Okay, so, it happened again, the USMNT will not play the Olympics for the third time in a row and there has been widespread criticism of Jason Kreis and his U23 side.
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In general, the USMNT fanbase is not known to be forgiving, patient or take failure well and the overwhelming emotion is one of despair, as the CONCACAF powerhouses have once again failed to qualify for a tournament which means so much to the U.S.
The USMNT lost 2-1 to Honduras in their CONACACF Olympic qualifying semifinal, as their run of not featuring in the Olympics will now stretch to at least 16 years by the time the 2024 games begin in Paris.
That’s right, the U.S. men’s national team last qualified for an Olympics in 2008 in Beijing, and they did not deserve to qualify for this tournament in Tokyo. Jason Kreis’ side were devoid of ideas in attack, couldn’t match the hunger of Honduras and struggled to find any rhythm throughout the entire tournament.
Our own Andy Edwards broke it down expertly, and painfully, here.
On the flip side, Christian Pulisic, Sergino Dest, Yunus Musah and Co. won’t have to worry about asking their club teams to miss preseason so they can go to the Olympics.
Ah, I see, you’re still thinking about the bad news. Understandable.
Reaction to USMNT failing to qualify for Tokyo Olympics
Here is a look at some of the reaction to the USMNT youngsters falling at the final hurdle and not booking their spot at the Olympics.
Warning: there are varying degrees of disgust, disappointment and anger. And then some.
I have one question for @ussoccer
— Taylor Twellman (@TaylorTwellman) March 29, 2021
What does the scoreboard say?! 🤔#USMNT pic.twitter.com/NaHMLIxUn1
Former MLS forward Calen Carr: “Should the U.S. have won? Yes. Of course. I think the disappointment was that there were shades and echoes of what happened in Trinidad and Tobago when the USMNT missed out on a major tournament and not qualifying for the World Cup in Russia. When you see the team step forward and fail on a big stage like that, and a massive opportunity for those players as individuals.”
Whatever happens in this Olympic qualifier between 🇺🇸 and 🇭🇳, I echo once again this harsh but honest message, which is also for the men’s senior team: Stop underestimating your opponent because guess what, you ain’t done sh— recently.
— Luis Miguel Echegaray (@lmechegaray) March 28, 2021
Gutted for these @USYNT boys, keep your heads up, learn from it and get better. #onenationoneteam 🇺🇸
— Megan Rapinoe (@mPinoe) March 29, 2021
“This is painful to see. … This is yet another failure.”@AlexiLalas reacts to the USYNT falling short in their quest to qualify for the Olympics ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/lPS3vK5YsY
— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) March 29, 2021
I don’t care about the Olympics as a development tool or how it relates to WCup qualifying or WCup. That connection is tenuous.
— Andrew Wiebe (@andrew_wiebe) March 29, 2021
I care about winning! We cannot ever be content losing the possibility of capturing the country’s imagination/winning an OLYMPIC MEDAL on the table!