U.S. might miss 2016 Olympics

After falling to Honduras, 2-0, in qualifying for Rio Games, Americans face must-wins against Canada and Colombia.

SANDY, Utah — The United States is in danger of missing its second straight men’s Olympic soccer tournament.

Alberth Elis scored in the 24th and 77th minutes, and Honduras defeated the U.S., 2-0, Saturday to qualify for next year’s Rio de Janeiro Games.

To reach the Olympics for the first time since 2008, the Americans must beat Canada on Tuesday in the third-place game of North and Central American and Caribbean qualifying, then defeat Colombia in the CONCACAF-South America one-game playoff, to be held in Rio from March 21-29.

Mexico qualified for the Olympics with a 2-0 victory over Canada.

“We have to win,” midfielder Wil Trapp said. “Plain and simple. That’s all it takes. There’s no other way. We can’t read into this result anymore. It’s over — disappointing as it was. We’ve got to move forward.”

Olympic qualifying is limited to under-23 teams, and the Americans were eliminated four years ago in the group stage. Senior national team Coach Juergen Klinsmann said failing to reach the London Olympics set back the careers of players in that age group, which included Brek Shea, Mix Diskerud and Bill Hamid.

Now another age group could miss out on the Olympics. Among the American starters were New York Red Bulls defender Matt Miazga, Tottenham under-21 defender Cameron Carter-Vickers, Fulham midfielder Emerson Hyndman, Real Salt Lake midfielder Luis Gil and Stanford forward Jordan Morris.

“We were not able to deal with the situation today,” U.S. Coach Andi Herzog said. “It’s sad, but it’s the truth.”