USA Vs. Cuba Olympic Qualifying: Where to Watch Live Stream Online, Preview, Prediction

When and Where: The men's Olympic qualifying match between the USA and Cuba kicks-off in Nashville, Tenn., at 9 p.m. ET. You can watch a live stream on Concacaf.com simply by registering for free. There will also be a live stream of Canada's match with El Salvador at 6.30 p.m. ET.

Preview: The round-robin phase of the Concacaf Men's Olympic qualifying gets underway on Thursday with the U.S. taking on Cuba, following Canada's contest with El Salvador.

The competition is divided into two groups of four, with the U.S., in Group A, also taking on Canada on Saturday followed by El Salvador on Monday. Group B features Mexico, Honduras, Panama and Trinidad and Tobago.

The top two sides from each group then progress to the semi-finals at the end of the month, with the winners progressing to the final at the beginning of April, as well as the main prize of securing their spots in the Olympics in London.

The fact that this is an under-23 competition means that it is an opportunity for the U.S.' young players to showcase their talents to senior coach Jurgen Klinsmann.

In fact, the Olympics qualifying squad already has considerable experience, with eight players on the U.S. roster having already appeared for the senior side.

The standout player is Brek Shea, who plies his trade with F.C.Dallas in the MLS. Shea has been talked about as the next great American export into European soccer and the attacking midfielder would relish the opportunity to showcase his skills on the world stage in London this summer.

The charismatic 22-year-old is the only player to appear in all 10 of the U.S.' matches since Klinsmann took charge.

Starting alongside Shea will be the much-discussed Freddy Adu. It seems incredible that the forward is still only 22, having been in the spotlight for almost a decade.

Now back in Major League Soccer with the Philadelphia Union, Adu has seemingly traveled all over the world in order to try and fulfill the potential that led to him playing for D.C. United at the age of 14 and going on trial with Manchester United aged 17.

Now there is hope that Adu can finally get his faltering career back on track and become a solid contributor for club and perhaps country. As captain, Adu should be a big help to his team mates, as he is the only player on the roster to have gone through Olympic qualifying before, four years ago.

Under-23 national coach Caleb Porter must be licking his lips at the options available to him in attacking positions with Juan Agudelo likely to start in the lone striking role, supported by Adu and Shea.

Agudelo, like Adu, was the subject of much hype early in his career. Though, the New York Red Bulls striker has not always been able to live up to that billing as yet, at only 19, he still has an abundance of time with which to establish himself as the quality striker the U.S. have lacked for so long.

For obvious reasons, little is known about the U.S.' opponents on Thursday night. At the very least, though, Cuba's under-23s should be a well-drilled unit, having already played five games, without defeat, in coming through Caribbean qualifying to get this far.

Prediction: The U.S. has possibly its best group of youngsters in the country's history and this tournament should be an ideal opportunity for them to illustrate that fact. Not only are the players talented, but they will also be encouraged to play with a more technically-adept, passing style, in the mold of how Klinsmann is attempting to get the senior side to perform.

On the negative side, there could be some problems early on with a group of players who have not performed together too often, while the U.S. defense is not as strong as the rest of the lineup. But, with several players in midfield and attack with the ability to be match winners, goals shouldn't be in short supply against Cuba.

USA U-23 4-1 Cuba U-23