The U.S. men have never reached the second round of the Olympics.

So what?

The two areas of the game that matter most in American men’s soccer are MLS and the senior national team. U.S. youth teams are crucial for developing players for both.

The Olympic team is one of those youth squads.

Since 1992, Olympic soccer ù after decades of oddities that included Eastern Bloc shamateurism and a phase in which different continents faced varied eligibility rules ù has been an under-23 tournament.

That’s because FIFA insists that the World Cup remain soccer’s only true world championship.

In a compromise, FIFA allowed three overage players per team at the 1996 Games.

In 1996, Coach Bruce Arena used Claudio Reyna, who wasn’t overage but needed wild-card status because he competed in one Olympics already, Kasey Keller and Alexi Lalas.

Reyna was the country’s best playmaker, Lalas was there for leadership purposes, and Keller kept the games closer than a younger keeper could have.

Now Clive Charles finds himself in a quandary after guiding his group of U-23s through Olympic qualifying, which does not invoke the wild-card rule.

Charles faces breaking up a close-knit team and admits he dreads the cuts he’ll have to make.

So don’t make them.

He can’t bring in foreign-based players because of club conflicts that are compounded by World Cup qualifying. Besides, bringing in Reyna would deny a young central midfielder experience. And Charles doesn’t need a keeper.

As for the leadership that an MLS elder might provide?

Clive’s team, unlike the 1996 squad, is full of young pros. Let a chief emerge from among them.

If a team without wild-cards fails? So what?

The 1992 team made a first-round exit but produced seven players for the 1994 World Cup squad and five others who still play in MLS.

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