The United States Under-23 Men’s National Team will start the 2015 CONCACAF Olympic Qualifications against Northern rivals Canada on Thursday at Sporting Park in Kansas City.
For the USMNT, this game is already a must win. The Yanks still have to face Cuba and Panama in the group stages. It is a given that the USMNT will leave their second match on Saturday against Cuba at Sporting Park with three points. However, in their finale of group A, the Yanks will face Los Canaleros on Tuesday at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City, and there is no guarantee of leaving with a victory.
That being said, if the Yanks want to avoid the game against Panama to have any importance, they have to beat the Canucks. A victory against Les Rouges will set up the Yanks to clinch a spot into the next round with a victory against Cuba in their next match.
Not to mention the United States will need a victory to shake off the bad memories of the 2012 CONCACAF Olympic Qualifications. The U.S. lost to Canada 2-0 on March 24th, 2012 at LP Field in Nashville. The USMNT ended up being eliminated from the qualifications and failed to qualify to the 2012 Summer Olympics in Great Britain.
Now three years later, the United States is entering the competition with new young players with one mission in mind: to get the U.S. back to the Olympics. The players who are given this task of qualifying the Yanks to the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio are: Luis Gil, Emerson Hyndman, Will Trap and Gedion Zelalem. They are just a few of the midfielders who will have to use their creativity to break down the Canadian defenders.
The USMNT forwards Jordan Morris, Alonso Hernandez, Maki Tall and Jerome Kiesewetter will need to find a way to score against the Canadians. Scoring against the Canucks was something that the 2012 USMNT group of forwards was not able to accomplish.
However, the defense will need to stop Les Rouges attackers Michael Petrasso, Caleb Clarke, Ben Fisk and Anthony Jackson-Hamel on Thursday. U.S. goalies Ethan Horvath and Zack Steffen will be competing for the starting job against the Canucks. Both keepers are talented, but they will need to be able to command their defense. USMNT Under-20 World Cup stars Cameron Carter-Vickers and Matt Miazga will need to anchor the defense and react quickly when the Canadians come.
The tempo of this game will not be high flying. Instead it will be a rugged and defensive battle in the midfield. In this match between the two rivals, it is safe to say that the first goal scored will most likely win the match.
Prediction: USMNT 2-1 Canada
The United States score early and force the Canadians to attack. In result, this will open up their defense and give the Americans a chance to double their lead.