There’s a pretty important game featuring the United States senior national team on Saturday that you probably know about. But there’s another match earlier in the day also featuring the Red, White and Blue that deserves at least some of your attention: CONCACAF’s Olympic Qualifying tournament, featuring the USA U-23s.
This the tournament in which you’ve heard about Jordan Morris lighting it up. And it’s true, the Sounders Academy product has scored in all three matches and been involved in a bunch more as the USA breezed to a perfect group stage. But all of that will be for naught if the USA can’t beat Honduras in the tournament’s semifinals.
Only the top two teams from this tournament are guaranteed a spot in the 2016 Summer Olympics, meaning the USA only needs to win this game to punch their ticket. If the USA falls to Honduras, they’ll need to win the tournament’s third-place game which will only qualify them for a play-in against Colombia, never an easy task at any age level.
While the Olympics aren’t necessarily considered a major tournament in the soccer world, U.S. Soccer has placed a significant emphasis on it as so many of our age-group players aren’t getting regular minutes at the club level. Qualifying for next summer’s Olympics is considered a major opportunity to develop these players.
How to watch:
Time: noon, pacific
TV: Telemundo
Online: NBCDeportes.com
