USMNT hopefuls see Summer Olympics as a chance to make history, impress the next U.S. coach

It’s been a difficult summer for the U.S. men’s national team. Three months after winning a third consecutive Concacaf Nations League title with a convincing dos-a-cero victory over chief rival Mexico, the USMNT laid an egg at the Copa América, becoming the first tournament host to be eliminated before the knockout rounds.

Coach Gregg Berhalter paid for the failure with his job. U.S. Soccer sporting director Matt Crocker is hoping to snare a proven high-profile manager to replace Berhalter by summer’s end. But less than two years before the Americans open the 2026 FIFA World Cup on home soil, the program is awash in uncertainty.

It is against this backdrop that the U.S. men’s Olympic team will kick off the Paris Games against host nation France on Wednesday.

The U.S. men haven’t competed at the Summer Olympics since 2008. Just one of the American players, central defender Miles Robinson, was with the USMNT for Copa América. Robinson is also one of three members of the 18-man Olympic roster allowed to be over the maximum age of 23; midfielder Djordje Mihailović (25) and 2022 World Cup veteran center back Walker Zimmerman (31) are the others.

Whether it’s Zimmerman or Inter Miami attacker Benjamin Cremaschi, who at 19 was the youngest American selected by Olympic coach Marko Mitrović, Paris 2024 offers a golden chance to vault themselves into the senior team picture later on.

“I think that that’s in some guys head: If you do well in this tournament, is a future coach, future manager watching and taking notes?” Mihailović told FOX Sports on Monday during a Zoom call with reporters. “You could play your way into his plans.”

[RELATED: 2024 Olympic soccer odds: France favored; Team USA looks to bounce back]

That would’ve been true even if Berhalter had remained at the senior squad’s helm. Fifteen of the 18 men Mitrović picked for Paris have already appeared with the varsity, almost all of them under the former boss. 

Berhalter had his regulars, though, both in the starting lineup and on the bench. Breaking through could’ve been toughe with him still there. A totally new coach — one that is likely to come from outside the American soccer ecosystem, and who would therefore view the USMNT player pool with a fresh set of eyes — offers the rare and invaluable benefit of a completely clean slate.

Yet that opportunity will come only if the team performs well. Facing the French in front of 67,000 fans at State de Marseille will be a daunting welcome to international play, But the Americans’ final two group games — versus New Zealand and Guinea — appear winnable. Finish above those two, and the Americans can start to dream of a podium finish.

With just 16 participating nations, the format of the men’s Olympic football tournament is far more forgiving than any World Cup. Survive the first round and win one knockout game, and suddenly you’re competing for a medal. That’s easier said than done. Still, Mexico, a country that has never made it beyond the World Cup quarterfinals, won Olympic gold in 2012. Other nontraditional powers, like Cameroon and Nigeria, have Olympic titles, too. 

The U.S. men were grouped in Beijing in 2008 in their most recent Olympic appearance. But they finished fourth in 2000. And in both cases, a half-dozen players ended up as key contributors two years later to successful American World Cup entrants.   

It’s not only about international play, either. Given the location of these Games, plenty of European club scouts will be in attendance.

“This tournament can be a stepping stone in many people’s career, not only with the senior team but just in a career as a whole,” goalkeeper Patrick Schulte said.

“But everyone here knows that the collective goal is to win a gold medal, and if we can do that, if we can put a good showing together, then the sky’s the limit for players here in this group.”

The senior team clearly needs a jolt, and not just on the sidelines. The introduction of new young talent is a must in order to push the incumbents in front of them. Success in France would simultaneously create competition and serve to dull the disappointment of that early Copa exit for U.S. fans. 

A deep run at these Olympics would also be a feather in the cap of Major League Soccer. All but one American either currently plays in MLS, used to, or developed in one of its teams’ academies. By contrast, just two players on Berhalter’s 26-strong final roster were MLS-based. Neither logged a single minute at the Copa. 

Not that the Olympic players are focusing on where they earn their living right now.

“We’re representing not just MLS, but America as a whole,” Schulte said.

“All these guys are deserving of opportunities to play in the Olympics, and they can prove whatever they want to with how they play,” Zimmerman told FOX Sports earlier this month in New York a few hours after the roster was formally announced. “It doesn’t matter what league you play in. 

“Right now, we’re all playing on the same team.”

Doug McIntyre is a soccer writer for FOX Sports who has covered the United States men’s and women’s national teams at FIFA World Cups on five continents. Follow him at @ByDougMcIntyre.

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