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Crew Stadium to host USA-Jamaica World Cup qualifier

USAJamaica (Getty Images)

The U.S. men's national team is heading back to Columbus.

U.S. Soccer announced that Crew Stadium will host the national team's World Cup qualifier against Jamaica on Sept. 11, the second qualifier against the Reggae Boyz in a five-day stretch. The national team was last in Columbus in 2009 — a 2-0 World Cup qualifying victory over Mexico — and is 5-0-3 there all-time.

"Playing a World Cup qualifier in Columbus makes perfect sense, from the quality of the venue to the amazing history the U.S. team has at Columbus Crew Stadium," U.S. coach Jurgen Klinsmann said in a statement.

The match will be the fourth of six qualifying matches in the semifinal round and the second home match. The opening match against Antigua and Barbuda on June 8 will be played at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Fla. The venue for the Oct. 16 match against Guatemala has not yet been announced.

Like the stadium choice? Wish the match were being played elsewhere? Where do you want the final semifinal home match to be played?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. it does not matter what city a USA/MEX game is held in. if it is played in an NFL stadium, the USA supporters will be out numbered 3 to 1. it’s just the way it is. it sucks.

    so the best way to combat that, find a stadium like KC where you can really control the attendance.

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  2. Why?
    3 World Cup qualifying cycles, 3 wins over Mexico in Columbus, all 2-0, going back a decade.
    And the USMNT guys will tell you they love playing Mexico in Columbus, and the city really gets up for it.

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  3. By that logic, we should play ALL our WCQs in Columbus. I can understand putting the Mexico game in a small venue to “encourage” a home field advantage but Jamaica is not a threat to overwhelm the US home field advantage is most other USA venues. KC would make a decent venue for the MExico game, I might even attend.

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  4. just have advance sales on US soccer website. the mexicans will snap their tickets up in like half of an hour. why cant we be same? we suck as footie fans…pretty bad

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  5. why not? they hate the us of a? i think port or sea would snap those tickets up. i know sounders didnt show up for a gold cup match the US played there in 09 or 08, but this is world cup qualifying.

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  6. columbus? why? its not like they support their local club. crew has one of the worst attendances. why not reward KC or RSL?

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  7. 100 miles! EZ road trip. Nice, straight and flat – feels like you’re on a conveyor belt.

    (I’ve made the trip way too many times growing up in C-Bus and going to school in Cincy)

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  8. I always root for the team with least number West African players. Not because it’s racist but because I enjoy watching beautiful possession soccer instead of brute athleticism and speed. Jamaicans are incapable of Playing a possession game

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  9. You’ll get no defense from me about Tampa. All I can figure is that was about maximizing time in Florida camp.

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  10. Money probably plays a role in it, but I genuinely think Klinsmann may be also thinking about trying to build a USMNT culture, some tradition. Columbus has been the site of the greatest US triumphs on home soil of the past decade (3 straight over Mexico).

    Maybe too Klinsmann doesn’t want to take advancement to the next round for granted and wants to maximize home advantage against a dangerous Jamaica club.

    You make a good point on travel, I just tend to think that it’s a tough sell on any coach to do something that will make his team weaker, even if it has a similar or greater effect on the other team.

    I think Klinsmann too is looking at the weather in Columbus as an advantage against a warm weather Caribbean club just as it starts to really cool off in Ohio.

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  11. Actually there could be a reason, and it’s the only thing ussoccer should be considering: where do we have the greatest competitive advantage? Wherever that is, that’s where we should play.

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  12. Birmingham by way of Cullman.

    I’d be down with KC but it cannot be denied that Columbus has provided great atmosphere and advantage for the US the last 3 WC cycles. The crowd has been heavily US.

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  13. This only makes sense if the Mexico game is moved elsewhere (e.g. KC?). There is absolutely no reason Columbus (or any other venue) should get more than one qualifier per World Cup campaign.

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  14. In terms of Americans having to travel, an Antigua game in June poses a different circumstance than a Jamaica game in September. There might even be a non-MLS camp for the Antigua game considering it will follow the Canada friendly.

