Looks like Wales will be heading to San Jose for a friendly on May 24th vs USA. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/internationals/wales/2745637.stm
Re: Japan v. Uruguay Cancelled? I have no idea, but the coach said he wanted to schedule some games right after the domestic season ends to get ready for the Euro Qualifiers.
Japan v. Uruguay Cancelled? WOW! That means, Wales will likely be playing their strongest side ... still they should be thrashed by boys in red-white-and-blue.
Excellent! It's about time the west coast got some USMNT games outside of Los Angeles. Too bad we can't turn it into a double header with our Quakes, the attendance would go through the roof. Maybe we could use one of our our bonus tickets to go to the match if the front office goes for it.
Awesome! Wales has been playing very well in European competition in the last year. Hopefully, Ryan Giggs will play who was one of my favorite players...
Ok, so my brain wasn't connected to my fingers when I spelt Wales. If you are truely interested, Wales is in first in Group 9 in qualification for Euro 2004. Check out: http://www.soccerlinks.co.uk/euro2004qual.htm They have beaten Finland and Italy so far, along with Azerbaijan.
WOW! Wales - Italy 2:1 !!! And they are 5 points ahead of the second place now. Well, it's a long competition, maybe Italy will recover, but Wales have decent chances to actually qualify for Euro 2004 (from the second place, maybe). And .. as far as I remember .. they never ever qualified to Euro or WC!
Don't know if Giggs will suit up for that game but the EPL regular season ends in mid-April. Giggs, being with ManU, will no doubt have playoffs in late April/early May plus possible tournament play with the Red Devils. Hope he comes with them, though. I agree with Beerking...hope this turns out to be one of our "bonus games," though I'm guessing those will be the Open Cup games later this year.
Wales made only one World Cup Final appearance, and that was in 1958. They went as far as the quarterfinal before losing to eventual champions Brazil. Would be good to see Wales play against the United States since the two sides could play an even game. Again, it's all speculative, but a game, any game, at Spartan for that holiday weekend would be good.
Nap beat me to it, but yes, the last time they qualified for a World Cup finals was 1958, in Sweden-- and IIRC from my endless mind of trivia, Pele scored his first-ever World Cup goal against the Welshmen. Not sure when the last time they played in the final stages of a European Championships, however. Mind you, there's an outside chance (as I hinted on another related thread) that Ryan Giggs may not play in this match, if or when it comes to fruition-- because the Champions League final is on May 28 at Old Trafford in Manchester. You can therefore imagine where his demands would take precedence. But Wales have done very well so far in this Euro qualifying campaign, and would pose a good test for the USA, especially in defense. Hope it comes to Spartan, for my sentimentality's sake, anyways... Cheers, William
If it is, it would require some re-arranging of one of the Quakes' MLS fixtures. As it has been established on the other related thread on the USA boards, May 24 is an open date for the venue, seeing that neither the Earthquakes nor the CyberRays are playing there on that date. In fact, the Quakes are idle from league play that entire weekend. Perhaps with a little tweaking of the schedule, and the agreement of another MLS opponent, it can be done. Seeing that this USA-Wales fixture hasn't even been formally announced by U.S. Soccer, let's continue to dream big-- and make a doubleheader out of it. I, for one, can see it happening. Cheers, William
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!! I'll still be at university when Wales come stateside. So far as I know I will have to deal with my exams for English before I can even fly back!!!
As, has already been said this will be a close game. The Taffs are a much improved team under Mark Hughes, who has done a heck of a job with them. Barring a disasterous collapse (and they've done this several times before) they should qualify for thier first Euro championship and their first major Tournament sine '58 (as Nap and William said). I think the States should have the edge because they are the better team right now and have the advantage of playing at Spartan, which will be the smallest surface most of the Taffs will have played on... Now, to find away to get back to CA.... -Richard
Playoffs? This Saturday (2/15), Arsenal will knock the Devils out of the FA Cup. However, ManUre are still looking good in the UEFA Champions' League. So, you're right about possible tourney play that late... But no playoffs. Looking forward to this international friendly, though. In addition to Giggsy, I think Wales also has Craig Bellamy, Simon Davies, Robbie Savage and Gary Speed, among others. I wonder which, if any, of their EPL guys will make it over. No Quakes game that weekend, either, so we don't have to play an MLS game missing people.