It was my understanding that we would play 1 game in Feb, 2 games in march, 2 in June, 1 in Aug, 2 in Sept, and 2 in Oct, just like last cycle. So are we getting rid of the one in August for 3 games in June? That seems like an awfully busy schedule for the summer of 2013
Sounds like Nov. 7. We're goin' to Costa Rica - I just wanna know when. From the NY Times: In August 2010, officials from Concacaf, the sport’s regional governing body, decided that the teams that advance to the final round of qualifying would attempt to fashion a schedule among themselves. That meeting is expected to be held Friday in Miami, pending confirmation from Concacaf. US Soccer confirmed Wednesday that it was waiting for word from New York. If the principals are unable to reach an agreement (and why would they?), FIFA would then hold a draw on Nov. 7 after seeding the teams. It will most likely use some inscrutable formula that factors in the FIFA world rankings. That would make Mexico No. 1 and the United States No. 2, followed by Panama, Jamaica, Honduras and Costa Rica. http://goal.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/10/17/hex-is-next-for-the-u-s/
I know there are efforts (by clubs primarily) to get the Aug and Nov midweek "friendly" dates off the FIFA calendar, but it doesn't look like FIFA has yet to remove them: http://www.fifa.com/aboutfifa/calendar/events.html Maybe that trimming of FIFA's calendar won't happen until the next WC cycle. (Or maybe FIFA just hasn't updated their links/calendar to reflect their new latest scheduling decisions.)
Anyone else worried about MLSers not being in good form come Feb 6th? Yeah there's cupcake and possible training stints in Europe in Dec, but that is not the same as being in mid season form. Not at all.
God is FIFA ever convoluted. There are multiple possibilities like you said. Perhaps they just didn't update their calendar, perhaps they changed their mind again. All I know is they released a statement saying the August date is gone but we probably won't know for sure till August.
Well, to be honest, lets look at those Confed Cup teams: 1) Brazil has no WCQ to worry about. 2) Tahiti. Already out of WCQ. 3) Uruguay. CONMEBOL, with only 9 teams playing, necessitates everyone have a matchday off anyway, so have Uruguay take theirs the math-day in June where there is overlap. 4) Spain. Is in a group with an odd number of teams as well, do the same as with Uruguay. 5) Japan. AFC has 5 team groups as well, like Spain and Uruguay, they'll get a June date off. And they'll likely be qualified before their 1st and only June WCQ anyway. 6) Mexico. CONCACAF will use the February FIFA date. 7) Italy. Lots of the Euro groups, despite having an even number of teams, don't play full schedules every match day. Usually to some of the teams being out of season at certain times. Euro teams are accustomed to having a date off, Italy will get one here. 8) Africa. No champion yet. Point being, it isn't that much of a hassle to give each team a date off. The problem of getting all the qualifiers in is much more the issue. Also, just because it isn't an "international friendly date" does not necessarily preclude FIFA from just saying, it's a CONCACAF international date and any teams with CONCACAF eligible players (only 6 teams, remember) must give them the full 4-5 days off and release them. Like you said, it is FIFA, they'll just make it up as they go along.
According to this article (http://espn.go.com/sports/soccer/story/_/id/7648412/fifa-moves-abolish-february-august-exhibitions), the february and august dates won't be done away with until the 2015-2018 cycle.
One stadium I think is a must include is Houston's new stadium. I've heard great things about it. Houston Kansas City Columbus Should be locks Then it's down to: Red Bull Home Depot RFK Rio tinto Dicks sporting goods Toyota Some of those are longs shots obviously Or there is always the chance that the fed goes to an nfl stadium in a non mls market like they did in Tampa.
I expect the training stints in Europe thing will be pretty common for the MLS players--any ideas whether any of the current MLS players in the MNT pool might be signing with European clubs?
As much as I would love it, it would only make sense to play Jamaica or Panama. Mexico, Honduras, Costa Rica ---- all would result in not great home field advantages.
If they do this I hope its for Jamaica in San Diego. Any other country and we risk having a non USA crowd.
