The United States has been a dominant nation when it comes to hoarding medals at the Olympics, but the Americans have not climbed the podium in one major sport.
The U.S. men's national soccer team has yet to win a gold, silver or bronze medal at any Olympic tournament.
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That's in stark contrast to the women's side, which has won four gold medals, one silver and one bronze. The best finish for the men's team was fourth place in 2000; otherwise the squad either got grouped or didn't qualify in the U23 format.
Could that change in Paris for the 2024 Games? Tim Howard, former USMNT and Premier League goalkeeper who participated in the 2000 Olympics, explained how the men's team can improve its performances.
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"I look at like USA Basketball after the dream team in '92, right. They had a big dip and and it took some powerful basketball minds to come in and just rip it up and say, right, we're going to do this differently," Howard started. "And so I think for soccer, particularly on the Olympic level, for the men, I would probably start a lot earlier in terms of the identification process, bringing those players together."
Howard, who was only 14 when he was identified as a future star and placed in the Olympic Development Program, further explained why players should be together earlier.
"...There has to be this collaboration between U.S. Soccer and the clubs to gain a better understanding," Howard said. "And some of that's just relationship building, really, that you can bring the kids in more often to be around each other for longer training camps, to put them in difficult environments. Put these young kids in difficult environments so they can thrive and they can understand what it is to fail and to succeed together. Because I think as a national team, that's the issue. You're just not together enough and long enough. And so I think that's important.
"And I would spend more time bringing those players in the camp and identifying them right now. I don't think we have that. And in fact, you know, quite a lot of the stories I hear over the last few years...is, you know, even up until Olympic qualifying for the U.S. men's under 23 team, some of the better players who are at these MLS academies only get thrust into the team right before qualifying."
Howard acknowledged it's not the best scenario and that the officials in charge of team-building know it's difficult, but chemistry is one factor the USMNT could benefit from more.
As for 2024 expectations, it won't exactly be easy for the U.S. to medal. Other U23 teams that are challengers include host nation France, Spain and Argentina.
Howard says his expectation for the U.S. will come down to the group-stage draw, but the team could start dreaming if it reaches a certain stage.
"I think it comes down to the draw," Howard said. "I feel as if for any U.S. team, it's about gaining momentum...I don't think it's a defeatist mentality, but getting out of the group gives you that momentum, right? Getting out of the group means you've won two or three games. You feel good about yourself, everyone's playing well and then it's a one-and-done style type tournament.
"You always kind of feel like you can then do some special things and special probably for this U.S. team, getting to a quarter final. Anytime you get to a quarterfinal, then you really start to dream, like you can almost have your head in the clouds a little bit and think, you know, we can get to that next step. It certainly was that way for our team."
