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’ll be there fo sho!
Is it too late to schedule Mexico on the Smurf Turf in Boise?
Cabrito,
No the reason behind building SSS is to be profitable for the league teams. It might help a little in getting WCQ’s but that is not really in the reasoning. New England and Seattle will get WCQ’s without ever building a SSS.
when would tickets go on sale?
I think Nashville is a good choice, as far as location wise. I know alot of folks will be coming up from the Atlanta area. Plus, according to the NHL, its in the Western part of the country, so you mid-west folks have no excuse. 😉
Please put another qualifier in SLC, last time against Costa Rica the crowd was: large, loud, and decidedly U.S.
Wow, Nashville huh? I hope there is a huge crowd. I think U.S. Soccer is aiming more at fans within driving distance of Nashville than the city itself. I’m happy for the fans that can make it. I can’t effing wait to get some games back in Jersey once Red Bull Arena opens. I am unspeakably jealous of the fans that get game after game after game played at their home stadium year after year.
i’ll bet you get close to 30k in nashville for a WCQ against T&T. i went to the B’ham match last cycle against Guatemala and it was pretty electric, thanks in no small part to the huge guatemala crowd (probably 50% that day). you do give up some advantage, but our fans will show up and it won’t matter much. i think we’re taking it a little easy on T&T too by not making them travel all the way to the west coast or farther north. remember jack warner is a little unbalanced…
And how many folks will they get in those 20k seat SSS you are offering as alternatives?
I would guess about 20,000…but that’s just me.
“But what’s becoming clear is that Nashville is quickly becoming the southern home for US soccer….”
….And now they just need an MLS team!
Glad to see USSF support Nashville!
Why Nashville? They’ll probably only get around 20K there, so why not play in Salt Lake City or Commerce, CA? Lame. Isn’t some of the motivation for building a SSS is the possibility of getting a WCQ game?
Too many seem to be missing a basic point in scheduling these qualifiers and that’s placing games in different regions so more fans have access to games.
This is the south’s game for this cycle. Birmingham hosted in ’05 but they’ve gone to artificial turf. MLS doesn’t have a team in the region and Nashville has demonstrated to the USSF that they want these games.
The western and eastern regions will get their game, most likely RFK and Salt Lake City, and it looks like the midwest may get two games this cycle if Chicago gets a game. The east coast got two in ’05 with Hartford and Foxboro.
But what’s becoming clear is that Nashville is quickly becoming the southern home for US soccer….
as an atlanta resident, i’m pumped that the game will be in nashville. i saw one of the olympic qualifiers at lp field and the crowd was pretty rockin’ despite the cold temps. it’s a good thing we are playing t and t there. most of the fans will be u.s. supporters. see ya’ll at the game!
How is it that so many people on here are oblivious to the fact that the US National team has a) Played a game in Nashville before, and very recently, and b) that the Titans play in Nashville and their stadium has soccer dimensions?
The US National team plays its games almost exclusively in Texas, California, the Midwest, and the Northeast…I love the whining from folks who probably get a game near them at least once a year.
This is our once every 3-4 years chance to see the Nats in the Southeast (not including Miami, which is about 10 hours from everywhere else), so quit complaining!! I’m in Atlanta, so this and B’Ham are about as close as they’ll get to me until we build and SSS!
John, LP Field has grass
I drove up from Atlanta with several friends for the Morocco game prior to the 2006WC. Nashville was a good venue. The facilities are much nicer than Birmingham and the stadium is right accross the river from the resturant/bar scene so plenty of places within walking distance to pre-game. Lower Bowl was filled and I expect the crowd will be about the same for this event. I known several people from Atlanta will trek the 4 hour trip up the road. We were concerned that once Legion Field threw turf on the Birmingham field that soccer qualifiers were done in the southeast for awhile. Great news! It is the US national team after all, not the New England, West Coast, and Midwest national team.
I was at the Olympic Qualifying Semi & there was a good crowd there. Even though the stadium is big, it’s nice & open and should be a good atmosphere
Uh John, you know there’s an NFL team in Nashville.
How about NY or Connecticut? Hartford usually has good US support.
Josh…you are traveling in the wrong cirles if you have only met one person who talks about soccer! Maybe join a men’s league, if you play, and meet more people who love the game.
The game will be played at LP Field. The field was constructed for soccer use as well; the length and width will be fine no matter what size they want to make the field. It is a great location, just across the river from downtown. When I say just across, I mean about 300 yards. Most people go downtown and walk across one of the bridges for the Titans games. If you book your flights now, Southwest Airlines usually has great fares, and non-stop from a lot of places. You would be surprised how cheap the price of a round-trip flight from Chicago to Nashville is currently. Nashville is a great city with more and more transplants from the Northeast, West Coast, and other parts of the country. It’s a little like Atlanta was 20 years ago, but we fight hard to keep that big town feel and not loose that identity.
