Atlanta United defender, 19, heads to Paris after earning spot on U.S. men’s Olympic soccer team – WABE

Atlanta United defender Caleb Wiley has been selected to the U.S. men’s Olympic soccer team. The 19-year-old Atlanta native was named Monday when coach Marko Mitrović announced the full 18-man roster.

Wiley grew up in Morningside and joined the Atlanta United Academy at the age of 11 as a member of the club’s inaugural Under-12 team in 2016. He made his professional debut at 15 in the Atlanta United 2 franchise’s reserve team in 2020, then joined the main club at 17 in 2022.

Now he’s heading to the Olympics. The Americans will train in Bordeaux starting Tuesday. They’ll open July 24 against host France, then face New Zealand and Guinea. The top two teams in each group will advance to the quarterfinals.

Walker Zimmerman, defenseman Miles Robinson and midfielder Djordje Mihailovic will be the three key players on the U.S. men’s team that will compete in the Olympics for the first time since 2008.

Olympic soccer is restricted to players under 23, and each team is allowed to field three over-the-age players. The players selected by the United States are all from Major League Soccer; FIFA does not require clubs to release players for the Olympics.

“It was actually a very difficult process over the last 10 months, first talking to the clubs and trying to get all the players released,” Mitrović said on her 46th birthday at a joint press conference with the women’s team.

The United States beat Japan 1-0 in their first match in 2008, conceded a goal in second-half injury time in a 2-2 draw with the Netherlands, then were eliminated with a 2-1 loss to Nigeria after Michael Orozco was shown a red card in the third minute for elbowing an opponent.

“We had an incredible chat with Sacha Kljestan at the last camp, where he came to talk to us about his Olympic experience and how they didn’t get out of their group because of stupid things: a red card, a goal conceded late in the game,” Zimmerman said, referring to the former national team midfielder. “That’s going to be a really big thing for us, how we can manage those little moments and make sure we don’t make mistakes for a stupid reason.”

Defender Maximilian Dietz was added after missing the June training camp ahead of a 2-0 friendly defeat to Japan with a hamstring injury suffered on May 4 with German second-division club Greuther Fürth.

Ten players were removed from the June roster: defenders Jalen Neal, Bryan Reynolds and Jonathan Tomkinson; midfielders Cole Bassett, Aidan Morris and Rokas Pukštas; and forwards Esmir Bajraktarevic, Cade Cowell, Damion Downs and Johan Gomez.

Fifteen players have played for the senior national team for a total of 114 international appearances.

Zimmerman took an overnight flight from Portland after Nashville’s loss Sunday night in Major League Soccer. The 31-year-old has 42 international appearances and last played for the United States against Canada in the CONCACAF Nations League final in June 2023. Zimmerman has captained the national team nine times and has played in all four of the U.S.’s matches at the 2022 World Cup, including three as a starter.

“In my cycle, we didn’t qualify, and that’s when I thought my dream was over: I wouldn’t have the chance to compete in the Olympics,” Zimmerman said.

Robinson, 27, plays for Cincinnati. He was part of the U.S. squad for the Copa America but did not get any playing time. He has 29 international caps, scoring the extra-time goal that beat Mexico in the 2021 CONCACAF Gold Cup final. He missed the 2022 World Cup with a torn left Achilles tendon.

Mihailovic, a 25-year-old from Colorado, has three goals in 11 international appearances but has not played for the national team since losing to Panama in the CONCACAF Gold Cup semifinals in July 2023.

Other players with senior national team experience include midfielder Gianluca Busio (13 appearances); defender John Tolkin (four); defender Kevin Paredes (three); forward Taylor Booth, midfielder Tanner Tessmann and defender Wiley (two each); and forward Paxten Aaronson, defender Benjamin Cremaschi, midfielder Jack McGlynn, forward Duncan McGuire and goalkeepers Patrick Schulte and Gaga Slonina (one each).

Dietz, defenseman Nathan Harriel and forward Griffin Yow have never played for the senior team.

Cremaschi, at 19, is the youngest player and is also eligible for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.

Aaronson and McGlynn were part of the U.S. under-20 team that secured the U.S. spot at the 2022 Olympics.

Ten players come from MLS, two from newly promoted Venezia, two from the Dutch league, one from the Premier League, one from the Bundesliga, one from the German second division and one from the Belgian first division. All, with the exception of Dietz, have played in MLS at some point or in an MLS development academy.

The omissions included Chicago goalkeeper Chris Brady, Salt Lake midfielder Diego Luna and Dallas winger Bernard Kamungo.

Women’s coach Emma Hayes said the four alternates can be activated due to temporary injuries with six hours’ notice and the active roster can change for each game.

The list :

Goalkeepers: Patrick Schulte (Columbus), Gaga Slonina (Chelsea)

Defenders: Maximilian Dietz (Greuther Fürth), Nathan Harriel (Philadelphia), Miles Robinson (Cincinnati), John Tolkin (New York Red Bulls), Caleb Wiley (Atlanta), Walker Zimmerman (Nashville)

Midfielders: Gianluca Busio (Venice), Benjamin Cremaschi (Miami), Jack McGlynn (Philadelphia), Djordje Mihailovic (Colorado), Tanner Tessmann (Venice)

Forwards: Paxten Aaronson (Utrecht), Taylor Booth (Utrecht), Duncan McGuire (Orlando), Kevin Paredes (Wolfsburg), Griffin Yow (Westerlo)

Substitutes: goalkeeper John Pulskamp (Kansas City), defender Jacob Davis (Kansas City), midfielder Josh Atencio (Seattle), forward Johan Gomez (Eintracht Braunschweig)

WABE’s Patrick Saunders contributed to this report.

AP Soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer