Preview: Ticket to Tokyo at Stake for U-23 USMNT Vs. Honduras

U.S. Under-23 Men’s National Team vs. Honduras
Concacaf Men’s Olympic Qualifying Championship Semifinal
Estadio Jalisco; Guadalajara, Mexico
March 28, 2021 – 6 p.m. ET (FS1, TUDN)


OLYMPIC BERTH AT STAKE: The U.S. Under-23 Men’s National Team will play for a spot at the 2020 Summer Olympics on Sunday night vs. Honduras (6 p.m. ET; FS1, TUDN). A victory will punch the USA’s ticket to Tokyo and its first Men’s Olympic Football Tournament appearance since 2008, as well as a place in the Concacaf Men’s Olympic Qualifying Championship Final.

The U.S. won its first two matches of Olympic qualifying to clinch a berth in the semifinals and dropped a hard-fought 1-0 loss to Mexico in its last match. Honduras topped an under-manned Haiti squad in its first match before tying El Salvador and Canada to finish first in Group B.

Fans can follow the U.S. throughout the tournament on ussoccer.com. 

 

USA RESULTS – CONCACAF MEN’S OLYMPIC QUALIFYING CHAMPIONSHIP

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result
Thursday, March 18	Costa Rica	W 1-0	Estadio Jalisco; Guadalajara, Mexico
Sunday, March 21	Dominican Republic	W 4-0	Estadio Akron; Zapopan, Mexico
Wednesday, March 24	Mexico	L 0-1	Estadio Jalisco; Guadalajara, Mexico

USA VS. HONDURAS:

• The USA is 5-3-1 all-time vs. Honduras at Olympic qualifying, with all match-ups coming since the tournament became an Under-23 competition in 1992.

• Honduras has qualified for the last three Olympic Games. Los Catrachos finished fourth at Rio 2016, falling to host Brazil in the semifinals.

• Honduras qualified for the Men’s Olympic Qualifying Championship as one of three teams to emerge from the six-team Central American pre-qualifying. The six teams were placed into three two-legged series with the winners advancing to the tournament proper.

• Drawn against Nicaragua, Honduras took down La Selecta on the road 2-0 and then won 3-0 at home to clinch its spot in Guadalajara.

• Honduras named seven players to its roster who were born in 1997, seven born in 1998, three born in 1999, two born in 2000 and one born in 2001.

• Fourteen of the 20-player Honduras roster compete domestically, with the most, four, coming from CD Olimpia, one of the country’s most successful clubs. Three play in the USA, while Honduras also has one player each in Chile, Italy and Panama.

• Forward Douglas Martinez is a teammate of U-23 USMNT goalkeeper David Ochoa and defenders Justen Glad and Aaron Herrera at Real Salt Lake in Major League Soccer.

• It’s head coach Miguel Falero’s second stint leading the Honduras U-23 squad. The Uruguayan enjoyed a long playing career in South America and Greece before a lengthy coaching career in Uruguay, Ecuador and Honduras.

FINAL GROUP STANDINGS

GROUP A

Team	W	L	D	GD	Pts.
Mexico	3	0	0	7	9
USA	2	1	0	4	6
Costa Rica	1	2	0	1	3
Dominican Republic	0	3	0	-12	0

GROUP B

Team	W	L	D	GD	Pts.
Honduras	1	0	2	3	5
Canada	1	0	2	2	5
El Salvador	1	1	1	-1	4
Haiti	0	2	1	-4	1

NARROW LOSS TO MEXICO: After opening Olympic qualifying with two important victories to secure its place in the semifinals, the USA dropped a tight game to Mexico 1-0 in its final group stage match. With both teams already qualified to the knockout round, the U.S. defense held strong for the most part against an aggressive Mexico attack but gave up a goal just before the half. The U-23 USMNT wasn’t able to find an equalizer after the break in a physical match that saw both teams combine for 40 fouls.

LOS CATRACHOS TOP GROUP B: Honduras advanced to the tournament semifinals as the top team in Group B. Los Catrachos opened against Haiti, who was only able to field 10 players at the start of the match due to COVID-19 protocols. Haiti started the match with a field player stepping in at goalkeeper, but had additional players cleared for action later in the match and were able to field a full XI. Honduras came out on top 3-0 with two goals from Darixon Vuelto and another from Edwin Rodriguez.

