USA
U.S. Men to Play Three Home Games Prior to Leaving for Germany
March 13, 2006
The U.S. Men’s National Team will play three games in late May prior to leaving for the 2006 World Cup in Germany.
The U.S. will begin at The Coliseum in Nashville, Tenn., on May 23 against Morocco, before continuing to Cleveland Browns Stadium in Cleveland, Ohio, on May 26 to face Venezuela, and concluding at Rentschler Field in East Hartford, Conn., on May 28 against Latvia.
All three matches kicking off at 7 p.m. ET live on ESPN2. Telemundo will be broadcasting all three matches on tape delay.
"I'm pleased that we were able to arrange these three friendlies as part of our preparation for the World Cup," said U.S. MNT Manager Bruce Arena. "With the World Cup taking place in Europe, scheduling matches has been extremely difficult this time around; however, I think the opposition we will be facing will give us the right type of competition we need as we move forward with our preparations for Germany.
The U.S. will next be in action on Wednesday, March 22, taking on World Cup host Germany in Dortmund live on ESPN2 at 2:25 p.m. ET, and will also host Jamaica at SAS Soccer Park in Cary, N.C. on April 11 at 7 p.m. ET live on ESPN2. The U.S. will begin their final FIFA World Cup training camp on May 9 in Cary, N.C., before departing for their final three matches.
The USA was drawn into Group E for the 2006 FIFA World Cup along with the Czech Republic, Italy and Ghana. The U.S. plays their opening match against the Czechs on June 12 in Gelsenkirchen before meeting Italy in Kaiserslautern on June 17 and then finishing off group play against Ghana on June 22 in Nuremberg. The U.S. has chosen the northern port city of Hamburg as their base of operations throughout the tournament.