Rubin, O'Neill left off US Olympic soccer qualifying roster
CHICAGO (AP) Forward Rubio Rubin and Royal Mouscron-Peruwelz defender Shane O'Neill were not included in the U.S. roster for Olympic soccer qualifying after their clubs refused to release them for next month's tournament.
MK Dons goalkeeper Cody Cropper also was not in the 20-man roster announced Friday following a knee injury that required surgery last week. His club projected he will be sidelined for up to six weeks.
U.S. coach Andi Herzog left off Bayern Munich forward Julian Green, a member of last year's U.S. World Cup team who is with Bayern Munich II in the German third tier.
Defender John Brooks and midfielder DeAndre Yedlin will be with the U.S. national team for its Oct. 10 playoff against Mexico for a berth in the 2017 Confederations Cup.
The roster, limited to players born Jan. 1, 1993, or later, includes eight players from Major League Soccer and six from the American team that reached the quarterfinals of this year's Under-20 World Cup: goalkeeper Zack Steffen; defenders Cameron Carter-Vickers and Matt Miazga; midfielders Emerson Hyndman and Gedion Zelalem; and forward Maki Tall.
Carter-Vickers, who plays for Tottenham's reserves, is the youngest player at 17. Stanford junior Jordan Morris scored for the senior national team against Mexico in April.
The U.S., which failed to qualify for the 2012 London Olympics, plays in Group A of North and Central American and Caribbean qualifying and faces Canada on Oct. 1 and Cuba on Oct. 3, both at Kansas City, Kansas, and Panama on Oct. 6 at Commerce City, Colorado.
The top two teams advance along with the best two nations from Group B, which includes defending Olympic gold medalist Mexico and Costa Rica, Haiti and Honduras.
The semifinals are Oct. 10 at Sandy, Utah, and the two winners qualify for next year's tournament in Brazil, where each nation can use three players over the age limit. The semifinal losers then meet, and the third-place team advances to a playoff against Colombia for another berth.
The roster:
Goalkeepers: Charlie Horton (Leeds, England), Ethan Horvath (Molde, Norway), Zack Steffen (Freiburg, Germany)
Defenders: Cameron Carter-Vickers (Tottenham, England), Matt Miazga (New York Red Bulls), Eric Miller (Montreal), William Packwood (no club), Dillon Serna (Colorado)
Midfielders: Fatai Alashe (San Jose), Gboly Ariyibi (Chesterfield, England), Luis Gil (Salt Lake), Emerson Hyndman (Fulham, England) Marc Pelosi (San Jose), Matt Polster (Chicago), Wil Trapp (Columbus), Gedion Zelalem (Glasgow Rangers, Scotland)
Forwards: Alonso Hernandez (Juarez, Mexico), Jerome Kiesewetter (Stuttgart, Germany), Jordan Morris (Stanford), Maki Tall (FC Sion, Switzerland)
