U.S. U-23 MNT to play two games vs. Brazil in November

CHICAGO (Via U.S. Soccer) – The U.S. Under-23 Men’s National Team will head to Brazil to compete in a two-game set against the hosts of the 2016 Olympic Games. The first match will be held Nov. 11 at Ilha do Retiro Stadium in Recife. Four days later, the teams meet again at Mangueirão Stadium in Belém.

“For our Under-23 Olympic team it is vital now – because they face Colombia in March in the playoffs for the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro – that they get games in. We were able to arrange two friendly games with Brazil’s Under-23 team in the November fixture window, which is huge,” said U.S. Soccer Technical Director Jurgen Klinsmann. “It gives our players not only a chance to play against one of the best Under-23 teams in the world, but also to be in Brazil and get a little bit of a smell of what it could be then next summer at the Olympics. So this is a wonderful opportunity. We want to thank the Brazilian Federation for that invitation, and for Andi Herzog and his team it’s a great opportunity to measure themselves.”

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This will be the first set of friendlies for the U-23’s in preparation for the home and home playoff against Colombia in March to determine the final entrant into the 2016 Olympics in Rio.

The team recently finished third in the 2015 CONCACAF U-23 Championship, setting up the playoff.