COMMERCE CITY — Rapids center back Shane O’Neill is heading back to Brazil. The 21-year-old homegrown player has been called up to join the U.S. Under-23 squad for its match Monday against Brazil’s U-23s.
O’Neill joins Rapids teammates Dillon Serna, also a homegrown player, and rookie Marlon Hairston, a Generation Adidas player, who were called up by head coach Tab Ramos to the U.S. U-23s on Oct. 3. The match kicks off at 8 p.m. MDT at Estádio Nacional in Brasilia, one of the venues for the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio.
Rapids coach Pablo Mastroeni said having his young players compete in the Olympic host nation against top competition in a high pressure situation will add valuable experience.
“These guys have dreams of playing abroad, and by going there and playing well, it’s a great boost to their confidence and their ability to come back here and share that kind of spirit with us,” Mastroeni said.
O’Neill was in Brazil earlier this year with the U.S. senior national team, on a dry run before the World Cup. During that trip, he played in a closed door scrimmage against Sao Paulo FC, but did not earn his first cap with the national team.
Initially, O’Neill was left off the team, but was added due to an injury within the U-23s. O’Neill was set to serve a suspension for yellow card accumulation this weekend against Chivas USA, and it was not immediately clear if his suspension would instead carry over to the Oct. 18 match against FC Dallas. Serna and Hairston, both 20 years old, are expected to be available the following weekend against FC Dallas at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park.
Rapids forward Deshorn Brown is also unavailable for this weekend’s match as he has joined Jamaica in Niigata City for an international friendly against Japan on Friday, Oct. 10 at Denka Big Swan stadium.
Brown leads the Rapids with 10 goals this season. It is the second consecutive 10-goal season for the 2013 rookie of the year runner-up.
Daniel Boniface: 303-954-1104, dboniface@denverpost.com or