Why Nashville? We should be hosting these games in SSS or in expansion cities. Help prop up the MLS and those cities have a proven soccer fanbase in place. Again I ask…Why Nashville?
Will Houston get a WCQ game?
I was at the game against Morocco in Nashville in ’06 and all-in-all, everything was solid – field, stadium, support, promotion, etc. The only issue was the fans were rather sedate for 26,000+.
It wasn’t the USMNT’s best game, but it was as if the crowd was seeing soccer that wasn’t being played by their children for the first time.
Hopefully Sam’s Army and other supporters groups will make the trip, but for early April, it’s a logical choice that just needs energy to make it a memorable experience.
when the us played costa rica in kansas city for a 2002 wcq there were around 40k us fans at arrowhead, so hopefully this will be the same situation, fans coming out of the woodwork to support the us.
Nashville? What about a city with a SSS?
nashville? wtf? where they gonna play? a college football stadium with a turf field? SWEET.
I wish they would reward the cities who have actually made an effort to support the sport by building stadiums (almost always with public money involved).
Even if they could draw bigger crowds elsewhere, I would prefer the games played in proper stadiums in Chicago, Salt Lake, Denver, Dallas and then maybe RFK or something.
Good for Nashville.
But I really hope U.S. Soccer gives Salt Lake City a match I liked the post above about Costa Rica in SLC.
Ives any rumers on Salt Lake and if it is in the running to host a match??
I little down the road type of planning would be nice. Put the games were the mls will be expanding. The next game should be in Miami before the weather gets too hot and after that in Philly when it starts getting warmer. Use these games to support the movement, people will come no matter where it is.
There were 26k there again Moracco. So anything around that would be nice.
Love Chicago!
“Nashville would be fine if playing a Honduras.”
No, absolutely not. There’s not only a pretty big Honduran population in Nashville which was evident at the Olympic qualifiers, Catrachos from all over the southeast would drive in for the game. There’s no home advantage playing Mexico or most Central American teams in southern cities.
I love where I live exaclty because of it’s ethnic diversity, however, when it comes to doling out WCQ venues…it doesn’t work to my advantge. Nashville isn’t that far away I guess….
Well, hell, I am in Nashville now! But I go home to the Bay Area on Thurs so fat lot of good that does me!
I gotta say, I have only spoken to one person who cares about soccer here in Nashville in the 2 months I have spent here over the course of the last 3 years. Unlike the SF Bay Area.
Those are East Coast venues.
great
Considering that TT is the only non latin american team, we could have choosen others places to play in. Nashville would be fine if playing a Honduras. Playing Honduras in Chicago makes no sense. I wonder what is going on with the Federation, doesnt seem like smart choices.
DC needs to get a game! The support for USA Cuba was INCREDIBLE! I just hope the Nashville game looks good on ESPN, nothing sucks more than a cavernous NFL field….
“where will the game be played in Nashville? there arent any soccer stadiums there that I know of in Nashville.”
LP Field, where the Titans play, was built with soccer field dimensions in mind. It has a natural field, though there’s a slight crown. The US played Morocc there in 2006 before the world cup, and the Olympic qualifying semifinals and final were also held at the stadium.
this just gutted me, i was getting like 20 people together for Hartford
The match in Nashville will take the place of the match in Birmingham, AL (we played Guatemala there in qualifying for Germany). The Southeast gets their match. I am a bit surprised about Chicago, and I am figuring the US will play Costa Rica in SLC again. It just seems like US Soccer is lining that up. Finally, I think the match v El Salvador will be in Foxboro or Hartford.
Good for Nashville but I would love to see at least one of these up in Philly this year.
Do you think the first team will play against T&T??? Should I get tickets?
Bad, bad, bad, BAD idea to put Honduras in Chicago.
I can see cups of beer raining down from the little upper deck at Toyota Park already.
The T&T game just has to be played in as good weather and as large a field as possible, because we’re better than them on paper. That should’ve been L.A.
April 1 can be awfully stormy in the Southeast.
Chicago meaning really Chicago, and not Bridgeview?
What sort of support did the US-Morocco game in Nashville get?
Game should be at LP field. Nashville is nice for us Atlantans. It’s driveable and you can come home after the game and make it to work the next day.
where will the game be played in Nashville? there arent any soccer stadiums there that I know of in Nashville.
Honduras in Chicago, eh?
I have a feeling it’s gonna be another RFK scene out there. Bad idea.