CHICAGO (Aug. 23, 2019)—In preparation for this spring’s 2020 Concacaf Olympic Qualifying Championship, the U.S. Under-23 Men’s National Team will play Japan on Monday, Sept. 9 in Chula Vista, Calif. Kickoff at the Chula Vista Elite Athlete Training Center is set for 7 p.m. ET. The match will be closed to the public.
The USA will aim for its first Olympic qualification since 2008 at the Concacaf Olympic Qualifying Championship, set for March 20-April 1, 2020. Two nations from North America, Central America and the Caribbean will punch their tickets to the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games via the competition in Guadalajara, Mexico.
Japan automatically qualified to Tokyo 2020 as the host nation. The Samurai Blue have qualified for all but one Olympic Games since the tournament became a U-23 competition in 1992.
The U.S. and Japan faced off during the USA’s last Olympic appearance in 2008, a 1-0 victory for the red, white and blue in Tianjin, China. Stuart Holden scored the lone goal for the U.S. The teams also drew 2-2 at the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games, with current MNT assistant coach Josh Wolff scoring the USA’s opening goal as the U.S. ultimately prevailed 5-4 on PKs.