder Jackson Yueill, FC Dallas forward Jesús Ferreira and Colorado Rapids defender Sam Vines, among others.

The Olympics are not a senior FIFA competition and therefore, clubs aren’t obligated to release players. MLS clubs are just kicking off preseason, so domestic buy-in isn’t an issue. Getting foreign clubs to send a player abroad for several weeks, often during the meat of their seasons, however, is a tall order. In the end, only four were willing.

Brazil’s SC International just finished up its postponed 2020 league campaign, finishing second behind Flamengo, and was willing to part with reserve midfielder Johnny Cardoso. Forwards Sebastian Saucedo (Mexico’s UNAM Pumas), Ulysses Llanez (Netherlands’ Heerenveen) and Sebastian Soto (England’s Norwich City) don’t feature regularly and were considered expendable by their clubs.

There were nine players based outside of MLS on Kreis’s preliminary list.

“It’s always difficult with the European clubs because of their season, because of the extended travel that it takes for the players to get there and back, but also because the tournament is essentially a 12-day to two-week process, and then we need some time with the players to prepare them before that,” Kreis said last month. “So it’s a long time for the clubs to release their players, and we understand that it’s a difficult prospect for a lot of them.”

Concacaf’s Olympic qualifying tournament features eight teams sorted into two groups of four. The USA also will face Dominican Republic and Mexico in the group stage. The top two finishers advance to the semifinals, from which the two survivors will qualify for this summer’s Olympics in Japan. The Americans have missed the past two Olympic tournaments, last qualifying for the Beijing games in 2008,

Here’s Kreis’s training camp roster:

GOALKEEPERS: Matt Freese (Philadelphia Union), Jonathan Klinsmann (LA Galaxy), JT Marcinkowski (San Jose Earthquakes), David Ochoa (Real Salt Lake)

DEFENDERS: Julian Araujo (LA Galaxy), George Bello (Atlanta United), Marco Farfan (Los Angeles FC), Justen Glad (Real Salt Lake), Aaron Herrera (Real Salt Lake), Henry Kessler (New England Revolution), Mauricio Pineda (Chicago Fire), Miles Robinson (Atlanta United), Austin Trusty (Colorado Rapids), Sam Vines (Colorado Rapids)

MIDFIELDERS: Frankie Amaya (FC Cincinnati), Cole Bassett (Colorado Rapids), Johnny Cardoso (SC Internacional), Hassani Dotson (Minnesota United), Andrés Perea (Orlando City), Tanner Tessmann (FC Dallas), Eryk Williamson (Portland Timbers), Jackson Yueill (San Jose Earthquakes)

FORWARDS: Jesús Ferreira (FC Dallas), Brooks Lennon (Atlanta United), Jonathan Lewis (Colorado Rapids), Ulysses Llanez (Heerenveen), Benji Michel (Orlando City), Djordje Mihailovic (CF Montreal), Ricardo Pepi (FC Dallas), Sebastian Saucedo (UNAM Pumas), Sebastian Soto (Norwich City)