CHICAGO(March 19, 2016) – Chicago Fire midfielder Matt Polster and defender Brandon Vincent have been selected by U.S. Under-23 Men’s National Team head coach Andi Herzog to the 23-man roster for the training camp in advance of the U-23’s home-and-away playoff against Colombia, which will determine the final berth in the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
The first match of the 2016 Olympic Qualifying playoff will take place on Friday, March 25 at Estadio Metropolitano Roberto Meléndez in Barranquilla, Colombia, at 4 p.m. CT. The match will air live on FS1.The return leg will be played on March 29 at Toyota Stadium in Frisco, Texas at 8:30 p.m. CT and will be broadcast live on ESPN2.
Last October, the USA won its three first-round games in the CONCACAF Men’s Olympic Qualifying Championship before falling in the semifinals to Honduras. The U-23’s bounced back and won the third-place match against Canada to earn a place in the playoff. Colombia finished second in the 2015 South American Youth Championship to claim its spot in the playoff. In addition to hosts Brazil, 14 other countries have already qualified for the 16-team men’s Olympic Football Tournament. The winner of the aggregate-goal series between the USA and Colombia will round out the field.
Polster started all five of the USA’s matches and tallied one assist for the United States during the qualifying campaign. In January, the Las Vegas, Nev. native took part in the annual January training camp, his first call to the senior national team. Selected in the first round (seventh overall) of the 2015 MLS SuperDraft out of SIU Edwardsville, Polster has started 29 of the 34 Fire matches in which he has appeared.
Joining Polster on the roster is Fire rookie defender Brandon Vincent. Selected in the first round (fourth overall) of the 2016 MLS SuperDraft after leading Stanford to the 2015 NCAA Championship. Vincent made his senior international debut when he entered at halftime in the USMNT’s 1-0 win over Canada on Feb. 5. Vincent has featured for the full 90 minutes in both of the Fire’s matches this season.
Polster and Vincent will depart following the Fire’s home match against Columbus Crew SC on Saturday, March 19 (CSN+/97.5 FM Poder).
U.S. Roster by Position:
GOALKEEPERS (3): Cody Cropper (Milton Keynes Dons), Ethan Horvath (Molde KJ), Tyler Miller (Seattle Sounders FC)
DEFENDERS (8): Kellyn Acosta (FC Dallas), Matt Miazga (Chelsea FC), Eric Miller (Colorado Rapids), Tim Parker (Vancouver Whitecaps FC), Desevio Payne (FC Groningen), Shane O’Neill (Cambridge United), Brandon Vincent (Chicago Fire), Walker Zimmerman (FC Dallas)
MIDFIELDERS (9): Fatai Alashe (San Jose Earthquakes), Paul Arriola (Club Tijuana), Luis Gil (Queretaro), Julian Green (Bayern Munich), Emerson Hyndman (Fulham FC), Jerome Kiesewetter (VfB Stuttgart), Matt Polster (Chicago Fire), Dillon Serna (Colorado Rapids), Wil Trapp (Columbus Crew SC)
FORWARDS (3): Jordan Morris (Seattle Sounders FC), Mario Rodriguez (Borussia Monchengladbach), Khiry Shelton (New York City FC)
