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USMNT set to face Ghana in pre-Gold Cup friendly

Photo by Mark J. Rebilas/USA Today Sports

It’s now official: the U.S. Men’s National Team will take on a very, very familiar foe in the build up to this summer’s Gold Cup.

U.S. Soccer announced on Monday that the USMNT will face familiar World Cup rival Ghana on July 1 in East Hartford, Connecticut. The U.S. has played Ghana in each of the last three World Cups, with their most recent meeting ending in a group stage win for the USMNT.

“Ghana is certainly a team that brings different challenges, and it’s the type of competition we need as we continue to develop our program,” U.S. MNT head coach Bruce Arena said. “Winning the Gold Cup is one of our priorities in 2017, so this is an important opportunity. We’ve always had great support in Hartford, and look forward to more of the same this summer.”

The U.S. returns to Pratt & Whitney Stadium for the first time since a Oct. 2014 match against Ecuador, one that served as Landon Donovan’s farewell match. Following the Ghana match, the U.S. will look towards the Gold Cup, which begins July 8 against Panama.

Next up for the USMNT is a June 5 friendly with Venezuela ahead of a pair of World Cup qualifiers against Trinidad & Tobago and Mexico on June 8 and 11, respectively.

Comments

  1. Hopefully Arena will use this friendly and the Gold Cup to get some of our young/fringe players some significant minutes. Since we’re unlikely to see any of the players from the U-20 WC team, and some of the European players will need some down time it’ll be important to bring some of the Fringe Guys like Miazga, Gooch, Hyndmann, Williams, ArJo, etc… back into the side to see if they can step up and claim a spot going forward.

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    • Literally, every name you mentioned has some questions about their future — or in the case of Williams, the club’s future should they win promotion to the EPL. Bacon is leaving Werder Bremen; Miazga is either going to try to win a spot on Chelsea or he’s getting loaned out; Hyndmann is competing for playing time at Bournemouth; and Gooch simply needs to get healthy and then play as much as possible. If he is healthy, IMO he will probably play regularly in the Championship should Sunderland keep him. Of course, they should fire David Moyes which would throw Gooch’s status up in the air. He may not fit in a new manager’s plans and be jettisoned. I would like to see all of these guys in the Gold Cup but I doubt more than one of them will end up on the roster because of their tenuous status with their club teams.

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    • Or better yet, hopefully Arena will use the Gold Cup to put forward the best team possible so the US has the best chance of actually winning it and as a means of prepping for the remaining World Cup qualification games.

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      • With the exception of Nagbe, Acosta, Villafana and Morris, who among the current regulars don’t already have a ton of experience? Altidore (2 WCs,EPL), Dempsey(3 WCs, CL, EL, EPL), Wood (Copa America, Bundesliga), Pulisic (Bundes, Copa, CL) Johnson (WC, Bundes, CL, EL) Bradley (2 WCs, Serie A, Bundes, Copa A) Kljestan (07 Copa A, CL, EL), Cameron (WC, Copa, EPL) Brooks (WC, Bunde, EL) Yedlin (WC, Copa, EPL), Gonzo (WC, Liga Mx, Copa) Zusi (WC, Copa), Bedoya (WC, Copa, Ligue 1), Jones (WC, Copa, CL) Howard (3 WCs, Copa, CL, EPL) Guzan (2 WCs, Confed Cup, EPL)

        Mexico will not be bringing an A squad due to fielding a squad for Confed Cup. With our aging line up it won’t hurt to test some young players and give the veterans a little rest on their legs.

  2. Isn’t that also the stadium where Gyau tore his knee? Also, I believe there is a pretty large concentration of Ghanaian people on the east coast, so might be an away game for the US.

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    • Yes it is. UConn plays their football games there and the pitch was very dodgy on the sidelines. Once again, the federation went for the $ and scheduled a match on a questionable field.

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