A Utahn is in consideration to represent the U.S. at the Paris Olympics this summer with the men’s national soccer team.
Taylor Booth of Eden, Utah, was one of 25 players called up to the U.S. men’s Olympic soccer team for the final trainings and game ahead of the Olympics. The team will play Japan on Tuesday in Kansas City at 6 p.m. MT.
Head coach Marko Mitrović will have to whittle the roster down to 18 players.
This could be Booth’s only chance to be an Olympian. Unlike the women’s team, the players on the men’s Olympic squad must be under the age of 23 when the calendar year starts — born after January 1, 2001 — to be eligible. Teams are also allowed three overage players.
That means as many as nine of the U-23 players could be left behind when the U.S. heads to Paris, but Mitrović has only called up an overage player once ahead of the Olympics.
Walker Zimmerman, a 31-year-old World Cup veteran, was included on this camp’s roster.
What did Taylor Booth say about playing in the Olympics?
This will be the first time the U.S. men’s team has qualified for the Olympics since 2008, and Booth has the chance to be a part of that history.
“It’s special always when you get the opportunity to play in a big tournament,” he told the Deseret News on Thursday.
Booth believes that a unique part of playing in the Olympics is the support felt from home, across the country and in the stands in Paris.
“What makes the Olympics so special is just Americans will watch the games even if they’re not fans of soccer,” he said. “I think having our families there, having everyone back home supporting us, it’ll be special, and it will give us extra motivation as well.”
The weight of the moment aside, Booth doesn’t feel any added pressure in this upcoming and final pre-Olympic match. He said he and the team are used to it.
“I think we all do this because we’re good at it, you know? I think everyone that’s here has dealt with pressure on and off the field, and I think we know how to handle pressure,” he said.
“I think we’re expecting every game at the Olympics to be a big game, and we’re going to have a lot of pressure because everyone’s going to be watching these games, not just football fans back in America, you know?”
Who is Taylor Booth?
At age 17, Booth left the U.S. and the Real Salt Lake Academy to sign a two-and-a half year contract with FC Bayern Munich. He worked his way up from Bayern’s U-19 team and appeared as a substitute for the senior team in the 2021-2022 DFB-Pokal, or German Cup.
In 2022, Booth signed with Utrecht in the Eredivisie, the top league in the Netherlands. He scored five goals this season, according to FBref.com.
In February, Booth engaged in some sibling rivalry when he faced younger brother Zach Booth, who plays for FC Volendam. The younger Booth scored first, but the older Booth topped the early score with his first-ever hat trick.
Family was on hand in the Netherlands to watch the brothers play against each other for the first time.
“It was a special day. Thinking back on it, I kept saying it was written in the stars before it happened,” Taylor Booth said. “When he came out and scored first, I knew the pressure was on me.
He was running back to the midline, and he gave me a little brother look of ‘I’ve really just done this’ and I kinda took it personal and I dropped the hatty on him. It was a special day and to have my dad in the stands and some other family. It was super special.”