ATLANTA — Two metro Atlanta natives are headed to Paris with the Olympic men's soccer team announced Monday morning.
Atlanta United's Caleb Wiley and Lawrenceville's Walker Zimmerman, of Nashville SC, were named to the men's Olympic soccer team that will travel to the Paris Olympics. Both players are defenders.
The Olympic men's soccer tournament consists of national age-level, under-23 teams, though each squad is allowed three players older than that -- in this case, including 31-year-old Zimmerman.
Wiley, 19, is a regular starter for Atlanta United and has long been a fixture of the U.S. age-level teams. He also has two appearances with the men's senior national team.
Zimmerman has had a long career in MLS and made 42 career appearances for the senior men's national team.
According to a release from U.S. Soccer, the men's team will play their first game against Olympic hosts France on July 24 at 3 p.m. ET (9 p.m. local time). The U.S. will also play New Zealand and Guinea in the group stage.
The U-23 Olympic team will be hoping for a better showing than the men's senior national team, who crashed out at the group stage while hosting the ongoing Copa América tournament.
“We couldn’t be more excited to have this group of great players and great people represent us at the Olympic Games,” Olympic team head coach Marko Mitrović said in a statement. “It’s a special moment for all of us as they have worked their entire lives to reach this stage. Almost every player developed through our American soccer pathway, rising to become professionals and now they will live their dreams of competing at the Olympics. We’re grateful to the clubs that released their players in support of our mission. Our goal is to make our country proud and we will give everything for the United States.”
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