northeast and midwestern us. except for the island nations probably at the hdc and portland. la doesnt have a very big hatian/jamaican/trinidad pop.
Too soon to guess at the locations. We need to see the order of teams to be played and how the weather works out for each match. As for me personally, I will try and get to as many as possible.
Well, now that we've seen the draw.... First we get the winner of Grenada/Guyana for a home-home series. Obviously, this could be played anywhere. It'll be in June so the fed may opt for a little cooler site than SoCal. Take your pick as to where this one will be. Portland? Somewhere on the East coast, DC area, Charleston? Assuming there are no upsets, we will be in a semifinal group with Panama, Jamaica, and El Salvador. Knowing the fed, Jamaica will be in Foxboro and the Sallies in RFK. That's just assuming though. Panama could be in Columbus maybe. Throw your guesses out there, qualifying draws nearer every day
Fixed your post. We will have 9 home games during qualifying: 1 in our home-and-home with Grenada/Guyana 3 in our semi-final group 5 during the Hex I suspect we will see at least one match at the following venues: 1. Columbus Crew Stadium 2. Home Depot Center 3. Frisco 4. The Big Razor 5. Arrowhead 6. Cleveland SSS (if it gets built by 2005) 7. Wantland Stadium (if done in time and it looks like MLS will come to OKC) Other possible but not probable venues include: 1. RFK 2. Pae Tec Park 3. Invesco 4. Soldier Field 5. Leigon Field 6. The Linc That's all I can think of at the moment. Sachin 6.
I don't think any of the new SSS's, other than Frisco, will be ready by late 2005. And Frisco is IMO too risky to play anyone other than a Carribean team, and there are better places to play them (Foxboro, Columbus, Denver, HDC since you know we'll play someone there)--Canada is a possibility too I guess. Here's where I'd like to see us play... Grenada/Guyana - Spartan Stadium, San Jose El Salvador - Columbus Jamaica - Invesco Field, Denver Panama - Home Depot Center, LA Jamaica - Gillette Stadium, Foxboro Costa Rica - Lincoln Financial Field, Philly Canada - RFK Stadium, DC Honduras - Columbus Guatemala - Arrowhead Stadium, KC or Soldier Field, Chicago Mexico - Columbus Trinidad - Invesco Field, Denver Of course, only two of CR/Canada/Honduras/Guatemala will make it, but there you have it. This is all subject to change of course, depending mainly on the weather--there aren't really any matches in the winter, but if we play anyone in the late fall or early spring we should stick them in the northeast/Great Lakes region (aside from Canada). (Here's an interesting question, when was the last time the US lost a game when the temp was below 40 degrees?? My guess is quite some time ago, if ever.) Conversely, if we get scheduled to play Canada in the dead of summer, stick them in Dallas or Miami (would say the HDC but we do NOT want to face Frank Yallop in LA). Should note that Philly and Chicago should be tested as venues (preferably against CONCACAF opponents) before qualifying starts, if they do well then they're on the list, if not then replace them with Foxboro or Columbus.
Mexico- Columbus Costa Rica- KC, Seattle Honduras- Seattle Jamaica- LA, KC, Columbus El Salvador- Seattle, Columbus Guatemala- KC Those are really the only nations we'd have to worry about, Geography-wise.
I don't think Spartan Stadium is wide enough for a FIFA-sanctioned event. Even if it is by some divine act, it's a no go. Too narrow. It scares me to no end, the possibility of playing on a narrow, narrow pitch followed by a trip to Saprissa.
Nah I really can not see Chicago getting a game. Im sure people will not mind going to Crew Stadium from here.
Guyana would be a good game to play at Lincoln Field IMHO. The narrowness of the field will not be as much of an issue-- and anyway, it's already been used in a FIFA tournament (and a few BigSoccer people I know disputed the media guide's dimensions). It will also be a good litmus test for the area's soccer community since there hasn't been a USMNT game in Philadelphia in nearly 15 years.