Tuesday was a busy night for U.S. Soccer.
After the senior men's team picked up an important 4-0 win against Guatemala in World Cup qualifying, the U-23 Olympic qualifying team, which features Chicago Fire midfielder Matt Polster, played Colombia in the decisive second leg of its playoff.
Polster earned the start for the second straight match, but the U-23 team was not able to replicate the senior team's success earlier in the night. Colombia came away with a 2-1 victory to earn the Olympic berth, winning 3-2 over the two matches after the 1-1 draw in Colombia.
Colombia's Roger Martinez redirected an off target shot in the 30th minute for the opening goal. The U.S. equalized via an own goal in the second half, but Colombia regained the lead when Martinez scored his second in the 64th minute.
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Polster played the full match, but did pick up an injury in the 71st minute. It appeared like it was a cramp, but Polster was on the ground in pain and received treatment on the sideline before returning. He finished the match, but this could affect his availability for the Fire's match against Philadelphia on Saturday.
Like in the away match, Fire defender Brandon Vincent was not among the group of available substitutes.
Chicago Fire
From the Fire's perspective, no U.S. men in the Olympics means Polster and Vincent won't have to miss MLS games during the Olympics. The men's soccer tournament at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics will run from Aug. 4-20 (the group phase concludes on Aug. 10) so Polster and Vincent would have missed anywhere from 1-4 matches for the Fire if they were selected to the final Olympic team depending on how long the team made it in the tournament. The Fire won't have to worry about that now.