US v. Ecuador @ RFK Stadium, March 24th

Re: US v. Ecuador @ Giants Stadium, Mar 25

Well it looks like we wont be playing friendlies in Europe on mar 25 and 28 like we had all hoped. Thats too bad , hopefully Ecuador brings a fairly strong squad and we bring a good squad also .

It helps that the match is on the east coast , which limits travel time for our nats overseas.

 

Re: US v. Ecuador @ Giants Stadium, Mar 25

Let's be happy for Ecuador, at least. They're traveling to Spain for firendlies in late December, early January; they're hosting Sweden for two games later in January; then they're coming here in March for games v. USA and Mexico (in California). Sounds as though someone on their staff has a good sense of what planning is all about.

 

Re: US v. Ecuador @ Giants Stadium, Mar 25

Not bad. I expected El Salvador.

 

Re: US v. Ecuador @ Giants Stadium, Mar 25

Decent, and the weather in NY at that time of year can be pretty good, although it could be cold too. Average would be in the 50s by day. If true, this also saves the Euros a few hours in flight.

 

Re: US v. Ecuador @ Giants Stadium, Mar 25

Ecuador is an excellent side. It's a FIFA date (I believe) and they'll be preparing for Copa. They should bring a top team. We will too, as Bobbo will need every minute he can get with the first team.

As far as the atmosphere...I'm not sure if there are a lot of Ecuadorians in the NYC area, but I'd be willing to bet money that every single Ecuadorian within a 1000 mile radius will be there.

This is a MUCH better test than playing Guatemala or El Salvador in Georgia or Salt Lake City or wherever.

I will definitely be there.

 

Re: US v. Ecuador @ Giants Stadium, Mar 25

There will be tons of Ecuadorians there. Lots of them live in the NY area. There is going to be way more Ecuadorian fans than US fans.

This will be an away game for sure.

 

Re: US v. Ecuador @ Giants Stadium, Mar 25

Particularly if they don't get around to announcing it in English!

 

Re: US v. Ecuador @ Giants Stadium, Mar 25

You know USSF pretty well I'd say...

 

Re: US v. Ecuador @ Giants Stadium, Mar 25

This strikes me as a good game for us. I don't see why we'd want to play European teams in the run-up to the Gold Cup and the Copa. Ecuador is a very good side that will give us a good test against the very style of play that we will be facing in two impending tournaments. Perfect. Plenty of time to schedule European opponents after July.

You may now resume your biyatching and moaning.

 

Re: US v. Ecuador @ Giants Stadium, Mar 25

For the USSF naysayers, it strikes me that european teams are the ones we should avoid, for now.

Bring on every South and Central American sides we can get. In case anyone has forgotten, our next two major tournaments are against those very sides.

The Europeans should come later.

Ecuador is a very good side and should provide a great challenge for Bradley and Co.

 

Re: US v. Ecuador @ Giants Stadium, Mar 25

I hear Belize is available.

This is the best USSF booking since the trip to Amsterdam a few years back (and that includes the England match in Chicago), so good job by them/Bob. Weather will be anything from a Nor'easter to 60 degrees. I imagine they will play on the field turf, I cannot see them laying sod for this match (they usually don't when the SA teams come to NJ - they give up the grass for a large cash influx to their federations). Based on walking around Manhattan one morning in 2002 when Ecuador was playing a WC match, there will be a big turnout of bright yellow shirts.

 

Re: US v. Ecuador @ Giants Stadium, Mar 25

I sat in the Ecuador section for their match vs the Ticos in Hamburg this past summer. Very good crowd of Ecuador fans there, vocal but friendly. They played a nice fluid game and outclassed Costa Rica. I hope we have a good US crowd, I'm sure Ecuador will have a huge turnout and put a decent side on the field.

 

Re: US v. Ecuador @ Giants Stadium, Mar 25

they got further in the World Cup than we did...

 

Re: US v. Ecuador @ Giants Stadium, Mar 25

The Red Bull New York season opener at Giants Stadium April 8, 2006 was just a touch above freezing, and it was raining just before the match (fortunately not during, but it was friggin cold). March is still winter in these parts of the northeast - though who knows with the El Nino/global warming winter we're currently having.

Expect a pretty large turnout of Ecuadorians. Attendance for the Wednesday May 24, 2006 Ecuador v. Colombia/RBNY v. Dallas doubleheader match that was a warmup to Ecuador's World Cup appearance brought over 52,000 to Giants Stadium - not quite a capacity crowd (79,000 were at Giants for Barcelona). I'd guess that about 40,000 - 45,000 Ecuadorians will attend the match, possibly more since it's on a Saturday. The Ecuadorians at that match were pretty cool - nowhere near as obnoxious as the naco-gawkers who showed at the Barcelona friendly to stare at Ronaldinho's ass. However, a few fights did break out.

 

Re: US v. Ecuador @ Giants Stadium, Mar 25

There was a Peru-Ecuador friendly in NY/NJ late this summer. I remember because BA commented (critically) that none of his RBNY players had attended, his implication being that players that lived and breathed soccer would have. You could take a look at attendance for that game, too.

I would expect a fair number of non-Ecuadoran Latinos to attend the US-Ecuador game. I wonder which team they'll be rooting for ...

 

Re: US v. Ecuador @ Giants Stadium, Mar 25

ESPN2 has a 12-2 block for a match on this day.

 

Re: US v. Ecuador @ Giants Stadium, Mar 25

That make the drive up and back from Washington, D.C. much easier. Now I hope that the game gets scheduled.

 

Re: US v. Ecuador @ Giants Stadium, Mar 25

FYI, 3/25/07 is a Sunday.

 

Re: US v. Ecuador @ Giants Stadium, Mar 25

Is there still a Guatemala friendly at Home Depot on March 28?

There was a thread about it a week or two ago - apparently the Guat Fed had announced it. If it's still on, there wouldn't be any real travel advantage for our Euro-based players flying in.

 

Re: US v. Ecuador @ Giants Stadium, Mar 25

USMNT at noon at Giants STadium on a Sunday ???

 

Re: US v. Ecuador @ Giants Stadium, Mar 25

I was watching GolTV a couple of days ago and they said that both Ecuador and Guatemala were tentative. I guess the Europe-based players could play in the Ecuador game and an MLS-based team could play Guatemala. An MLS-based team didn't seem to have any problems with Guatemala back in February.

Count me in for a US-Ecuador match. After going to the US-Latvia match in Hartford, I'm hooked on going to USMNT matches.

 

Re: US v. Ecuador @ Giants Stadium, Mar 25

And hoping ESPN Int'l here has a programming block for the same match, too.

Not a bad fixture at all! Should be good for prep work, that's for sure.