U.S. provisional list for Olympic men's qualifying released

• by Paul Kennedy  @pkedit, Feb 24, 2021

Concacaf released a provisional list of the players the eight finalists have submitted for the Olympic men's qualifying tournament.

FIFA requires each team to submit a provisional list of at least 50 prospective players for the qualifying competition no later than 30 days before its first qualifying match. The list is non-binding, so teams can add more players.

The USA opens play March 18 against Costa Rica at the Jalisco Stadium in Guadalajara, Mexico. The eight-team tournament runs March 18-31 at the Jalisco Stadium and Akron Stadium, both in Guadalajara.

The U.S. list consists of 48 players. Of the 42 field players, 21 have been capped and seven have scored for the senior national team.

The list consists of 38 players based in MLS, nine in Europe and one in Mexico. Clubs are not required to release players for age-group competitions like the Olympic men's competition so almost all U.S. stars who are eligible as under-23 players aren't on the list.

The LA Galaxy's Efrain Alvarez is on the provisional list of both Mexico and the USA. The Californian played for Mexico on its 2019 U-17 World Cup runner-up team. He attended the USA's senior national team camp in December and will require a change of association filed to and approved by FIFA to play for the USA in the qualifying tournament. Such a move would bind him to the USA permanently.

Fifteen of the 20 players who were on the USA's 2020 qualifying roster are on the 2021 list. Concacaf postponed the 2020 tournament after the USA arrived for pre-tournament training in Guadalajara due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Athletic's Sam Stejskal reported that U.S. under-23 coach Jason Kreis will take a group of "25 or 26" players to Guadalajara on Sunday for training.

Goalkeepers (6):
Drake Callender (Inter Miami)
Matt Freese (Philadelphia Union)
Jonathan Klinsmann (LA Galaxy)
JT Marcinkowski (San Jose Earthquakes)
David Ochoa (Real Salt Lake)
Brady Scott (Austin FC)
2020 qualifying roster: Freese, Marcinkowski, Ochoa.

Defenders (15):
Julian Araujo (LA Galaxy), 1 cap
George Bello (Atlanta United), 1 cap
Kyle Duncan (NY Red Bulls), 1 cap
Marco Farfan (LAFC), 1 cap
Justen Glad (Real Salt Lake)
Chris Gloster (PSV, Netherlands)
Aaron Herrera (Real Salt Lake), 1 cap
Aboubacar Keita (Columbus Crew)
Henry Kessler (New England Revolution)
Mauricio Pineda (Chicago Fire)
Donovan Pines (D.C. United)
Bryan Reynolds (Roma, Italy)
Miles Robinson (Atlanta United), 3 caps, 1 goal
Auston Trusty (Colorado Rapids)
Sam Vines (Colorado Rapids), 3 caps
2020 qualifying roster: Reggie Cannon, Glad, Gloster, Herrera, Mark McKenzie, Erik Palmer-Brown.

Midfielders (16):
Brenden Aaronson (Red Bull Salzburg, Austria), 2 caps, 1 goal
Frankie Amaya (FC Cincinnati)
Cole Bassett (Colorado Rapids)
Gianluca Busio (Sporting KC)
Johnny Cardoso (Internacional, Brazil), 2 caps
Caden Clark (New York Red Bulls)
Cade Cowell (San Jose Earthquakes)
Hassani Dotson (Minnesota United)
Djordje Mihailovic (CF Montreal), 6 caps, 1 goal
Keaton Parks (NYCFC), 1 cap
Andres Perea (Orlando City), 1 cap
James Sands (NYCFC)
Brandon Servania (St. Poelten, Austria), 1 cap
Tanner Tessmann (FC Dallas), 1 cap
Eryk Williamson (Portland Timbers)
Jackson Yueill (San Jose Earthquakes), 9 caps
2020 qualifying roster: Aaronson, Dotson, Richy Ledezma, Mihailovic, Paxton Pomykal, Yueill.

Forwards (11):
*Efrain Alvarez (LA Galaxy)
Konrad de la Fuente (Barcelona, Spain), 1 cap
Jeremy Ebobisse (Portland Timbers), 1 cap
Jesus Ferreira (FC Dallas), 2 caps, 2 goals
Brooks Lennon (Real Salt Lake)
Jonathan Lewis (Colorado Rapids), 7 caps, 2 goals
Uly Llanez (Heerenveen, Netherlands), 3 caps, 1 goal
Benji Michel (Orlando City)
Ricardo Pepi (FC Dallas)
Sebastian Saucedo (UNAM, Mexico)
Sebastian Soto (Norwich City, England), 2 caps, 2 goals
*Requires change of association to play for USA.
2020 qualifying roster: Ebobisse, Ferreira, Lewis, Llanez, Saucedo.