The United States men soccer team would not take part in the forthcoming Tokyo Olympics Games soccer tournament which is scheduled to take place from July 21 to August 7, 2021.
The United States men soccer team lost the opportunity to play in the soccer section of the Olympics Games on Sunday, March 28, 2021, after failing to defeat Honduras in the knock-out stage of the qualification round.
Honduras won the qualification match 2-1 to knock out the United States men soccer team which means that the US have not been able to qualify for the Olympics Games Soccer tournament after their appearance in the 2008 Beijing Games.
In the last two qualification rounds of the competition, the United States men soccer team were eliminated in the group stage in 2012 and got knocked out in the semi-final stage in 2016.
In the game on Sunday, Honduras took the lead in the first half through the boots of Juan Carlos Obregon. In the early minutes of the first half, Honduras made it 2-0 through the boots of Luis Palma thanks to an error by US goalkeeper David Ochoa.
Afterward, the US soccer team tried to stage a comeback but only manage to pull one back through the boots of Jackson Yueill. The match ended 2-1 after 90 minutes of soccer.
It is believed that the US men soccer team would have done better if the country’s European-based soccer stars who are eligible to play the qualification match were available for the team.
Some of the European-based American soccer stars who could have made the difference for the US are Christian Pulisic, Weston McKennie, Tyler Adams, Gio Reyna, Josh Sargent, Sergio Dest, Chris Richards, and Antonee Robinson.
After Honduras knocked out the US soccer team, the head coach of the team, Jason Kreis described the defeat as devastating and said the team would have performed better if the country’s European-based soccer stars were available.
“Obviously, we’re devastated, absolutely devastated,” he said. “In our locker room, the guys are like it’s a tragedy.
“The only solution I would say is that if you can get the European players then perhaps you’re in better shape, but we all know the difficulties of that.”
As it stands, Mexico’s under-23 national team will play against Honduras in the semi-final stage of the qualifiers. The winner of the stage will automatically qualify for Tokyo Olympics Games and compete for the Concacaf qualifier title.
