The simple fact both national teams are part of the US Olympic delegation and holding a joint event like this is noteworthy. It’s the first of its kind, following the historic equal-pay arrangement linking both teams’ collective bargaining agreements two years ago – and right from the start, there was some news.
Hayes confirmed a late-breaking shift in the event’s roster regulations, which dictate small 18-player squads with four alternates previously only allowed to play when one of the 18 sustains an injury and is removed from the tournament. Now alternates can be added to a gameday roster in relief of an injured player, but the injured player can return for subsequent matches.
“There’s 22 players going to the Olympics … we are to prepare every player to be able to perform if required,” said Hayes, a decorated English manager who took charge of the four-time World Cup winners earlier this year. “The reality with alternates is that if there is a temporary injury to a player on the roster within the A team, that as long as we give six hours’ notice, we’re able to make a temporary change and we can then change that for a following game. So from my perspective, nothing changes. Maybe gives us a little bit more flexibility. But there’s 22 players.”
While the Olympics are an established tentpole event for women’s soccer, it’s a much different outlook for the men. FIFA restricts the tournament to players under age 23, plus three overage exceptions per squad, and does not require clubs to release their players to participate.
Thus Mitrović and his staff have spent months communicating with clubs at home and abroad to convince them to voluntarily release players. Several top talents were reportedly denied that opportunity, including Haji Wright, former FC Cincinnati star Brandon Vazquez, FC Dallas product Ricardo Pepi and his PSV Eindhoven teammate Malik Tillman, and Columbus Crew homegrown Aidan Morris, who just joined England’s Middlesbrough in a multi-million-dollar transfer.
“We all know that it was actually a really difficult process in last eight, nine months, just talking to the clubs, trying to get all the players released,” said the Serbian-born coach. “On one side, it was a great experience for me to learn how that works. Yes, there was challenges, but however, we ended up with a roster that we really believe can represent us in the best possible way. I feel very, very good about the team that is going to Paris.”
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Publish date : 2024-07-09 10:32:17
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Author : News-Sports
Publish date : 2024-07-09 14:32:17
Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.