Written by Andrew Coppens at Bloguin
On Saturday night, most in the United States soccer community and the general sporting population were stunned and saddened to see the sights of Mexico celebrating a CONCACAF Cup victory over the United States on the Rose Bowl turf.
No doubt it was the biggest of blows to the publicity train and the egos of the American soccer fan and the United States Soccer Federation. However, the real big blow came hours earlier as the U-23 side failed to make the final of the Olympic qualification tournament thanks to a 2-0 loss to Honduras in the semi-final.
It left the United States with a rough road to even limp its way in to the 2016 Rio Olympic games. The U-23 side must now win its third place match in the CONCACAF Qualification tournament, and then face off with Colombia for the final berth in the tournament.
With a contest against Canada first, and then a matchup in March in Brazil against Colombia the road is not easy. Rather than just having to reach the final, the U-23 side must climb a two-game mountain to get to the tournament in Rio.
If the U-23 fails to qualify, it would be third time in the last seven Olympic games that the team wasn’t there.
Jurgen Klinsmann may stay or go, but developing the next group of players to make an impact on the senior USMNT is of utmost importance. Missing out on any international youth tournament is a huge blow to those hopes.
Ironically, it is the story of the bitter rivals to the South that tells us all we need to know about the significance of making youth tournaments count towards future success on the biggest stage of them all.
To continue reading this article, click here.
