Efraín Álvarez left out of US Olympic soccer squad
The Los Angeles Galaxy midfielder will not be part of the United States men’s roster that will participate in the Olympic qualifying tournament later this month.
The CONCACAF men’s Olympic qualifying championship was supposed to take place last year, but due to the coronavirus pandemic it was moved to 2021. It is now scheduled to start on 18 March in Guadalajara, Mexico, and it ends on 30 March.
Last week all the teams from North, Central American and Caribbean regions submitted their U23 rosters and the United States and Mexico both included Álvarez because he has dual citizenship. The 18-year-old hasn’t publicly announced the country he wants to represent, but the United States decided to make up their mind.
On Monday the US under-23 men’s national team manager, Jason Kreis, decided to leave out Álvarez from the 31-man roster that will head to Guadalajara for their training camp.
“He’s decided that he wasn’t ready to commit to one team or another, which puts us in a very hopeful position,” Kreis said. “We would like him to be part of the US men’s national teams programs.”
Kreis will also most likely leave out Atlante United players George Bello, Miles Robinson and Brooks Lennon because their team is unlikely to release them for the tournament since it is not a FIFA event. Also the Five Stripes want to keep their players for the CONCACAF Champions League match against Costa Rica’s Alajuelense on 6 April.
“Unfortunate situation for us. Unfortunate situation for the players, but ultimately as a former MLS coach I think that we respect their decision,” Kreis said.