Forgive my newbie question, but when will the USMNT reassemble itself and start playing friendlies again? This is the 1st post WC lull that I've experienced, and I don't like it.
the latest i have read (sorry i can't recall exactly where or give a link, but i'll look), is that US Soccer is planning perhaps only one more match for the USMNT this year. don't know if this would be with an interim coach or after a new hire is brought in. I'd imagine it would be after the MLS season, but I really don't have any info. any posts that could provide more insight or thoughs on the remaining 2006 USMNT match schedule would be appreciated.
Yeah we need to get on the ball especially if were going to go to the COpa America my feeling is that Nowak will be hired after he wins the MLS cup and we'll play a friendly some time this winter or early next year.
The same thing happened in 2002...we played one final game in November against El Salvador. I remember it because it was Wade Barrett's first and only cap. After that, he disappeared into the Danish wilderness, only to return years later with just his sideburns intact. Oh, also Twellman's first cap, but that's a much less interesting story.
yeah im looking for one more game this year , possible Reyna and BMB's last game with the nats like we mentioned earlier ? that would be sweet . Will there be a January camp ?
McBride and Reyna are done, i don't think they'll come back at all, even for a send-off match. especially since they're in the middle of their premiership campaigns.
There are (5) FIFA Coordinated International Match Calendar days remaining this year: - 9/2 - 9/6 - 10/7 - 10/11 - 11/15 After that... the wait is until 2/7/2007 or 3/24/2007 or 3/28/2007. Here is the link to FIFA web-site. http://www.fifa.com/en/organisation/calendar/index/0,1472,E,00.html http://www.fifa.com/en/organisation/calendar/index/0,1472,E,00.html or http://www.fifa.com/documents/fifa/events/International_MC_FIFA_dates_2006_2008_update_Dec05_E.pdf http://www.fifa.com/documents/fifa/events/International_MC_FIFA_dates_2006_2008_update_Dec05_E.pdf Sorry if I made a mess of this. Somebody please clean up my links.
MLS Cup 2006 Sunday, November 12 -- at Pizza Hut Park TBD TBD 3:30 p.m. ABC so is Wednesday 11/15 a likely friendly date for the USMNT, or will US Soccer try to schedule something on a non-Fifa date at some point later in the year?
...although I can't think of the last time we first heard about an upcoming friendly through the official site.
11/15 seems like the most likely date to me. It's far enough out to schedule someone, unlike the September dates. Most of the MLS teams will be finished by then, so it won't interfer much with club soccer. It's also the same time of year that we first played following the 2002 WC (11/17/02 against El Salvador in Washington, DC). Like in 2002, I expect a heavily domestic-based team against a Western Hemisphere opponent somewhere in the US. Just don't expect to see anyone from the MLS Cup finalists. The semifinals are set for 11/5. I'd guess that gives players from the losing semifinalists enough time to recover, participate in a quick camp, and play.
http://www.fifa.com/en/mens/fixtures/index/0,3721,6-ALL-ALL,00.html from the Fifa site, below is the list of matches scheduled for November. No sign of the USA, yet. There are already a handful of friendlies set and the prelims for Confederation Championships are going on, so it will be interesting to see what kind of competition the USA could attract, or if they'd be willing to travel to an away friendly after MLS Cup. I seriously doubt they'd want to do anything while MLS and its playoffs are going on. It does seem likely to be a home friendly, against a Concacaf or Comebol opponent, if anything can get organized and/or a coach can get hired or whatever. Wales (WAL) : Liechtenstein (LIE) Friendly 2006 WREXHAM, WALES - 14.11.2006 Netherlands (NED) : England (ENG) Friendly 2006 AMSTERDAM, NETHERLANDS - 15.11.2006 Yemen (YEM) : India (IND) Asian