The U.S. national team’s long-rumored friendly against the English national team is now a reality.
The United States will travel to London to play England at Wembley Stadium on May 28. The match, set for a 3pm kickoff, will air on ESPN Classic and Univision.
Will you be making the trip to London for this classic match-up? Good luck with that exchange rate.
Now that it is official, what do you think about the USA facing England? Share your thoughts below.
To Papa Bear:
Your point about England being much better then and the US being much weaker should be taken with a grain of salt. Sure, we lost 2-1, but England sent a second string side to play us (outside of the Coles and James). No Lampard, Gerrard, Hargreaves, Beckham, Rooney, Owen, Ferdinand, or Terry.
http://www.thefa.com/England/SeniorTeam/NewsAndFeatures/Postings/2005/05/USAvEngland_MatchReport.htm
I’m not saying they are unbeatable either, but its impossible to compare previous results.
Wemberleeeeeeey! Wemberleeeey! We’re the famous USA, and we’re going to Wemberleey!
As pointed out on another blog. The French Open is going on during this friendly. There goes one ESPN channel.
http://french.open-tennis.com/
I am curious what is taking up the 3PM time slot on ESPN and ESPN2 on a Wednesday afternoon in May.
They only having program listed through April here:
http://sports.espn.go.com/espntv/espnGuide
I cant wait to see this game.
what an opportunity for the US to show europe our up and coming talent as well as our veterans newly developed level of skill.
Nutmegger, thank you, just wrote them. The only thing good about ESPN is deportes, and i’ve only been able to see that when I was on a cruise, does anyone know what the deal is with deportes, how does one get it, does direct tv or dish have it?
US soccer has an allocation of tickets for US fans, and details will be out shortly.
Let’s show the England what real football fans sound like.
I’m stoked for this match-up. Prediction: Posh stand up with her hand over her heart during the Star Spangled Banner, Crouch scores another meaningless goal after the Americans hang 2 on the Three Lions. US comes home and gets trounced by Agentina.
F–k ESPN!
BTW, flights to London are a steal right now — anywhere in Europe, though, seems to be double.
All – Here is the link to the feedback page for ESPN.
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/news/story?page=contact/espntv
The more people who write in about the scheduling, the better. NM
kpugs: what’s your point on the score last time? England was much better then and the US was much weaker. England is beatable. They are overrated. Not saying we’d be, or should be, considered favorites, but they are far more beatable than Spain or Argentina. England has no one the class of the players on either of those teams. (sorry Rooney fanaticos, he’s overrated too)
It’s still a big match up because of the history but not so much because of the quality.
This should be on ESPN2. I wish it was on FSC though so we’d get a replay of it for sure since we all don’t feel like biting the bullet on vacation time/losing out on a days pays for a game.
Hopefully they archive it on ESPN360 at least…
Quit complaining and watch in on Univision. The coverage will be better anyway.
This is bullshit. The game should be on ESPN2…not ESPN Classic.
ESPN CLASSIC! WHAT! ARE THE PEOPLE OVER AT ESPN SMOKING METH! I don’t even get ESPN Classic. This is a big friendly for all fans of the USMNT and their putting it on ESPN Classic. I seriously hate ESPN.
I hate their bottom line during CL games, their coverage of MLS games in which Beckham plays in, loses, but all the highlights are of him, How the the sports center guys mock the ESPN Deportes girl (another channel I don’t get), and this is not soccer related but what the hell is up with those stupid mock MLB press conferences. POOP on THEM!
Ah, figures… I am studying in London, but I have two exams the next day. Brutal. But yes, after watching their pathetic displays against Russia and Croatia, a victory is definitely a possibility.
Yup, Joe_in_ND, there will probably be rampant anti-Americanism. Expect the anthem to get booed and some really nice chants to fill the stadium.
Ives:
Any idea how to get tickets and how much they would cost? Myself and 3 friends are traveling to Europe on May 6 and flying out of London May 29….perfect timing by my account.
All I have to say FC is word is born, always remember 1950 and the biggest upset in the recorded history of human sports.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/England_v_United_States_%281950%29
Think this can’t be done? Australia went over and “shocked the world” in 03. Let’s make it happen.
http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2003/02/13/1044927700559.html
Aristotle, your dreams are mine as well. This is probably our best chance at beating them in recent years, too. New coach, missing Euro 2008, etc. They’ll definitely be motivated but will they come together?
AG, you take your pessimism medicine today? On paper England’s team is ridiculous. And if you can recall, the last time we played them we lost 2-1 to them. Oh by the way, remember the Revolutionary war? Yeah, that happened. If you are so obtuse as to not know why USA vs. England in ANYTHING is huge, you can’t possibly be American OR English.
France were the worst team in the 2002 world cup; Holland didn’t qualify. Go ahead and tell me how terrible those teams are.
Greece won Euro 2004 and didn’t qualify for the 2006 world cup. How great are they?
There is nothing wrong with stating your opinions, but to post such a smug and self-important comment while at the same time displaying little to no knowledge of international soccer is kind of irresponsible. The term “EuroCup” alone made me chuckle. That’s basketball genius, not soccer. Perhaps you’re thinking of the wrong sport?
