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MARSEILLE, France — The U.S. was two minutes away from an early exit in the men’s soccer tournament at the Beijing Olympics when Sacha Kljestan scored on a penalty kick. That did little to change the results and even less to save the Americans, who left China after that final group-stage game.
But it did make Kljestan the answer to an unwelcome trivia question: Who was the last American male soccer player to score a goal in the Olympic Games?
Kljestan was 22 then and midway through his third season in MLS. He would go on to play more than 470 games for four teams on two continents, winning eight trophies in Belgium and a Supporters’ Shield in the U.S. before retiring two years ago.
Chivas USA, the first pro team he played for, was disbanded a decade ago.
Yet in all that time, no one has scored for the U.S. in the men’s Olympic soccer tournament because the American men haven’t played in the Summer Games since 2008.
“That’s just embarrassing,” Kljestan said.
The Americans didn’t qualify for the Summer Games in London, Rio de Janeiro or Tokyo and have played in the tournament just once since 2000, the only time they made it out of the group stage since the Olympics became a U23 competition in 1992.
But they’ll be in France, where they will open the tournament Wednesday against the host nation in Marseille. And Kljestan made just one request when he met with the team during a brief training camp last month.
“Please, somebody, just score a goal,” he said.
Advancing out of the first round would also be nice, something the U.S. can do by finishing in the top two of a four-team group that includes New Zealand and Guinea. Getting back to the Olympics after 16 years is a nice — if long overdue — first step.
U.S. midfielder Sacha Kljestan, left, battles Ryan Babel of the Netherlands for the ball during group play at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
(Vincent Yu / Associated Press)
“I am surprised it’s taken this long,” said former Galaxy midfielder Robbie Rogers, who started all three games for the U.S. in 2008. “I don’t know exactly why it’s been so difficult. The Olympics is so special and exciting. It should really be a focus of our development system. And for whatever reason, it feels like maybe it’s been overlooked a little.”
Kljestan agreed.
“It’s embarrassing, to be honest,” he repeated. “When you look at qualifying, we’ve lost to countries that we shouldn’t have lost to. It just looked like the mentality wasn’t there. That has been a big failure on our part, of U.S. Soccer.
“I hope they can make some noise in Paris.”
That would have been easier if the U.S. had brought its best team. Under FIFA rules, the Olympic tournament for men is an age-group competition, limited to players born on or after Jan. 1, 2001 — with three overage exceptions per team. But age-eligible players including Folarin Balogun, Ricardo Pepi, Malik Tillman, Johnny Cardoso, Yunus Musah and Gio Reyna, who all play in Europe, were left off the U.S. team and played instead for Gregg Berhalter in the Copa América.
Other players Olympic coach Marko Mitrovic wanted weren’t released by their club teams to play in France. That’s left him with an 18-man roster headed by forwards Kevin Paredes, who plays for Wolfsburg in the German Bundesliga, and Taylor Booth, who scored five times for Utrecht in the Dutch Eredivisie last season. Among the overage players is Nashville center back Walker Zimmerman, who appeared in all four games for the U.S. in the last World Cup.
Political upheaval and other issues plaguing Paris ahead of the start of the Summer Olympics threaten to dwarf whatever is floating in the Seine.
“My cycle we didn’t qualify,” said Zimmerman, 31, who played on the U.S. team that lost a two-leg playoff with Colombia for the final berth in the 2016 Olympics. “That’s when I thought my dream is over. Then as things materialized this year, just getting the opportunity is amazing.”
Kljestan said the opportunity is even greater for the young players. In his talk to the U23 team last month, Kljestan, who played 52 games for the senior national team under three coaches, pointed out that 16 of the 18 players on the Olympic roster in Beijing went on to play for the senior national team and six players were on the roster for the next World Cup.
For many players, the Olympics are just one stop of a longer journey, not the final destination. Yet it’s also an important part of the national team’s player development that has been missing for the last 16 years — or as long as Kljestan’s name has been the answer to a trivia question.
⚽ You have read the latest installment of On Soccer with Kevin Baxter. The weekly column takes you behind the scenes and shines a spotlight on unique stories. Listen to Baxter on this week’s episode of the “Corner of the Galaxy” podcast.
