It’s been a long time coming, but Cole Bassett is trading in his burgundy-and-blue jersey for the Stars and Stripes.
The Colorado Rapids homegrown and Littleton native was called up to the United States men’s Olympic roster Monday for a pair of friendlies later this month as the squad continues to prepare for the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.
The U.S. will play Iraq (Nov. 18, 9 a.m.) and Morocco (Nov. 21, 7 a.m.) in San Pedro del Pinatar, Spain. The friendlies are part of a training camp for the United States men’s team, which had previously failed to qualify for the tournament for three straight Olympiads. The last time it qualified was the Beijing Games in 2008. The U.S. had its initial Olympic camp during the October international window in Phoenix last month, with wins against Japan and Mexico.
Viewed as a launchpad for younger players across the globe, men’s soccer at the Olympic Games has an age restriction. Countries are required to field primarily players 23 and under, with a limit of three players over age 23 allowed.
Bassett, 22, caught fire late in the season for Colorado as he set a new career high in goals (6) and a new club record for most minutes played by a homegrown player at 5,392 regular-season minutes across his career. His rock-solid play under interim head coach Chris Little in the final eight games helped earn his first national team call-up since December 2021, when he made his national team debut and scored a game-winning goal against Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Despite a disappointing season for Colorado in which the team finished bottom of the Western Conference, Bassett regularly spoke of the loftier ambitions on his mind: play well enough to get back on U.S. Soccer’s radar by any means possible.
“For myself, I’m trying to push into whatever U.S. camps it is throughout the end of the year. For me, I want to get back in the senior team and the Olympics are coming up as well next year. So, to try to get into the Summer Olympics,” Bassett said last month. “I mean, you watch it as a kid every single year, even though soccer wasn’t the main thing that you’re watching here in America, but if you had a chance to represent your country at the Olympics, that would be something special and that’s my age group.
“I think I could help lead this team, so if I have a chance to get in the camps, that’s what I’m playing for at the end of this year, even though we don’t have playoffs.”
Beaudry starts in U-17 World Cup
Castle Pines native Adam Beaudry got his first taste of the World Cup experience Sunday when he started in goal for the U.S. at the FIFA Under-17 World Cup in Indonesia — a 3-1 win over South Korea in its opening match. Beaudry played this season for Colorado Rapids 2 and was a finalist for MLS NEXT Pro goalkeeper of the year.
Also making up the other goalkeeper spot on the World Cup roster is Zackory Campagnolo, another prominent player in the Rapids Academy. The 16-year-old Florida native joined the club in August from Orlando City and currently plays on Colorado’s under-17 academy team. All-time, the pair are the third and fourth Rapids Academy players to be on a U-17 World Cup roster respectively, as Homegrowns Sebastian Anderson (2019) and Dillon Serna (2011) also played in the tournament.
The U.S. has two more group stage games in Jakarta, Indonesia, first against Burkina Faso (Wednesday) and then France (Nov. 18) to determine whether they will reach the Round of 16.
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