USA friendlies - more games than other teams?

[ghazi]

There has been alot of discussion about the quallity of our exhibition opponents, which most would admit is rather weak (especially the final 3 games).

However, i was more curious about the number of games we will have played by the time the WC rolls around. Am i wrong in thinking that our team will have played twice as many exhibitions as many other teams because of the Japan, Norway and Guat games (though with a B roster)?

Anyone know if we'll be the most 'exhibitioned' team leading up to the WC? I had read a few months ago that Argentina had yet to schedule a friendly before the WC, but they later played at least one.

either way, it seems that we'll have played a total of 7 exhibitions with our A and B teams, in addition to a few scrimmages as well.

That can't be too bad, can it?

[El-Professor]

We can play more friendlies than nations with winter domestic leagues. Japan is in a similar position. Note that these games use mostly domestic-based players. So yeah, we will get more friendlies than most countries, but not with our full team. The advantage is more in getting to see more players at the national level. A friend of mine in Germany was a bit envious that we were holding the MLS camp and friendlies while his national team couldn't because of club commitments.

[Shackleton]

The USA definitely plays more friendlies than most WC-bound teams. The European, Argentinian, and Brazilian teams have almost all of their players in the Euro leagues where they are not as available for international duty as our MLS guys, so they don't play nearly as many friendlies. Other countries in our situation with most of their players in non-Euro, domestic leagues, like Mexico, S. Korea, and Japan, also play a lot of friendlies. The African teams will play many matches this time round due to the extra games from the Nations Cup which was in January. Not sure about who plays the most.

Before the 2002 WC, we also played a full schedule. Many credited the number of games played together by our players as contributing to their better than expected showing because it allowed the players to play more as a club than an all-star team. Same with S. Korea.

[Adam Zebrowski]

mls based players need more matches with the national team just to stay in some degree of playing shape....

i'd suspect if we examine the final 23 roster of ALL 32 nations in june, USA will be amongst the lower third in TOTAL minutes played by it's players the past 12 months...

in a sense, this is good, as players should have more in the tank than others

[england66]

i'd suspect if we examine the final 23 roster of ALL 32 nations in june, USA will be amongst the lower third in TOTAL minutes played by it's players the past 12 months...

in a sense, this is good, as players should have more in the tank than others


this is very good in every sense...

[odsum25]

We have played a lot of friendlies, but I do believe Saudi Arabia has more lined up than we do.

http://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showpost.php?p=7720654&postcount=22

Edit: Never mind, I didn't see all the cancellations.

[england66]

We have played a lot of friendlies, but I do believe Saudi Arabia has more lined up than we do.




won't help.....still be three and out for those stiffs...

[Zeppelin]

the MLS decision to have different league schedule than the rest of the world is finally paid off, don't you think ?