The U.S. national team will take on Trinidad & Tobago in its second Hexagonal Round home World Cup qualifier on April 1st in Nashville, Tennessee, sources told SBI late Monday. U.S. Soccer will make an official announcement on Tuesday.
The two teams will face off for the third time in seven months after splitting their meetings in the last round of CONCACAF World Cup qualifying. The United States posted a 3-0 win at Toyota Park on Sept. 10, while Trinidad & Tobago notched a 2-1 home victory against a short-handed U.S. team on Oct. 15th.
The U.S. national team will be playing just its second match in Nashville, having suffered a 1-0 loss to Morocco on May 23, 2006 as part of the U.S. World Cup team's sending off series before the 2006 World Cup. The U.S. Under-23 national team played in the semifinals and final of the CONCACAF Olympic qualifying Tournament in March of 2008, beating Canada in the semifinal before losing to Honduras in the final.
Sources also tell SBI that Chicago has emerged as a frontrunner for the U.S. team's June 6th home qualifier vs. Honduras.
What do you think of the choice of Nashville? Love it? Hate it? Were you hoping for an East Coast venue?
Share your thoughts below.
I”m going to buy my tickets next week. I just hope the same intensity is there like it was in Columbus against Mexico.
And for people wondering where they will play?? They will play at LP Field. LP Feild was built to accomidate both NFL and Soccer matches…the stadium actually looks like a modern soccer stadium in my opinion..can’t wait!!!!!
I live in Nashville and have went to the past two games here. The warm up game in 2006 and the Olympic game.
LP Field is a great venue for soccer. It is still a newer stadium and right next to down town.
I do hope this leads to Nashville being considered for an MLS team at some point.
Just got my tickets. So i’m definitely there. This will be my first ever US national game, after 15 plus years of supporting the team, I’m quite pleased to be seeing deuce, donovan, gooch and company live. come on NATS!
I’m pumped for this one.
I for one am extremely glad that this game is in Nashville. I live in Memphis and have never been even close enough to make any type of soccer games.
I’m so there. It’s gonna be awesome.
I live in southern Alabama. I am there for this one. Nashville will want to be a World Cup host city. This one will get promoted.
Just saw US Soccer’s seating plan, they are blocking off the upper areas, THANKFULLY!
Qualifying Trivia
What country did the U.S. beat in the final match of qualifying to reach the 1990 World Cup?
T/T, to reach the World Cup for the first time since 1950.
How many straight World Cups has the U.S. reached?
Five: 1990, 1994, 1998, 2002, 2006
Why was the U.S. exempt from qualifying for the 1994 World Cup?
The U.S. was the host country
Caldwell…if only! They’d freak out!
I’ll try and make it… almost a 6 hour drive from where I’m at, and in the middle of the week. Rather it be in Charlotte, but if Nashville is as close as the nats will get for a while, I’ll try to make it.
Love it. It is just a short drive from Atlanta, hopefully I can scrounge up some money to go to the game.
Gentlemen Masher:
Right, 20,000. 20,000 looks a lot better in a 20,000 seat stadium than in a 70,000 stadium.
Socceroo:
Part of becoming profitable in a SSS is hosting non-MLS events, (i.e.: WCQ games).
Why Nashville?
Three factors:
Weather: Decent weather in April; played the Olympic qualifiers in March here last year.
Fan demographics: T/T will not be a strong opponent, so throw out fan demographics. It’s not like the U.S. is playing Mexico in Houston, where the stadium would be filled with opposing fans. T/T does not have a huge following anywhere in the U.S., so USSF probably felt that it could host this match anywhere without concern for the opposing team’s fans taking over the stadium.
Venue: Modern stadium with great people to work with.
– Four-hour drive from half the world.
– Southwest flies into and out of Nashville 1,000 times per day.
Why? Why on Earth Nashville? Why not come to the greatest city in the world?
I am very excited there is a game in TN, as there is no professional soccer anywhere close to TN. Great choice for location. Too bad I am living in Peru for the next year and will miss it altogether. Big win for soccer fanatics in the south!
Cool, its only about a 2 hour drive for me from Memphis. I can finally convince my wife to go to a game now…too bad it wasn’t a weekend game, mid-week games mean I have to take time off work.
I’m so there. Atlantans: How bout a convoy?
It’s gonna be great cause I can stay with my cousin for free!
What about the west coast? I would like to get a game here in LA. T & T would have been good, sa it would have been a pro-American crowd.