I know we have all these great SSSs, but most of these qualifiers will need to be played in NFL stadiums. If you do Mexico in C-bus, I'd imagine the Honduras, Costa Rica, and Panama games will be played in NFL stadiums with 30,000-60,000 in attendance. Maybe Jamaica or Panama could be squeezed into RBA. Last cycle, for example, we played Honduras at Soldiers Field instead of Toyota Park.
Which was really stupid. Hopefully we don't do something like that again. I want to see Pro-USA crowds all 5 matches.
Without the strong language I generally agree. We need small stadiums with controlled ticket policy's. Otherwise the Hondurans or whoever are going to show up and outnumber us quite quickly.
Salt Lake has gotten a game the last 2 Hex's (CR and ES). I think Nashville and Hartford could be possibilities too.
The only question that is left to be answered about the matchdays is if Concacaf will go with June 4th or August 14th as a matchday. If Mexico is okay with playing on June 11th then Concacaf could use June 4th instead of August 14th. Most likely scenario, Mexico plays its June 11th game on the 4th and matchday 6 will be on August 14th. (Just like in 2009 with the USA) The other Confederation Cup participants June schedule Brazil: Open dates Uruguay: Game on June 11th Japan: Game on June 11th Italy: Game on June 8th Spain: Open dates Tahiti: Open dates Africa winner: Will have to move their June 18th game to June 4th, and finish on the 11th
Qualifying games have to played in soccer specific stadiums in flyover states. Without that, the split between USMNT fans and not is too even. As far as playing these games in NFL stadiums I say HELL and NO. Those terrible, sterile crowds in Tampa are hot garbage and not needed. After the experiences in KC and Columbus, the only acceptable NFL stadium would be RFK, but even then its still not preferable. I guess it boils down to wheter USSF wants more profit or a true home field advantage. I tihnk they go home field advantage. -Columbus and KC are locks. -A Houston fixture would have to be against Jamaica. There are ALOT of Central Americans in Houston so any other game would be too close. -Don't rule out Portland. Paullson has said that the field is getting expanded, and it might be ready for the Hex -Philly, Salt Lake, Nashville NO to LA---it's never going to be a homefield.
Mexico in Columbus. If it ain't broke... Honduras and Costa Rica one in KC, one in Salt Lake. Operation Away Fan Nullification Panama and Jamaica left over. Choose from among Chicago, DC, Seattle (if they can get some grass down for a summer date), Houston (for Jamaica only). Maybe Philly but I doubt it.
I'd have no problem with playing Panama or Jamaica at a large NFL stadium, maybe Soldier Field or perhaps New York or along the east coast. There are a lot of Jamaicans in New York, so maybe we'd rather play them out at the HDC. On the other hand, we shouldn't be afraid of Jamaica, so maybe we could play them in NY. Nothing wrong with letting them buy a few thousand tickets to help offset the money left on the table by playing well-supported teams like Mexico and Honduras in places like Columbus and Kansas City. One other thing to think of: with the Gold Cup coming next summer, the wealth will be spread all around the country with lots of cities getting the chance to host national team games in the summer. Maybe KC and Columbus should each get 2 qualifiers. Other cities will still get their chances to host national team games (plus the annual appearances from the big-money high-profile European club teams). It's just a thought, and I doubt it'll happen. But there's going to be more than enough soccer for everyone. The Qualifiers don't need to be handed out in any sort of fair manner, they should be assigned in a way that helps the US make it to Brazil.
There have been plenty of USA games in the last few years with 30,000 actual USA fans showing up at the game. Playing in an NFL stadium does not mean playing in front of an "away" crowd. Play the Mexico game in an SSS because they're our biggest rival. The other games shouldn't really matter. Honduras is the only teams that would potentially have more fans at a game anyway. A Jamaica game in Seattle, for example, would easily be a pro US crowd. A Costa Rica game in Nashville would have a pro US crowd. A Panama game in Hartford or Boston would have a pro US crowd. We're really at a point where we should be averaging 40,000 for qualifiers. MLS plays in small stadiums, but the USMNT has more than twice time the popularity of MLS.