Archrivals USA and Mexico both have points to prove in CONCACAF’s Olympic qualifiers. The Americans, as hosts, are eager to do better than the senior side who were humbled on home soil a few months ago, finishing third in the region’s Gold Cup. Mexico, for their part, want to prove their Gold Medal finish at the London Olympics four years ago was no fluke.
All eyes will be on hosts USA when they line up at the tournament, which runs from 1 to 13 October across four American cities. The senior side’s loss to Jamaica in the semi-finals of the Gold Cup had fans and pundits scratching their heads, wondering about the state of US soccer.
The American Olympic team is comprised of players born in 1993 or later, but all of them will be painfully aware of that dramatic failure at home. Senior coach Jurgen Klinsmann, who oversees the Olympic side coached by his assistant Andreas Herzog, has identified the Olympic qualifiers among the most important dates of the year. “The time for experimenting is over,” the former German icon said, preparing for a one-off game against Mexico on 10 October with a place in the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup on the line. “Olympic qualifying is of the highest importance.”
To that end, Herzog has called on a side led by teenage sensation Emerson Hyndman of Fulham, who recently captained the USA U-20s to the quarters of the junior world finals in New Zealand. He’s considered the most talented up-and-comer on the US scene. He already has a senior cap to his name and is hungry for more. “I love pulling on the national team jersey at any level,” he told FIFA.com. “It’s beyond description.”
Hyndman will work the midfield while shooting star Jordan Morris, who plays his football in the US’s all-amateur university system, will marshal the attack. The last time a US team reached the Olympics was back in Beijing in 2008.
“I think over the last couple of months the players had a very good working attitude and a lot of passion,” Herzog said, capped over 100 times for his native Austria and Klinsmann’s first lieutenant for the senior squad. “This is a real ambitious group of players.”
While USA are favourites to take Group A of the eight-team tournament, Canada will pose stiff opposition. USA’s neighbours to the north are led by the country’s senior coach, former Real Madrid manager Benito Floro. Among his players are 14 who have been called into camp for the seniors and six - Spain-based Samuel Piette chief among them - who have actually taken the field for the country’s top side.
“The Olympics come along only once every four years, so it’s very important for the players and the country," Floro said, who has developed a reputation for transforming the Canadian mindset away from rough-and-tumble physicality toward more defensive assurance and ball possession. “We have a good group of players and we’re going to work hard to get a spot in Brazil.”
Rounding out the field in Group A are Central American strivers Panama, who boast a side made up almost entirely of youngsters already making waves in the Panamanian top flight. Cuba, mostly amateurs and reserves, will be hoping for the best.
Holders hope
Mexico are, without doubt, favourites in Group B. They won the gold medal by beating a Neymar-led Brazil in the final of the last Olympics, in London in 2012. Led by attackers Erick Cubo Torres and Marco Bueno, the side is coached by Raul Gutierrez, whose name is synonymous with Mexican success at youth level. He was in charge of the U-17 side which won the 2011 FIFA U-17 World Cup, before bringing them to the final again two years later.
He has a tough act to follow after Luis Fernando Tena took his side to the mountaintop four years ago, pulling off a shock win over Brazil to earn an historic gold medal for the North American nation. But the new man in charge isn’t worried at all. “We think we’re favourites; we’re the team to beat,” the former Mexican international said, known for his ferocity and intelligence.
El Tri, however, will not have things all their own way in a group loaded with talent and ambition. Honduras, Costa Rica and Haiti are hungry and loaded with talent, on the prowl to claim one of the spots in Rio next summer.
The CONCACAF qualifiers span 13 days in the United States, with the top two finishers from each group moving on to the semi-finals. The two finalists book their place automatically to the Rio Summer Games next year, while the third-place finisher will play Colombia in a play-off for a potential third spot in the region.
