I figure it is Real Madrid for the All-Star game. Especially since it's not Garber's or MLS' place to announce where a US WCQ is going to be.
So in the case that we don't get this game, what are the chances that Columbus would get another WCQ this cycle?
Fair. But USSoccer probably won't announce the final venues until we're already well into qualifying next year. If the US is safely in the top 3 after the first 3-5 games, USSoccer might just opt to play the final game (vs Costa Rica on October 14) in the largest possible stadium in an attempt to boost profits, regardless of how many Costa Rica fans would fill the place. If it looks like that final Costa Rica game might be vital for getting to South Africa, then maybe they'll pick Columbus. But it's all just speculation right now. We still might get the Mexico game. (And if we don't, hopefully they'll at least be smart enough to put it in Salt Lake instead of Seattle.)
Indeed, I just want to see a MNT game sometime before the cup, and the chances that I'll go to one if I have to fly to get there are slim to none.
Gold Cup is coming up this summer too. No clue where they'll play, but Giants Stadium and RFK might be on the list of possibilites. (Along with the usual suspects: Chicago, Miami, Foxborough, Houston, LA, etc.) I see you're in West Virginia. How far would it be to drive to RFK or Giants Stadium, or maybe even a potential game in Philly?
RFK is about a 6 hour drive, which is do-able in a pinch. I checked the mapquest to Rio Tinto and it says 26 hours, one way so no thanks. I'm not very sure on Giants Stadium, but it is safe to say that a game in Charlotte or Richmond or even Indy would be closer. Keep in mind that I'm about 2 hours away from CCS.
OK, it's official now (according to ESPN). It will be in SLC....Rio Tinto's stadium at 9:00pm local time, which should be 11:00pm Eastern.
I always go to ESPN for my soccer news. Anyone know if Sabathia has signed anywhere yet? ESPN hasn't mentioned it.
I think I may have heard something about that, do you know if Brett Farve retired or not? P.S. This made me laugh out loud, I'd rep ya but I'm fresh out
here you go mate http://ussoccer.com/schedule/index.jsp.html All the best and we hope that the game will be in Columbus- And thats the way we like it Cheers
Check this out, from ESPN Deportes posted tonight: http://espndeportes.espn.go.com/news/story?id=756337&s=mundial&type=story I'll post the translation shortly.
I know the USSF has to put it in their website but maybe they haven't had time. This guy's job (Sutcliffe) is to report on this for ESPN Deportes and he is right there where the decisions are being made so I think he is credible. Here's the translation. As we had reported, U.S. Soccer, the soccer federation of the United States, decided to change the traditional location of Columbus, Ohio, where the team of the Stars and Stripes had defeated Mexico in the qualifying matches of 2001 and 2005, and announced that they will host the Tricolor in the Rio Tinto Stadium of Salt Lake City. So the Hexagonal Final for South Africa 2010 will kick off for Mexico on February 11 at the home of Real Salt Lake, MLS team, a small stadium relatively far from large concentrations of Mexican immigrants, away from which U.S. Soccer will be able to control the box office for 20 thousand fans. In Salt Lake City, Utah, the United States beat Costa Rica in the qualifier for Germany 2006 and apart from that the climate will play to the favor of the home team, because much cold, wind and snow is expected for those dates. No doubt another important factor in the change of venue is television, because the match is scheduled at 9 pm local time, 10 pm in Mexico, the so-called prime time throughout the U.S. and especially in the Latino market. The United States having taken the first step to make use of the home-field advantage, taking the Tricolor to the most complicated surroundings, we hope that Sven Göran Eriksson's squad finds enough football to be able to compete on the field and that the atmosphere ends up being inconsequential.
Primetime? 9:00pm MST is 11:00pm EST. That's a heck of a primetime for a big chunck of the viewing public in the U.S. But then again, the USSF is accommodating latino viewers. Interesting.
Am I being petty if I hope* the U.S. doesn't win because they (USSF) screwed with the streak (and because I'm bitter I won't be able to go now)? Assuming this is all true. *I'm not saying I'm actually hoping for it, but I will be bitter.
Just to make sure I'm getting this right - we're moving the qualifier out of the stadium we've beaten Mexico 2 consecutive qualifiers in, we're moving the game further west, making it a longer trip for all our Euro players, and we're going to put it on television in the middle of the night so people in Mexico can watch. Well, I'd say it's time to cancel the ESPN contract, go with Univision, eliminate the blue from our jerseys, add green to our jerseys, and start being referred to as the "Gringos". What the blue hell is happening here? If this were a movie, right now would be when the audience finds out a Mexican has infiltrated US Soccer (the team, of course, wouldn't find out until the day before, but just in time to save the day). However, this isn't a movie, unfortunately.
I haven't found it anywhere else. Not even on rumors on SI or anything. So I'm not completely sure it's real yet.
All I found were people quoting Deportes, and a SLC reporter who called RSL, and got a 'no comment'. Ives and Goff have nothing but the Deportes report, too. Mitchell's got nothing, but he's busy painting.
This is from the same guy (John Sutcliffe) who was posting the SLC or Seattle rumor a couple days ago. I find it interesting that Goff or Ives has nothing on this. Edit: The dateline is Mexico City, that may explain where the info is coming from.
Different people in charge. Different audiences. Different standards regarding sources required to run stories. Reporter from Deportes got story. Source of story isn't US Soccer, but Mexican federation. ESPN driving Hispanic web-viewers to Deportes. You pick. Any could work.