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U.S. national team assistant Andreas Herzog will coach the Americans' under-23 squad that will attempt to qualify for the 2016 Olympics later this year, US Soccer announced on Friday. "Andi brings a wealth of experience at the international level as a player and a coach," said US Soccer president Sunil Gulati in a statement. "He has developed a thorough understanding of our system, and we are confident that he is the right coach to accomplish our goal of reaching and succeeding in the Olympic Games." The U.S. men have not participated in an Olympics since 2008. The U.S. team that failed to qualify for London 2012 was led by Caleb Porter, who was the coach of NCAA power University of Akron at the time. Porter is now the coach of MLS' Portland Timbers, but Herzog has significantly more experience than Porter did when he coached the Olympic team. Herzog has served on U.S. manager's Jurgen Klinsmann's staff since 2011. Before that, the former Austrian national team captain and two time World Cup participant coached his country's U21 team. He was also an assistant with Austria's senior squad. Herzog and Klinsmann were teammates at Bayern Munich, and Herzog also played in MLS, ending his career in 2004 after a season with the LA Galaxy. "Andi has plenty of experience and knowledge in order to prepare this group for the international level," Klinsmann said. "Andi is absolutely ready to step into this role, and he deserves this opportunity." US Soccer has a history of appointing senior team assistants to the U23 role: Peter Nowak coached the U.S. at the Beijing Olympics in 2008. Four year earlier, the late Glenn Myernick helmed the squad that failed to reach the Athens Games. Herzog is a player's coach, according to Colorado Rapids defender Shane O'Neill, who is one of 11 Olympics-eligible players currently training with the senior team in Carson, Calif. He's expected to be a key member of the U23 side that will begin qualification matches for Rio de Janeiro this fall. "He's a guy you really want to play for," O'Neill told ESPN FC earlier this week. "He can relate to the players well. He's personable. He's very professional on the pitch but off of it, he's very relaxed. You can talk to him about anything. It's tough sometimes when a coach is standoffish. It's intimidating. With Andi, it's not like that. He's a great coach."
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