    Also, let’s say it’s not an offseason match, which team do you think handles a long flight well or an altitude game? By focusing on the ease for our own players you also make it easier for the opposition, including opposing players (particularly Jamaican) traveling from the same places, eg, England. Why not try and leverage our fitness by using, say, Colorado or Salt Lake? Or make it a better atmosphere at LA? Sorry but Tampa and Columbus reek of “bottom line” cash nexus thinking, and they’re not exactly NY or DC or Atlanta on some direct flight from London. Even if you flew to Chicago or Miami you’d still have to catch another to the site. So I don’t buy they even had your mooted concept of saving travel. I’d not be surprised if these are the best financial deals in terms of “cut.”

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  15. is this USSF’s way of moving the US-Mexico game out of Ohio. on to better things..

    I always wondered if they would try to do a bigger stadium, obviously not NYC or LA but would Foxboro, Hartford, Buffalo or Cleveland’s football stadiums work for a US-Mexico game? Maybe Seattle? A lot of people are calling for KC, which i would be at in a second, but i kind of feel like the big game should be in a big stadium

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  16. And I am moving from Denver to Cincinnati at the end of June….as I recall, Columbus is pretty darn close! This calls for some beers!

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  17. I understand Houston not hosting a WCQ against Mexico or a Central American team but, especially with the new stadium, I was really hoping they would host one of the games against the two Caribbean teams. Oh well.

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  18. BamaMan where do you call home in AL? Not too often you get on a soccer blog and see fellow Alabamians 😛 RTR

    Oh, and for what it’s worth, please play the Mexico WCQ in KC. Best realistic scenario for us. It’ll be weird to see a decidedly pro-US crowd in that game for once..

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  19. US should do whatever is ethical and legal to ensure a home field advantage for big games like WCQs. I agree with Gulati when he said we’ll consider a WCQ with Mexico in LA or Houston when they consider a night game at sea level in Monterrey. Won’t happen.

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  20. You also make the US team fly over the Rockies to the West Coast in that scenario.

    Unfortunately for West Coast fans, the days of meaningful games on the West Coast may be numbered in WCQs. The more US players are based in Europe, the less sense it makes to risk the extra travel time of traveling cross country on an international week, especially when those weeks are usually home game on Friday and an away game on Tuesday (or vice versa).

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  21. Zero percent chance of a game in Jeld-Wen unless the turf changes. Even then, the dimensions are tight.

    Atmosphere would be incredible though.

    To those assuming this means Columbus gets 2 WCQs, I do wonder if it might just mean the US-Mexico game is going to Kansas City.

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  22. i wouldn’t be so sure. i wouldn’t assume the cascadian misfits to come out en masse in the ol red, white, and blue.

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  23. Portland’s venue isn’t fantastic for anything.

    The fanbase, however, is amazing. It’s a shame they just renovated Jeld-Wen, and that it rains a ton in Portland, because they deserve a real pitch.

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  24. My 2 cents you make the two Carribean teams fly all the way over to the Rockies or the west coast.

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  25. To put a finer point on it, England is playing a friendly in June at roughly the time I was going to be passing through on a layover (ultimately wouldn’t work, but was educational still). If you want tickets for that you either register with the FA and get tickets that way, for the general attendance, or you buy through the road country, Belgium in that case, and sit in the limited road section.

    Of course, it’s regimented, it might affect the bottom line — all those tickets theoretically unsold to road fans — and one could argue in the multi-culti parts of the country people could use dual-loyalties to game the system still.

    But there are ways. In many other parts of the world you basically have to declare yourself and once you’ve done it the authorities can then treat you as misbehaving for being in the wrong spot acting the wrong way. It becomes a “safety” issue, real or imagined.

    US Soccer has already put aspects of its early ticket offers behind a pay wall (ie, if you want to buy before the general public you had to sign up for a paid group where it used to just be an email list), they could surely put some more red tape in the way if they so desired.

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  26. I’m at a loss why of all the stadiums in the country for World Cup qualifiers we pick Tampa and Columbus. This is not Mexico, it verges on understatement to say that 99.99% of the potential destinations in the country would provide a hostile environment for Antigua and Jamaica. There are better sites and newer SSSs.