As much as England has underacheived lately, they still manhandled Russian and Israel squads at Wembley that are likely better than the US, and most certainly in terms of outfield play outclass the US.
And ESPN classic might be a good thing; Derek Rae or Adrian Healey, who are the best American-based play-by-play commentators by a country mile will most likely be calling the game.
I have plenty of miles and should not have a problem cashing points for a trip to England..plenty of supersaver seats available…
YAWN… England is a good opponent but people here are acting as if we’re facing the best team in the world, I think I read that someone was actually suggesting leaving work early for this?? I’ll leave work early to watch them play Argentina or even Spain but England played like crap in the last WC and didnt even qualify for the EuroCup.
Myself and ten others from the SoCal Brigade will be there for this one, cheering the yanks on .
Come on US.
Smokeminside,
Oh well, I hope Beckham impresses against France so we can see him for cap #101 against the US. If only he was crossing to McBride…
I actually was going to make the trip, if it had been made official when it was first “announced” I’d probably be booked. But as is I most likely won’t be able to pull it off.
Agreed with the above. If it’s not on espn/espn2, put it on fsc. But seriously, wtf? Brazil-USA was on ESPN2, and Stevie G/Becks/Rooney are on par with ronnie/kaka/robinho as far as popularity goes here in the states. ESPN would be stupid for this to not get an ESPN2 slot. Wheres my HD? =(
Sorry, Steve B, but France seems to be the side that gets the honor of Beckham’s 100th.
Bummer.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/article3587370.ece
Love the match up, and continuing huge props to USSF for the strong lineup of friendlies. But why is THIS one on Classic?!? Seems like an England match up would be more likely to draw in a casual audience. I get the channel, but I didn’t last year.
Maybe it’s because we own Mexico, but for me, this would be the scalp of the year, I’d love to read about it in the English press.
I hope we bring our best squad possible. I don’t want to see any borderline players out there. This could be a very big showcase for someone like Bradley or Altidore.
If I had to pick one of the three games against top opponents that we will be playing against (England, Spain, Argentina), I would say that England is our best shot at stealing a win. I know Argentina is the home game, but I won’t be holding my breath for a win against the #1 team in the world (*see FIFA rankings). I predict 2-1 USA over England.
I think the only way ESPN picks up the game is if it turns out to be Beckham’s 100th cap. I think I read somewhere that an announcement about him in regards to playing for England would be coming soon. But a victory over Beckham’s England would certainly make my summer.
This is my dream World Cup final, but a Wembley game will do for now.
US v England at Wembley. On ESPN Classic? Really?
Well, looks like we’re serious about getting better. I like the attitude. Anyone, Anywhere, Anytime. We might not win every game, but we’ll be better off in the long run.
9 quid for the Oxford National Express run direct to Wembley. I’ll be there.
Hey you lucky New Yorkers- you could get a roundtrip ticket to London on May 15th for $460 ($600 including taxes) on delta. Yes, I looked it up, that’s how much I want to go to this game. That’s a pretty good price, yes you have to get there freakin’ early, so who knows how much money you are really saving. But who wouldn’t want a 2 week vacation in England with a little game of US v England at Wembley thrown in? Book it by March 24th for the deal, if you want it. Doubt there will be any takers, but I try to live my dreams through others. 🙂
Be prepared for anti-Americanism.
Wow. What I would do to go to this game… Ives, you should send me over there to cover the match for you. For real. Get ESPN to pay for it. Only thing better than that matchup and that location, would be same teams, same place, in a World Cup.
Seriously. Classic doesn’t exist in high-def, does it? It doesn’t here, anyway. Probably had to make room on the big channels for a spelling bee or the rock-paper-scissors national finals.
This game isn’t even on ESPN2 that is dumb. This game should have been on ESPN, not sure what our networks are thinking.
Yup, *raises hand* its already on my calendar. I have 3 classes that day, the week before finals. Won’t be going to any of them. This is way more important.
Raise your hand if you will be leaving work or school early for this.
*raises hand*
The game is going to be on ESPN Classic?
Seriously?
F*ck ESPN. Put it on a real channel.
I’d rather it be on FSC.
mark this game down as michael bradley/maurice edu/jozy altidore’s epl auditions.
I would love to read all of the excuses England would make if, somehow, they lost.
“We didn’t want to hurt the Yanks feelings.”
“There are real games coming up for us and we didn’t want to risk anyone getting hurt.”
“We kept our best players on the bench to give the young lads a chance to play.”
“The game was pretty much meaningless.”
I can dream, can’t I?
2008 – The year of the friendlies.
It’s going to be hard to be mistaken about where the US lines up against world class talent by the time World Cup qualifying starts. Has anyone had a tougher friendly schedule in recent memory, considering this will happen pretty much in the first half of the year?
Sweden, Mexico, Poland, England, Spain, Argentina
This is great news.
can we lure mcbride out of retirement for just that one game? please?