Center backs Walker Zimmerman and Miles Robinson and midfielder Djordje Mihailovic will join the under-23 squad at its first Olympics since 2008.
Center backs Walker Zimmerman and Miles Robinson and midfielder Djordje Mihailovic have been selected as over-age players for the U.S. Olympic men’s soccer team, people familiar with the situation said Saturday.
Olympic men’s soccer is an under-23 tournament, but each of the 16 teams is permitted up to three older players. U.S. Coach Marko Mitrovic will name his 18-man U.S. squad and four alternates Monday.
Zimmerman, 31, captains Nashville SC and started at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. He is a five-time MLS Best XI selection and two-time defender of the year. His inclusion on the Olympic squad was a foregone conclusion after being added to the roster for a friendly against Japan last month in Kansas City, Kan.
Robinson, 27, is in his first season with FC Cincinnati after six years with Atlanta United. He probably would have been part of the 2022 World Cup team, if not for an Achilles’ tendon injury. Robinson was on this summer’s Copa América squad but did not play.
Mihailovic, 25, is in his first season with the Colorado Rapids after one year with Dutch club AZ Alkmaar. Previously, he starred for the Chicago Fire and CF Montreal. He has posted 10 goals and nine assists in 21 matches for Colorado.
Mitrovic collaborated for months with Gregg Berhalter, coach of the senior squad, on roster selections. The process, though, is complicated because clubs worldwide are not obligated by governing body FIFA to release players for the Olympics, regardless of age.
The Olympics fall in the middle of the MLS season, as well as when the Mexican league is restarting and European clubs are preparing to open training camps. Many global stars, such as Argentina’s Lionel Messi and France’s Kylian Mbappé, will take vacation after competing in the summer’s major tournaments, Copa America and the European Championship.
It is unclear how many U.S. player requests were rejected by clubs. Among several targets, though, were PSV Eindhoven midfielder Malik Tillman, Coventry City forward Haji Wright and Monterrey forward Brandon Vazquez, three people said. Tillman and Wright were on the Copa America roster but did not play until late in the final group match against Uruguay on Monday in Kansas City, Mo.
Borussia Dortmund’s Gio Reyna, a 21-year-old midfielder who started every Copa América match, was in the mix but always seemed like a long shot.
“A lot of the conversations have to be with the clubs,” Berhalter told The Washington Post in late May. “We have to see the player situation, what they’re doing with their clubs next season, and then see the needs of the Olympic group. So it’s a lot of information to triangulate over a short period of time.”
In its first Olympics since 2008, the United States will play Group A matches against France on July 24 and New Zealand on July 27 — both in Marseille — before facing Guinea on July 30 in Saint-Etienne. Two teams will advance to the quarterfinals.
