If the United States end up qualifying for the 2024 Olympics at the CONCACAF Under-20 Championship, they'll have to do it without Cade Cowell.
The San Jose Earthquakes winger will miss Friday's semifinal against hosts Honduras - and the final, should the USYNT advance - after receiving a three-game ban due to "violent and unsportsmanlike conduct" following Tuesday's 2-0 quarterfinal win over Costa Rica.
Cowell was the lone American singled out by CONCACAF's disciplinary committee, compared to nine Ticos who were also handed heavy suspensions on Thursday, as a result of the post-match brawl that "violated Competition Regulations and the FIFA Disciplinary Code," according to an official press release.
The unfortunate incident ended an otherwise happy night on a violent note for the United States, who booked their spot at the 2023 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Indonesia thanks to a brace from Philadelphia Union homegrown attacker Paxten Aaronson.
Cowell and seven other Costa Rica players were slapped with three-game suspensions, while Andrey Soto and Timothy Arias must sit out six games with their national team.
According to CONCACAF's statement, "all suspensions must be served in the next official match of the men’s national team of the same age category."
That said, the 18-year-old Cowell won't be off the hook should he get a first-team call-up from Gregg Berhalter without completing his sentence with the U20s.
"If the suspensions cannot be served in the same age category, then they will be transferred to the immediately higher category in men’s national team football."
In addition to qualifying for the 2023 FIFA U-20 World Cup and 2024 Olympics, the US are also looking to win their third straight Concacaf U-20 Championship.
