USA v Ghana (Friendly): July 1 - East Hartford, CT

guys, if youve never been to Hartford then....um....this is a chance to go to Hartford?

 

I was in Hartford for Landon's last game. If I wasn't hitting the 3 Gold Cup group matches already, I would definitely hit this game up.

 

definitely hitting up this match...thinking about bringing my son for his first cap, weather depending

 

I live in CT so probably bringing my kids to this one.

The Outlaws sections (108-111) are a bit too loud/roudy for my kids, so I was thinking of going to the other end of the field.

Does anyone know if there would be a designated area for Ghana away supporters? I'm assuming not, but I'd rather not trade one raucous group for another.

 

Ghana fans are probably way more chill than AO.

 

Yeah, one would hope. But honestly I have no idea how they'd be, if there'd even be a strong contingent. All I know is that they've had some very good players and was our bogey team in a few WC's.

 

In my experience African fans are pretty chill, at least the ones in the USA. Caribbean soccer fans on the other hand...they go wild.

 

Excited to be going -- will bring my teenage son and two of his friends.
Anyone know how parking is at this stadium? Easy to get in and out? Or are there off site places that would be better to walk to?

 

I went there in Gold Cup 2013 against Costa Rica. You drove into the area and had to park on the grass far away. I think I parked over half a mile away, and possibly over a mile. I don't know if you can park off site and walk. According to Wikipedia, the game I saw was 62.6% full, with 25,432 of a capacity of 40,642. There were seats without backs. It's just south of Interstate 84, and two of the streets a little east of the game that go north and south and cross Interstate 84 were closed, possibly so residents didn't have their street parking taken by people attending the game. I liked Anna's Restaurant & Pizza a little east of the stadium on the same street, Silver Lane (Route 502).

 

I've been to a few soccer games at this venue. Liverpool-Celtic, USA-Czech, etc. Parking as BAD. I remember long delays.

Also I think I saw on some website that parking is $25 per car or something like that. It might pay to get a little creative and park in someone's driveway for less $ and less hassle than that??

 

I understand that the AO tickets are being mailed out by USSF instead of AO: have people got theirs?

Mine haven't arrived yet....

 

Ghana squad for the game against Mexico and USA.

Defenders

Harrison Afful (Columbus Crew), Nicholas Opoku (Berekum Chelsea), Lumor Agbenyenu (Munich 1860, Germany), John Boye (Sivasspor, Turkey), Rashid Sumalia (Al Gharafa, Qatar), Jonathan Mensah (Columbus Crew, USA), Jerry Akaminko ( Eskiserhispor, Turkey), Samuel Sarfo (Liberty, Ghana)

Midfielders

Mohammed Abu (Columbus Crew, USA), Isaac Sackey (Alanyaspor, Turkey), Ebenezer Ofori (Stuttgart, Germany), Winful Cobbinah (Hearts of Oak), Frank Acheampong (Anderlecht, Belgium), Thomas Agyepong (NAC Breda, Holland), Gershon Koffie (New England Revolution)

Attackers

Asamoah Gyan (Al Alhi, UAE), Majeed Waris (Lorient FC, France), Raphael Dwamena (FC Zurich, Switzerland), Kwadwo Poku (FC Miami), David Accam (Chicago Fire),

Source: GHANAsoccernet.com

 

These games can help Ghana move up with FIFA ranking if they win so I don't understand why they left some of their regular players out.

Players not traveling with the team:

Andre Ayew - West Harm England
Jordan Ayew - Swan city England
Amartey - Leicester City, England
Atsu- New castle England
Kwadwo Asamoah - Juventus
Partey - Atletico Madrid
Jeff schlup - Crystal Palace England

And several players based in Italy.

 

I finally got mine Friday afternoon - was freaking out a little since I saw some people on Twitter got them Wed. and Thurs.

 

Anyone with extra tickets?

 

Anyone have 2 extras before I bite the bullet on stubhub?

 

I'll tell you. I don't know how many Ghanians are in this stadium but they are loud, energetic and a ton of fun. Can barely hear the US supporters over them, it's awesome!!!

 

I second that. We were sitting right in the middle of them, it was kind of fun but we decided to move 30 feet away with a few 'muricans

 

We always get good crowds in Connecticut. Great to see on Television.

 

True. The announced crowd was 29K and the stadium holds about 40K. So I'd say that looked exactly accurate. Unlike the Red Bulls announced attendances.

 

Doubly so considering the attendance was almost entirely people who drove in for the game. I didn't talk to anyone who flew in, which makes sense given that it's a friendly sandwiched between WCQs and the Gold Cup (anyone shelling out for a plane ticket would choose one of those games first).

It's a really good venue--90 minutes from Boston, 3 hours from NYC, a good local fanbase to begin with, lots of other places like Philly, DC, and upstate NY within driving distance, easy to get to and tons of spae for tailgating.

 

I didn't think it was twice as close to Boston as to NYC, and Google Maps says I'm right. Using Penn Station for NYC and Logan Airport for Boston, it's 2:05 from NYC to Pratt & Whitney Stadium (formerly Rentschler Field) and 1:37 from there to Boston.