    That being said, I would not play at any field turf venue, including on the theory one could lay pallets or rolls of grass over the turf, since it doesn’t play natural. Rules out Jeld-wen and Seattle.

    It verges on racist and is likely inaccurate to suggest one can avoid the rogue fans issue of predominantly road fans attending our home qualifiers, by using the SGs and STHs. For example, in Houston we have SGs that seem to be more hispanic than others, we have people who are Dynamo fans but also America and Mexico fans, and we have a history of serving as a neutral site (read: home away from home) for teams like Mexico and ES (ES is playing NZ at BBVA coming up, and played at Robertson before).

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  27. Oh well. I can tell my grandkids about the good old days, when some WCQs were actually played on the West Coast.

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  28. Not sure if Portland has a stadium which can meet FIFA WC regulations. But if they do I’d actually like to see the US actually get a home field advantage for a change.

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  29. I don’t get it-why don’t we do what they do at English Club games-if you’re rooting for Mexico you have to sit in the designated away section, you’re not allowed to wear Mexico stuff in the US section, etc.

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  30. whoever has less fans. i wish the game was in NY so more Jamaicans would be in closer proximity. I guess that 1 Gold Cup victory against Honduras I saw will have to be enough.

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  31. I think Portland would be a fantastic venue for the Guatemala match. The TA would go absolutely mental for a qualifer. The fan culture is more of anglo than latino there (vice DC, Houston, Dallas, LA, etc), so you simply have to find a way to include it in the WCQ rotation. We don’t have enough cities that can get us home advantage.

    In the next round, all I ask is that the games be played with home field advantage in mind and not cash grabs. The rest of CONCACAF is getting a lot better, and we can not afford to be dropping points at home. No NFL stadia for matches against the likes of Honduras or El Salvador or Costa Rica. Play in MLS stadiums where we can use priority sales to supporters clubs and season ticket holders to our advantage in getting a raucus pro-U.S. crowd.

    And even as a DC fan – no more RFK. The District council needs to understand that a new stadium is a priority if they hope to ever have big soccer events in the city again.

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  32. We can play Mexico in Kansas City, KS, which is what this decision signals to me the Fed is thinking. Could also play them at JELD-WEN. In either case, the small stadium size, the large supporters sections, the high season ticket bases, and the demographics of the area make it a viable venue.

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  33. IF the US gets out of this round(knock on wood, etc. etc ya I know olympics)the US would have 6 home games against probably-
    Guatemala(definitely)
    Jamaica 2.0
    Mexico
    Honduras
    Costa Rica
    Canada or Panama

    I would guess it would be-Kansas City, Columbus(Mexico), Salt Lake City, Chicago, Philadelphia, D.C. Great to see BBVA Get a look in Houston too.

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  34. Used to. Concacaf switched it up a lil this year. Essnetially giving the US a buy straight into this group round.

    C-bus is 2 hours away. What day of the week is Sept. 11th? I may have to go to this match.

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  35. USA is in a group with Antigua, Jamaica, and Guatemala. It is six games home and away. The top two qualify for the hex. So this is not premature.

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  36. OS, I hear ya, but let’s get through the semi’s first. In any case, I don’t know of any reason they can’t play Mexico in Columbus, anyway.

    As long as we’re not doing things like scheduling WC qualifier matches against Costa Rica in Torrance, CA, and providing half-time entertainment specifically for the away fans, I think I’m happy.

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  37. oops…nevermind. Didn’t we used to start with a simple home and away matchup before moving on to the Hex? I don’t remember playing in a group stage prior to the Hex…

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  38. Went to the last two US-Mex qualifiers. Great games and great atmosphere. I think tickets sold out in something like 20 minutes last time a round. Glad to see we’re still playing at Crew Stadium, just bummed its not Mexico.

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  39. Isn’t this premature when we haven’t even qualified for the next round yet? How about we get past Antigua and Barbuda first and then decide who gets the qualifiers ONCE we make it to the hex.

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  40. I’d rather we play Mexico in Columbus but Crew supporters will represent and make us proud either way.

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