This will be my first USMNT match. Will there be a good selection of merch available at the game? I'm swimming in Wizards/SKC gear, but my USA clothing collection is limited to a really loud flag-style shirt I bought at Bass Pro a couple of years ago.
I'd suggest using online means to buy stuff. From my experience there will probably be stands, or the Sporting shops will be filled with US gear, but they are overpriced by 10-20%. I usually go to ussoccer.com shop and you can often find good sale items or promo codes that give you discounts. But the short answer is yes, at the game you should be able to buy gear.
Wear red if nothing else. You could also join the American Outlaws that day and get a red AO/USMNT shirt with the membership. In 09 when I went to DC, it was a bad feeling seeing all the black in the stadium...
This is my first time I'll be seeing the USMNT live in 10 years*. Man that makes me feel old. *And I'm sure many other people's too, USMNT was last in KC on April 25, 2001 - Beat Costa Rica 1-0 on a Wolff goal
10 years ago makes you feel old? I watched them play (and lose to the Italians) in Italy in 1990 will be 21 years and 6 days .... that makes me feel like some kind of wandering ancient. I was too tired to really give a shit about the game -- we'd driven from ********ing Aberdeen in Scotland via a ferry to Belgium to Milan in the prior two days before and hit the WC opener before driving all night from Milan to Rome and then trying to do the touristy thing. oops- I was also at the England/USA game at Soldier Field.
This will be my 6th US match, 5th in the supporters section. All of them have been amazing so far. Some were also incredibly terrible at the same time, but still worthwhile at the end of the day. 01 WCQ vs Costa Rica at Arrowhead 05 WCQ vs Mexico in Columbus with folks from KC (dos a cero...beautiful atmosphere) 06 WC vs Czech Republic in Gelsenkirchen (awesome city/stadium, terrible game) 06 WC vs Ghana in Nuremberg (awesome city, terrible stadium/game) 09 GC Final vs Mexico in Giants Stadium (lots of fun...until we saw our C team get slaughtered 5-0 in the second half in front of 75k Mexicans)
I think I've remembered them all... 01 WCQ vs. Costa Rica Arrowhead 04 WCQ vs. Grenada in Columbus 05 WCQ vs. Mexico in Columbus 05 WCQ vs. Costa Rica in Salt Lake 09 WCQ vs. Mexico in Columbus 09 WCQ vs. TnT in Nashville 09 WCQ vs. Honduras in Chicago 09 WCQ vs. El Salvador in Salt Lake 09 GC vs. Honduras in Boston So this will be my 10th cap.
Don't want to hijack, but here's a photo. Not sure who decided this was a good place to host world cup matches.
Sitting in Boston after the ass kicking Spain put on us... but I wouldn't trade a single USMNT game for anything in the world. This will be my 13th cap in 2 years, and I have never been this excited for any soccer match. AO is going to bring it for this game.
As an English fella this will be my 4th time seeing the USA play. 01 WCQ vs. Costa Rica Arrowhead and 04 WCQ vs. Grenada in Columbus are two of them. I also saw a match at RFK stadium in the mid 90s and I think it was against El Salvador or something like that. Honestly can't remember.
I havent been to a USMNT since the 1994 World Cup when I saw them play the Swiss in Detroit. I was out of town in 2001.
Wow that is a view that I will never forget. Hope that I never have to watch a game from that far away ever again.
This will be my 3rd US MNT game. Saw them at Arrowhead in 2001 vs Costa Rica and last year at RFK against Honduras. I wasn't even close to the field at either game, so I am really looking forward to seeing them up close and personal.
It's hard for me to ever NOT cheer for Donovan. He's indisputably the best US player of all time. I can't even begin to imagine where US soccer would be without him.