On Friday morning, Real Salt Lake midfielder Luis Gil and defender Boyd Okwuonu take the field with the U.S. U-23 National Team against Bosnia and Herzegovina in the first match in preparation for the Olympic qualifying tournament in the fall.
For Gil, it’s an opportunity to assert himself as the leader of the young squad after the 21-year-old has already earned two caps with the U.S. Men’s National Team. He takes those experiences to captain the U-23s.
“I learn a lot when I go with the Men’s National Team. With Real Salt Lake I learn, too,” Gil said before leaving for Europe for two matches with the U-23s. “Going with the U-23s, I’m going to try and take a lot of intensity to the team. Every time I do go with the Men’s National Team, everything is faster-paced and more intense and it brings the level up a little bit. I feel like that’s what I have to bring to the U-23s.”
With RSL, Gil has plenty of veteran players with extensive international experience setting an example for him. Kyle Beckerman and Nick Rimando have both spent years with the U.S. National Team while Alvaro Saborio stars for Costa Rica.
“With Kyle and Sabo and Rimando going to their national teams consistently, that’s a big thing for me. Those are guys that I look at a lot during training and I try and pick their brains and learn from their leadership,” Gil said. “They do bring that back to Salt Lake, so I try and take their mindset and bring it in to the U-23s.”
After today’s match against Bosnia and Herzegovina, the U-23s Gil and Okwuonu will remain with the National Team to face Denmark on Tuesday before returning to Utah. It’s a relatively short camp for the U.S. to work with Head Coach Andi Herzog, so the intensity will be high as players work to learn each other’s tendencies under the guidance of their newly appointed coach.
“This will be a camp to adjust to our style. We have a new coach and we’ll have players coming from different playing styles,” Gil said. “It’s something we’ll have to adapt to and get used to and understand how each other plays.”
