Rapids’ Dillon Serna at the MLS Chipotle Homegrown game on July 28, 2015. (AAron Ontiveroz, The Denver Post)
Dillon Serna and , both of Colorado, were named Friday to the U.S. Under-23 national team for the 2015 CONCACAF Olympic Qualifying Championship.
The qualifying matches, which will decide whether the U.S. will play in the 2016 Rio Games, will be held across the U.S. from Oct. 1-13 and includes an Oct. 6 match against Panama at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park.
Serna, a 21-year-old Colorado Rapids homegrown from Brighton, recently during All-Star week festivities in Commerce City. He’s scored three goals and added an assist in 14 games (7 starts) for the Rapids this season in league play.
Horvath, a 20-year-old goalkeeper from Highlands Ranch, has of the Norwegian first division.
Surprisingly, former Rapids’ center back Shane O’Neill was left off the 20-man squad. He was , and then of the Belgian first division. O’Neill had been a mainstay for the U-23s and wore the captain’s armband in several matches leading up to qualifying.
U.S. coach Andy Herzog said he knew some players would be disappointed in not making the team.
“Because there are no FIFA dates for the first week of the tournament, there were challenges in getting players released,” Herzog said. “We had discussions with a lot of teams, and while some clubs didn’t release their players overall we received a lot of support, especially from MLS.”
GOALKEEPERS (3): Charlie Horton (Leeds; Cleveland Ohio), Ethan Horvath (Molde; Highlands Ranch, Colo.), Zack Steffen (Freiburg; Downington, Pa.).
DEFENDERS (5): Cameron Carter-Vickers (Tottenham Hotspur; Westcliff on Sea, England), Matt Miazga (New York Red Bulls; Clifton, N.J.), Eric Miller (Montreal Impact; Woodbury, Minn.), William Packwood (Unattached; Concord, Mass.), Dillon Serna (Colorado Rapids; Brighton, Colo.)
MIDFIELDERS (8): Fatai Alashe (San Jose Earthquakes; Northville, Mich.), Gboly Ariyibi (Chesterfield; Arlington, Va.), Luis Gil (Real Salt Lake; Garden Grove, Calif.), Emerson Hyndman (Fulham; Dallas, Texas), Marc Pelosi (San Jose Earthquakes; Sunnyvale, Calif.), Matt Polster (Chicago Fire; Milwaukee, Wis.), Wil Trapp (Columbus Crew SC; Gahanna, Ohio), Gedion Zelalem (Rangers; Bethesda, Md.)
FORWARDS (4): Alonso Hernandez (C.D. Juarez; El Paso, Texas), Jerome Kiesewetter (VfB Stuttgart; Berlin, Germany), Jordan Morris (Stanford; Mercer Island, Wash.), Maki Tall (FC Sion; Washington, D.C.)
