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MLS Colorado Rapids

Rapids Defender Shane O'Neill Earns Call-up to U.S. Under-23 Squad

March 22, 2015 - Major League Soccer (MLS)
Colorado Rapids News Release


Colorado Rapids today announced that defender Shane O'Neill has been named to the U.S. Soccer's Under-23 roster in preparations for next year's 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

According to U.S. Soccer, the team will train in Tuzla, Bosnia & Herzegovina from March 23 to 26 before facing off against Bosnia's Under-23 side on Friday, March 27. Four days later, the squad is set to face Denmark in a friendly on March 31 in Copenhagen.

O'Neill will return to international duty after taking part in the first U.S. National Team training camp of 2015. The camp ran from January 12 to February 8 with stints at the National Training Center in Carson, CA as well as in Santiago, Chile.

Boulder native O'Neill, 21, was signed as the Rapids' second Homegrown Player on June 19, 2002, and established himself as a regular in Colorado's defense early in the 2013 season. He was named the Rapids Young Player of the Year for 2013 after a season in which he played 26 games (24 starts), including a run in which the team went 16 games undefeated in O'Neill's first 16 starts as a professional. He started two matches for the U.S. team at last summer's FIFA Under-20 World Cup in Turkey, scoring one of the team's three goals at the tournament.

The Rapids have begun the 2015 regular season with a couple of 0-0 draws at Philadelphia Union and at home against expansion side, New York City FC. O'Neill saw action in both games, playing the full match against NYC FC.

U.S. U-23 ROSTER BY POSITION:

GOALKEEPERS: Charlie Horton (Cardiff City; Cleveland, Ohio), Tyler Miller (SVN Zweibrücken; Woodbury, N.J.)

DEFENDERS: Christian Dean (Vancouver Whitecaps; East Palo Alto, Calif.), Juan Pablo Ocegueda (Alebrijes de Oaxaca; Riverside, Calif.), Shane O'Neill (Colorado Rapids; Boulder, Colo.), William Packwood (Birmingham City; Concord, Mass.), Oscar Sorto (LA Galaxy; Los Angeles, Calif.)

MIDFIELDERS: Fatai Alashe (San Jose Earthquakes; Northville, Mich.), Luis Gil (Real Salt Lake; Garden Grove, Calif.), Benji Joya (Chicago Fire; San Jose, Calif.), Ariel Lassiter (LA Galaxy II; Temecula, Calif.), Wil Trapp (Columbus Crew; Gahanna, Ohio)

FORWARDS: Alonso Hernandez (C.F. Monterrey; El Paso, Texas), Jerome Kiesewetter (VfB Stuttgart; Berlin, Germany), Alfred Koroma Shams (Southlake Carol, Texas), Jordan Morris (Stanford; Mercer Island, Wash.), Mario Rodriguez (Borussia Mönchengladbach; North Hollywood, Calif.), Khiry Shelton (NYCFC; Leander, Texas)

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