4 players with Florida ties comprised 20-man roster
By Official Florida FC
Pressure is a privilege.
That was the phrase tweeted by the United States Youth National Team twitter account prior to Sunday’s Concacaf Olympic Qualifying Tournament semifinal against Honduras. The Americans proceded to turn in a poor performance en route to a 2-1 loss to Honduras.
The result means the program will miss its third consecutive Olympics.
The starting XI featured two Florida natives in midfielder Andres Perea (Tampa) and winger Djordje Mihailovic (Jacksonville) as well as Florida resident Jonathan Lewis (Plantation).
Perea provided the assist on Jackson Yueill’s 52nd minute goal. But, the goal was too little too late. Juan Carlos Obregon’s first half stoppage time goal and Luis Palma’s opportunistic goal early in the second were enough to give the Americans another humbling loss.
While it is true most of the best American players who qualified for the Olympic team — the team is comprised of players under 23 as well as three over-age players for the tournament — there was a perception there was more than enough quality in the USMNT pipeline to manage being one of the two teams from the region that qualified.
Honduras and Mexico qualified for this summer’s Olympics in Tokyo. Mexico beat Canada 2-0 in the other semifinal.
