STANFORD, Calif. – Former Stanford All-Americans and current MLS players Jordan Morris and Brandon Vincent were called into camp by U.S. Under-23 Men’s National Team head coach Andi Herzog in advance of the team’s home-and-away playoff against Colombia, which will determine the final berth in the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
The first match of the 2016 Olympic Qualifying playoff will take place on Friday, March 25 at Estadio Metropolitano Roberto Meléndez in Barranquilla, Colombia, at 4 p.m. local (2 p.m. PT) and air live on FS1.
The return leg will be played on March 29 at Toyota Stadium in Frisco, Texas at 8:30 p.m. CT/6:30 p.m. PT and broadcast live on ESPN2.
The squad will begin gathering Sunday in Miami and Herzog must cut the list to 20 before the first match Friday in Colombia.
Last October, the USA won its three first-round games in the CONCACAF Men’s Olympic Qualifying Championship before falling in the semifinals to Honduras. The U-23’s bounced back and won the third-place match against Canada to earn a place in the playoff. Morris scored three goals in that group stage, twice against Canada (1' and 73') in the opener on October 1 and once against Panama on October 7 (56').
Colombia finished second in the 2015 South American Youth Championship to claim its spot in the playoff. In addition to hosts Brazil, 14 other countries have already qualified for the 16-team men’s Olympic Football Tournament. The winner of the aggregate-goal series between the USA and Colombia will round out the field.
Morris and Vincent are two of the most decorated men’s soccer players in Stanford history. Morris, who decided to forgo his senior season on The Farm and signed with the Seattle Sounders as a Homegrown Player in January, was named the Most Outstanding Player at the College Cup after leading the Cardinal to the program’s first NCAA title with a two-goal performance in the championship in December. Stanford routed Clemson, 4-0, extending the school’s streak of at least one NCAA team championship to 40 year (an ongoing record) while earning its 108th NCAA team title and 129th overall. Morris’ two goals were the first multi-goal effort for a player in a title game since 1997.
The MAC Hermann Trophy winner and Pac-12 Player of the Year, Morris had a career-high 13 goals in 18 appearances for Stanford in 2015. In his final 14 games with the Cardinal, the junior had 12 goals, three assists and 27 points. He finished fifth in the country in game-winning goals (6), fifth in goals per game (0.72), seventh in total goals (13) and 12th in points per game (1.61).
Vincent became the second-highest Cardinal selection in MLS SuperDraft history when he was tabbed with the fourth overall pick by the Chicago Fire on Jan. 14.
A MAC Hermann Trophy semifinalist and the 2015 Pac-12 Men’s Soccer Scholar-Athlete of the Year, Vincent anchored Stanford’s back line over his four-year career. He finished third in school history in starts (80), scored 13 goals to go along with three assists and put home four game winners.
The two-time captain also claimed back-to-back Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year honors and is the only person to ever win the award, which was instituted in 2014. On Dec. 10, he was named a Senior CLASS Second Team All-American and a day later he earned his second consecutive nod as an NSCAA First Team All-American. Academically, Vincent was twice a Pac-12 all-academic selection and graduated two quarters early, finishing at the completion of the fall session.
Both have been capped with the senior team. Morris has appeared nine times for the MNT and in November 2014 became the first active collegian to do so since 1995 when he came on in the 76th minute in a friendly against Ireland in Dublin. Vincent was pulled away from the MLS Combine after just one day when he was added to the U.S. Men’s National Team roster for its January training camp in Carson, Calif. by head coach Jurgen Klinsmann. The 2015 College Cup Defensive Most Outstanding Player earned his first MNT cap on Feb. 5 when he came on for the second half of a 1-0 win against Canada at StubHub Center.
