US miss 3rd straight Olympic soccer

This news has been read 8477 times!

Mexico, Honduras qualify

GUADALAJARA, March 29, (AP): American players fell to the field at the final whistle. Another missed Olympics soccer tournament for the U.S. men. Juan Carlos Obregón scored in the fourth minute of firsthalf stoppage time, goalkeeper David Ochoa committed a blunder that gifted Luis Palma a goal two minutes into the second half and Honduras beat the United States 2-1 on Sunday in an Olympic qualification game at Guadalajara, Mexico. U.S. captain Jackson Yueill pulled a goal back with a curling 23-yard shot in the 52nd minute, but the Americans misfired on several good chances to equalize. “Obviously, we’re devastated, absolutely devastated,” U.S. coach Jason Kreis said.

“In our locker room, the guys are like it’s a tragedy – a tragedy.” U.S. men had trouble creating chances in the first half, and the Americans missed their third straight Olympics. “They were very well man-oriented to stop players, which didn’t give us a lot of time to kind of break them down,” Yeuill said.

The American Olympic skid is part of a trend that includes the senior national team missing the 2018 World Cup. Olympic men’s soccer is limited to players both Jan. 1, 1997, and later, and clubs don’t have to release players. In contrast, the women’s tournament is open to senior national teams. The U.S. has won three of the last four soccer gold medals and is favored to win again this summer. Still, there were chances. Jonathan Lewis’ 63rd-minute header was headed off the goal line by Wesley Degas, and Yueill’s free kick in the 69th was batted away by goalkeeper Alex Barrios. Lewis had an open 4-yard shot off Tanner Tessman’s pass in the 83rd minute but allowed the ball to bounce off a boot. Johnny Cardoso mis-hit an open header in second-half stoppage time.

Kreis had seen similar from his team during the group stage. Honduras advanced to its fourth straight Olympics this summer in Japan after finishing fourth in 2016. Mexico, the 2012 gold medal winner, earned the other berth from North and Central America and the Caribbean by defeating Canada 2-0 in the second game of the doubleheader. CONCACAF qualifiers join Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Egypt, France, Germany, Ivory Coast, Japan, New Zealand, Romania, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea and Spain in the draw, which will be held in Zurich on April 21.

This news has been read 8477 times!