The U.S. men's national team has announced that it will play reigning African champion Egypt in Cairo on Feb. 9th.
The match-up will be a rematch of the memorable United States victory in the 2008 Confederations Cup. The Americans needed a three goal victory to advance to the knockout rounds of the tournament and managed a 3-0 result on its way to the Confederations Cup Final.
The Feb. 9th date is a FIFA date, meaning the full senior squad is expected to be called in for the match in Cairo.
The U.S. national team kicks the 2011 year off on Jan. 22nd against Chile in Carson, California.
What do you think of the match-up? Who are you hoping gets a call-up? Planning to make the trip to Egypt?
Share your thoughts below.
The full squad is not available for the january camp or chile match.
In one half of a senior match, bunbury and agudelo, despite being surrounded with reserve talent, made more of a contribution than findley has in a half-dozen starts with the full team.
There’s no reason to think that a strong january wouldn’t vault bungudelo over findley in the pecking order. Considering that six months ago findley was our number 2 forward, bungudelo have a legitimate shot at being in our first 18 come february.
Hence: really hoping agudelo/bunbury look the part in january.
Cannot wait for the game I hope we do have a full strength squad, that is only if Egypt does.
I see a flaw to your logic…I don’t see many or any players in this cycle going to be around for the 2022 WC, hell! some of us on this blog may not even be alive in 2022…knocking on wood 🙂
I would also would like to see duce up on top. I think that is his strength, he can also play the wing but when he does he looks to tire out at the 75-80 mark.
ditto, evolution of a NT team is a must as long there is a plan in place, a direction for the team to take. etc etc.
I’m just happy to see more variety! Should be a great match, and I hope US Soccer schedules more friendlies in unfamiliar environements against quality sides!
Because we weren’t INVITED to participate, that’s why.
A full squad means you won’t see Agudelo or Bunbury.
+1 on both comments,sir.
I wonder what kind of reception awaits the US team in Cairo after they booted Algeria out of the world cup. There’s no love lost between Egypt and Alegria when it comes to soccer.
2010 World Cup – 2011 Gold Cup:
Brazil
Poland
Colombia
South Africa
Chile
Egypt
Argentina
2006 World Cup – 2007 Gold Cup:
Denmark
Mexico
Guatemala
Ecuador
China
Quite an improvement in the quality of opponents faced.
And of course the US won the 2007 Gold Cup, which got them to the 2009 Confederations Cup where they finished second….
The flight from Europe(where most of our players for the game are based) to Egypt is much shorter than Europe to South America. In this day and age with the advent of digital video most people will still be able to watch, just not live(I think being able to avoid hearing the outcome of the game between work and going home should be pretty easy) And International friendlies are not they type of games that draw in new fans anyway.
Definitely interested in seeing dempsey alone up top.
We have so many possibilities right now, I’ll be happy with any attacking six that doesn’t include a “place-holder” forward. Sorry findley. You too ej.
Really hoping agudelo/bunbury look the part in january.
i’d like to see that as well. holden in the middle of the front 3, with bradley and jones/edu behind him. i’d also like to see dempsey alone up top with donovan on the right wing and someone like mix/bedoya/feilhaber on the left
Egypt is arguably better than all concacaf teams. I think this is an excellent test for the nats. It should make for a fun match!
Not sure why Bradley’s five years are relevant. I doubt the gold cup team will look anything like our full strength first XI from 2009, let alone from 2007.
There’s a lot of emerging talent to sift through and finding the right combination takes time.
@GrantWahl: Is U.S. at Egypt a payback to Egyptian FIFA ExCo guy for voting U.S. over Qatar? (Oh, wait, he voted for Qatar…)
Yep, the stadiums and crowds in Cairo for a match against the US should be impressive–certainly closer to playing at Azteca than most other places we might play a game–have been to a few Ahli-Zamalek games in past and those are crazy chaos. Good test for our younger guys. I don’t know why people are complaining about this game. It’s also very close to Europe, so I assume our Euro based guys could easily fly in and out for this one. Might have to figure out a way to get there (lived in Cairo for a few years in the past)
Just since the World Cup: We played Brazil on August 10, Colombia on October 12, and we have upcoming matches against Chile on January 22 and Argentina on March 26.
Whose fault is it that you’re not paying attention?
Lmao, we are not playing Egypt to prepare for the 2022 World Cup. You do realize that’s 12 years ago, don’t you? Which current members of the USMNT do you expect to be around in Qatar that they could benefit from the experience of a friendly in Egypt 12 years prior?
You could also invest $10 a month and get TiVo and never worry about missing a game again…
It’s about playing styles: South America plays completely different than African teams. We have a WC in Qatar coming up, in an atmosphere none of our players are accustomed too. Egypt isn’t Qatar but they are close enough to get an idea.
They are champions of Africa and far better than a number of South American teams. I love this more than a few of the other friendlies we’ve had recently.
just plan better. I like the idea of us playing someone for the sake of growing our Nat. team but why not participate in Copa America to further our program. Just poor planning.
I don’t get this…why Egypt? We play teams with more similar styles in South America. We can play a team with more skills in Chile, Colombia, Argentina etc. Why Egypt??? Why put our team for a long flight for a team that is nowhere near our conference, and put it on a Wed. when everyone is working. People wonder why soccer won’t grow in US well this is a small part of it. You don’t get attractive competition and you put it at times when nobody will be able to watch except for the hard core that will skip out of work on a working week at 2 PM. Either you skip work, or you don’t work and for a friendly. This is just a stupid idea.
real competition?.. slow down there we got Argentina coming a month after, the Gold Cup and WC Qualifying on the horizon.
Great friendly, hostile environment, should get us ready for what the Rose Bowl is going to look like when we line up against Mexico in the Gold Cup Final in June. Hopefully our Best XI will be on the pitch, as this is our last chance to gel before the real competition begins. 2013 Confederations Cup here we come!
Holden at the middle of a 4-2-3-1? Anyone with me?
I’d love to attend a game in a place like Cairo. Just not this time.
great fixture. should be a good test.
I hope to see our starting XI and stop messing about with formations/players. Bradley has been around now for almost 5 years, he should now know what he wants from the international team.
great matchup vs. an overrated opponent at there home field. Should be a great test! hope to see Dempsey and Holden kick some..
I think i will fly in from Kabul/Dubai. Should be a hell of a match, Cairo international is MASSIVE!
Hope tickets go on sale soon!