Nations Cup 2007 Prel. Comp. SANA'A, YEMEN - 15.11.2006 Japan (JPN) : Saudi Arabia (KSA) Asian Nations Cup 2007 Prel. Comp. SAPPORO, JAPAN - 15.11.2006 Syria (SYR) : Chinese Taipei (TPE) Asian Nations Cup 2007 Prel. Comp. DAMASCUS, SYRIA - 15.11.2006 Iran (IRN) : Korea Republic (KOR) Asian Nations Cup 2007 Prel. Comp. TEHRAN, IRAN - 15.11.2006 United Arab Emirates (UAE) : Pakistan (PAK) Asian Nations Cup 2007 Prel. Comp. DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES - 15.11.2006 Jordan (JOR) : Oman (OMA) Asian Nations Cup 2007 Prel. Comp. AMMAN, JORDAN - 15.11.2006 Lebanon (LIB) : Australia (AUS) Asian Nations Cup 2007 Prel. Comp. 15.11.2006 Bahrain (BHR) : Kuwait (KUW) Asian Nations Cup 2007 Prel. Comp. MANAMA, BAHRAIN - 15.11.2006 Singapore (SIN) : Palestine (PLE) Asian Nations Cup 2007 Prel. Comp. SINGAPORE, SINGAPORE - 15.11.2006 China PR (CHN) : Iraq (IRQ) Asian Nations Cup 2007 Prel. Comp. CHANGSHA, CHINA PR - 15.11.2006 Hong Kong (HKG) : Bangladesh (BAN) Asian Nations Cup 2007 Prel. Comp. HONG KONG, HONG KONG - 15.11.2006 Uzbekistan (UZB) : Qatar (QAT) Asian Nations Cup 2007 Prel. Comp. TASHKENT, UZBEKISTAN - 15.11.2006 Austria (AUT) : Chile (CHI) Friendly 2006 VIENNA, AUSTRIA - 15.11.2006 France (FRA) : Greece (GRE) Friendly 2006 SAINT-DENIS, FRANCE - 15.11.2006 Portugal (POR) : Kazakhstan (KAZ) UEFA EURO 2008 Prel. Comp. 15.11.2006 Finland (FIN) : Armenia (ARM) UEFA EURO 2008 Prel. Comp. HELSINKI, FINLAND - 15.11.2006 Belgium (BEL) : Poland (POL) UEFA EURO 2008 Prel. Comp. 15.11.2006 Republic of Ireland (IRL) : San Marino (SMR) UEFA EURO 2008 Prel. Comp. 15.11.2006 Cyprus (CYP) : Germany (GER) UEFA EURO 2008 Prel. Comp. 15.11.2006 FYR Macedonia (MKD) : Russia (RUS) UEFA EURO 2008 Prel. Comp. 15.11.2006 Israel (ISR) : Croatia (CRO) UEFA EURO 2008 Prel. Comp. 15.11.2006 Jamaica (JAM) : Peru (PER) Friendly 2006 KINGSTON, JAMAICA - 15.11.2006 Malta (MLT) : Lithuania (LTU) Friendly 2006 TA'QALI, MALTA - 15.11.2006 Serbia (SER) : Norway (NOR) Friendly 2006 BELGRADE, SERBIA AND MONTENEGRO - 15.11.2006 Panama (PAN) : Peru (PER) Friendly 2006 19.11.2006
I check the site fairly often, but like Atouk said, I usually find out about these things on Big Soccer well in advance of ussoccer posting it. I'm sure that's because it has to be 100% official before they can publicize it. Like right now, nothing is listed, yet on Big Soccer guys are at least talking about when a match is likely to occur. That's what I love about BS.
We won't schedule any matches until we find a coach first, so y'all are wasting time guessing on matchdays. It'll be up to the new coach to decide how soon he wants to pull a squad together. We are less dependent on FIFA matchdays than many nations since MLS is off during the winter. We can always find a central American team to play during the offseason.
FYI, this just added to the fifa list of friendlies for Nov15: Turkey (TUR) : Argentina (ARG) Friendly 2006 COLOGNE, GERMANY - 15.11.2006 not that it matters, as we're not certain that the US wants to play on the first available fifa date after MLS Cup, but those two fine squads have agreed to play at a neutral venue (although Turkey will have strong support in Cologne and Argentina is always a draw for fans). the US is unique in that there is not much incentive or need to play away or neutral-site friendlies (in the minds of those at US Soccer). I wonder if that will change now that Gulati and a new coach will be there. the last two immediate post-WC friendlies were the mentioned match vs El Salvador in RFK in Nov'02, and a Nov'98 friendly vs Australia in San Jose. a match this year versus Australia would be a decent one.
Yep. Gulati said, "The team will probably have one or two games in the fall in which an assistant coach could take the team." http://soccernet.espn.go.com/columns/story?id=375834&root=us&cc=5901
[WISHFUL THINKING] Maybe Gulati and Flynn will be able to arrange a friendly with a decent Euro side whilst they are over in Europe this week.[/WISHFUL THINKING]