U.S. U-23 MNT to continue Olympic prep in England in September
CHICAGO (Via U.S. Soccer) – The U.S. Under-23 Men’s National Team will convene in England for camp in early September, highlighted by matches with England’s U-23 National Team on Thursday, Sept. 3 and Qatar’s U-23 National Team on Tuesday, Sept. 8.
“We are absolutely excited about this invitation to compete with these teams,” U.S. U-23 MNT head coach Andi Herzog said. “We have emphasized the need for this group to be together as much as possible, and to get another chance to train and play against England and Qatar will be a great opportunity to evaluate players as we look to finalize our roster for Olympic Qualifying.”
The U-23s have logged three matches in 2015 (2-1-0), opening with a 5-2 win over Bosniaand falling 0-1 to Denmark in March before bouncing back with a 3-0 win over Mexico on April 22 at the StubHub Center in Carson, California.
The camp serves as part of the preparation process for qualifying for the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. The 2015 CONCACAF Men’s Olympic Qualifying Championship will be played in the United States from Oct. 1-13.
Next month, the team will be back together for the renowned Toulon Tournament in France at the end of May. There, the U-23’s will collide with some of the world’s best teams, facing off with France on May 27, Netherlands on May 29, Costa Rica on May 31 and Qatar on June 2. The championship and third place games are scheduled for June 7.
