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USMNT-Ukraine friendly still on schedule despite violent clashes in Kiev

Jurgen Klinsmann

By IVES GALARCEP

If the terrifying images of the violent clashes between government protestors and police in Kiev have caught your eye, it might have crossed your mind that the U.S. Men’s National Team is playing in Ukraine in just three weeks.

As of Tuesday afternoon, that match is still on despite the political unrest. A U.S. Soccer spokesman confirmed to Goal.com that the match has not been cancelled.

The friendly, scheduled for March 5, is being played in Kharkiv, about 300 miles away from Kiev, which has become ground zero for political protests that have turned violent.

There are still three weeks before the match, so if things worsen in Ukraine U.S. Soccer may have no choice but to cancel the match, but as of now, U.S. Soccer plans to go through with the match.

Comments

  1. Anybody watching the news?? It’s now Feb 20 and the scenes in Kiev are starting to look apocalyptic. No way should US play this game. If anything, they should offer their support and assistance.

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  2. why not play in a neutral location. This is quite disturbing and football is not that important than the lives of the our US National team.

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  3. Play the game in Warsaw or Prague with and all Irish-American line-up

    Kennedy, Parkhurst, McCarthy, O’Neill, Harrington, McCarty, Powers, MaGee, Donovan, Dempsey, Jack Mac.

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  4. (I posted this on J. Green article, but will post here to for more views/conversation) To celebrate the diversity of our country and the players in our U.S. player pool, I decided to make this post. Which team do you guys think is strongest and would come out on top in a mini-round-robin tournament?? The four teams are: 1. Caucasian/Gringos; 2. African-Americans/Blacks; 3. Latinos; 4. Germericans. Let the debate begin! Enjoy.

    1. Caucasian/Gringos
    ————————Johannson/Wondo—————————
    Dempsey——————Donovan———————-Zusi
    —————-Kljestan/Mix———–Bradley———————-
    Lichaj————-Besler————Cameron—–Evans/Parkhurst
    ——————————–Guzan————————————-

    2. African-Americans/Blacks
    ——————————Altidore————————————-
    D. Beasley————–E. Johnson——————–J. Gyau
    ———————R. Clark————M. Edu———————-
    C. Ashe———Okugo—————Onyewu———-Yedlin
    ——————————Howard———————————–

    3. Latinos
    ———————–H. Gomez/J. Agudelo————————
    Arriola———————–L. Gil———————-Villareal
    —————–Torres/Corona—–Feilhaber———————
    E. Castillo—-Orozco———-O. Gonzalez——DelaGarza/???
    ——————————-Rimando—————————————-

    4. Germericans
    ——————————-T. Boyd————————————-
    Shawn Parker———–J Green——————–A. Wooten
    ———————-J. Jones——–D. Williams——————-
    F. Jonhosno—–A. Morales—J. Brooks——-T. Chandler
    ——————————–???????———————————

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    • #1 is the strongest all around. #4 is a very close second and would probably be the best if they had Altidore or Johannson instead of Boyd. #2 doesn’t have the midfield and #3 would get run over defensively (meaning the whole team, not just the defenders). Interesting to think about.

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    • #1 is most experienced and well rounded group. Would maybe move Packwood to RCB and push Cameron to RB (don’t care for Parkhurst or Evans).
      #2 would need to play as a 4-4-2 (EJ & Jozy up top). but has the weakest least experienced defense.
      #3 Would move Gomez out wide over Villareal or Arriola. Need a different RB since DeLaGarza can no longer represent the USMNT. Would struggle in physical play.
      #4 Overall strong team although Morales is a stretch as a CB. There are other duel nationals who could factor into the equation as well….FJ’s teammate at Hoff. as an example.

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    • I am an opponent of looking at the team in this way for a number of good reasons. It is not a good idea to introduce ‘lines’ like this when you are trying to build a team. I realize you probably meant no offense,…but I would support Ives if he deleted this comment /thread.

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      • The fact that citizens of the United States can ponder, appreciate, and rationally discuss the ethnic variety of our national team is the reason that we will eventually win the World Cup and establish ourselves as a dominant soccer power house.

      • We here couldn’t affect the team if Ucla wrote a dissertation on this fool subject (which he/she nearly did). What I really want to know his how the A-L’s would fare against the M-Z’s

  5. What a pity. I feel for the people of Ukraine and remember watching Ukraine vs. USMNT in New Jersey 15-20 years ago. Some much pride and hope at the time for the Ukranians.

    Let’s hope they don’t plunge into civil war.

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  6. sad to see my former hometown burn…. Kharkiv might as well be in Russia-far away and in pro-govt (pro-Russian) hands…. nothing will be disrupted there even if there is a change of govt in Kiev.

    The Ukrianian players however may have other things on their mind

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  7. Not to get political here but check out some of the videos on this when you have a moment, some serious violence going on right now, shots being fired by both sides in the streets.

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    • The lack of press on it is really disturbing. I heard 21 dead, 8 of which were police officers. You’re right the main square is on fire; a war zone.

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  8. just saw a report that 9 were killed today in protests. Shouldn’t matter that its 300 miles away, we shouldnt be playing this match at home. I agree with the above poster, would be good to find a backup, or a backup location somewhere in Europe to play Ukraine.

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  9. why doesn’t us soccer just move the match and be proactive about it instead of it being canceled last minute and us having 1 less match to warmup for the world cup?

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