In its second match, Honduras drew El Salvador 1-1. After Los Catrachos took a lead just after the half on a goal from Douglas Martinez, El Salvador rallied for an equalizer to salvage a point. The one point was enough to clinch a spot for Honduras in the Olympic qualifying semifinals for the sixth straight competition.

In its Group B finale, Canada struck first, but Honduras responded quickly with a goal from Denil Maldonado just two minutes later. The affair finished 1-1, sending both sides to the semis.

CONCACAF MEN’S OLYMPIC QUALIFYING CHAMPIONSHIP ROSTER BY POSITION (CLUB; HOMETOWN):

GOALKEEPERS (3): 12-Matt Freese (Philadelphia Union; Wayne, Pa.), 1-JT Marcinkowski (San Jose Earthquakes, Alamo, Calif.), 20-David Ochoa (Real Salt Lake; Oxnard, Calif.)

DEFENDERS (6): 2-Julian Araujo (LA Galaxy; Lompoc, Calif.), 4-Justen Glad (Real Salt Lake; Tucson, Ariz.), 17-Aaron Herrera (Real Salt Lake; Las Cruces, N.M.), 3-Henry Kessler (New England Revolution; New York, N.Y.), 5-Mauricio Pineda (Chicago Fire FC; Bolingbrook, Ill.), 13-Sam Vines (Colorado Rapids; Colorado Springs, Colo.)

MIDFIELDERS (7): 16-Johnny Cardoso (Internacional/BRA; Denville, N.J.), 18-Hassani Dotson (Minnesota United FC; Federal Way, Wash.), 8-Djordje Mihailovic (CF Montreal/CAN; Lemont, Ill.), 15-Andrés Perea (Orlando City SC; Medellin, Colombia), 10-Sebastian Saucedo (UNAM Pumas/MEX; Park City, Utah), 11-Tanner Tessmann (FC Dallas; Hoover, Ala.), 6-Jackson Yueill (San Jose Earthquakes; Bloomington, Minn.)

FORWARDS (4): 9-Jesús Ferreira (FC Dallas; McKinney, Texas), 7-Jonathan Lewis (Colorado Rapids; Plantation, Fla.), 14-Benji Michel (Orlando City SC; Orlando, Fla.), 19-Sebastian Soto (Norwich City/ENG; San Diego, Calif.)

 

HONDURAS ROSTER BY POSITION (CLUB):

GOALKEEPERS (3): 1-Alex Barrios (CD Olimpia), 18-Enrique Facusse (RGV Toros FC/USA), 12-Michael Perello (Real España)

DEFENDERS (6): 3-Wesley Decas (FC Motagua), 16-Jose Garcia (CD Real de Minas), 2-Denil Maldonado (Everton/CHI), 4-Carlos Melendez (CDS Vida), 5-Christopher Melendez (FC Motagua), 6-Jonathan Nuñez (FC Motagua)

MIDFIELDERS (7): 20-Carlos Argueta (CDS Vida), 15-Kervin Arriaga (CD Marathon), 17-Jose Pinto (CD Olimpia), 7-Jose Reyes (CD Olimpia), 10-Rigoberto Rivas (Reggina Calcio/ITA), 14-Joseph Rosales (CA Independiente/PAN), 8-Edwin Rodriguez (CD Olimpia)

FORWARDS (4): 9-Juan Carlos Obregon (RGV Toros FC/USA), 19-Douglas Martinez (Real Salt Lake/USA), 13-Luis Palma (CDS Vida), 11-Darixon Vuelto (Real España)

TOURNAMENT FORMAT: Held quadrennially, the Concacaf Men’s Olympic Qualifying Championship serves as the region’s qualification for the Men’s Olympic Football Tournament and as a regional championship for Under-23 players. Since 1992, the Olympics have been contested as an Under-23 competition to differentiate the tournament from the FIFA World Cup.

The current format for the Concacaf Men’s Olympic Qualifying Championship - eight nations divided into two groups of four teams - was adopted in 2004. The top two teams in each group advance to the pivotal semifinals, whose winners advance to the Men’s Olympic Football Tournament as well as the qualifying competition’s championship match.

Originally slated for March 2020, the Concacaf qualifying tournament is open to all players born January 1, 1997 or after. The age-eligibility rules have carried over from the postponement, so some players on the U-23 USMNT are actually 24 years old.