Wake Forest Athletics
Okoli, Martin Called Up to U-21 National Team Camp
4/25/2014 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
April 25, 2014
By Currie McFayden, Wake Forest Athletic Communications (@WakeMSoccer)
CHICAGO - Former Demon Deacons Sean Okoli and Collin Martin have been called up to the U-21 U.S. Men's National Team training camp in Carson, Calif., in preparation for forming a U-23 team that will attempt to qualify for the 2016 Rio Olympics.
Okoli and Martin are two of the 21 players called up for the camp, 19 of whom currently play professional soccer. Kendall McIntosh (Santa Clara) and Jordan Morris (Stanford) are the lone collegiate players to receive a call-up.
"We're excited to bring some of our best young players together for this initial U-21 camp," current U-20 National Team Coach Tab Ramos said of the group. "This camp is purely to have the team together so that we begin moving in the right direction. When the time is right, we can put a group that has kept playing together and is familiar with each other in front of the permanent coach."
Both Okoli and Martin currently play in the MLS, with Okoli being a member of the Seattle Sounders while Martin is on D.C. United's squad. Both spent time with the U-20 National Team prior to receiving the U-21 call-up.
During his time at Wake Forest, Okoli made 55 starts in 61 appearances and proved to be a major offensive weapon up front for the Deacs, netting 24 goals in just three seasons before signing with the Sounders following the 2013 season. He was a First Team All-ACC player in 2013 and tied with former teammate Luca Gimenez for the team lead in points with 21. Okoli also received credit for four game-winning goals last season, the most of any player on the squad.
Martin donned the old gold and black in 2012, his lone season with the Demon Deacons before inking a homegrown contract with D.C. United during the summer of 2013. He had an instant impact in the middle of the field for the Deacs, however, leading the squad with six assists and being named to the All-ACC Freshman Team as well as TopDrawerSoccer.com's All-Freshman Second Team. Martin appeared in six games for D.C. United in 2013 and picked up his first professional point with an assist on August 3, 2013.
According to the rules for soccer at the Summer Olympics, all competitors must be under 23 years of age, with three over-23 players allowed per squad. The best finish in the tournament for the United States came at the Sydney Olympics in 2000, when the Americans notched a fourth-place finish. The U.S. did not qualify for the 2012 tournament at the London Olympics.
