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USA talking potential friendly with Scotland

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photo by ISIphotos.com

Five months is all that separates the U.S. men's national team from the start of its World Cup qualifying campaign, and a friendly against Scotland appears to be in the works prior to then.

According to a report in Scotland, the U.S. Soccer Federation is in talks with the Scottish Football Association over a potential friendly. A deal has not been finalized, but the game is likely to take place in the United States on May 27, 28 or 29 should it happen.

The last time the United States faced Scotland was in 2005, when the two sides played to a 1-1 draw. Josh Wolff scored the goal for the Americans in that game. The Americans have won two of the three all-time encounters between the two teams.

The United States is also rumored to be taking on Brazil in a friendly before the Americans begin World Cup qualifying against Antigua and Barbuda on June 8.

What do you think of a potential friendly against Scotland? Think it would be a good test before World Cup qualifying?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. You’re the Brazil MNT’s scheduling director. You’re tasked with scheduling a reasonably decent opponent, in a fairly safe area, and not traveling too terribly far. As for all Western Hemisphere teams, your options are limited. Playing in the USA gives your team all the above, with a good number of built-in fans to boot.

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  2. I would love a US v Republic of Ireland game. it’s a shame we never seem too book them, as you all know there are a lot of Irish in the US, and a lot that claim Irish heritage for a day. How awesome would it be if we played Ireland in Chicago or Boston on Saint Patrick’s Day?

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  3. Awesome – I love the USMNT schedule filling up!

    Very excited for this Italy fixture in a few weeks.

    (Hopefully) Having Donovan and Dempsey playing on the same field, both playing well is exciting stuff.

    I am really curious to see if any of the January campers make the roster. (Jones is a given)

    From the camp, who do you think will be in Italy?

    I say definitly Cameron and I would actually like to maybe see Lloyd – especially if Chandler is still hurt. Shea will probably be there too – would be a nice attacking option coming off the bench.

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  4. dont be surprised to see a Charlotte fixture at some point… theyve hosted Mexico the past two years as well as Gold Cup group stage…

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  5. I’d love to see this match in Seattle, but due to the reluctance of anyone in Seattle to care about getting a grass pitch, NAT team games are out of the question, and rightfully so…What a shame!

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  6. I think if you search the net, you’ll find that when Brazil signed their Nike deal, there was some obligation on their part to play games that Nike wanted, like in the US.

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  7. based on recent track record-any doubt US plays Brazil at Giants stadium?

    and Scotland will be in Nashville or some other place

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  8. Brazil plays the US so often because the US is a massive, wealthy country that fills up multiple NFL stadiums on its tours here. Brazil is also playing Mexico and Argentina in the US this time ’round. Quality opponents all — Brazil isn’t playing WC qualifiers this time, so they are looking for good games.

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  9. good fixture. hopefully they play somewhere in west/midwest.. especially if they are playing Brazil on the east coast.

    Scotland – Chicago Soldier Field
    Brazil – Washington Fedex Field

    my vote.

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  10. My favorite joke about the Scottish National Team.

    Just before a game between Brazil and Scotland Ronaldo goes into the Brazilian changing room to find all his team mates looking a bit glum.

    “What’s up?” he asks.

    “Well, we’re having trouble getting motivated for this game. We know 
it’s important but it’s only Scotland. They’re sh*te and we can’t be 
bothered”.

    Ronaldo looks at them and says “Well, I reckon I can beat them by 
myself, you lads go down the pub.”

    So Ronaldo goes out to play Scotland by himself and the rest of the 
Brazilian team go off for a few jars.

    After a few pints they wonder how the game is going, so they get the 
landlord to put the TV on. A big cheer goes up as the screen reads “Brazil 1 – Scotland 0 (Ronaldo 10 minutes)”. He is beating Scotland all by himself!

    Anyway, a few more pints later and the game is forgotten until someone remembers “It must be full time now, let’s see how he got on.”

    They put the TV back on. “Result from the stadium “Brazil 1 (Ronaldo 10 minutes) – Scotland 1 (Angus McWhirler 89 minutes).”

    They can’t believe it, he has single handedly got a draw against 
Scotland!! They rush back to the Stadium to congratulate him. They 
find him in the dressing room, still in his gear, sat with his head in 
his hands. He refuses to look at them.

    “I’ve let you down, I’ve let you down”

    “Don’t be daft, you got a draw against Scotland, all by yourself. And they only scored at the very very end!”

    “No, No, I have, I’ve let you down… I got sent off after 12 minutes”

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  11. It’s not just belgian pro league team kvc westerlo that edson buddle isn’t signing with. He’s literally not signing with dozens of clubs.

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  12. I’d love to see a set against Japan/South Korea/Australia on the West Coast. Assume it would have to happen in the summer, given the logistics…

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  13. Any ideas where this might be? Been a while since the USMNT has been in Chicago…Of course, I booked a trip there for the weekend before this proposed match. >_<

    On a related note…any idea when we'll know locations for the WCQ? Been eyeing a trip for the 9/11 game with Jamaica for some time now…

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  14. Friendlies vs Asian teams would be great. Asia has converted to beautiful flowing football very quickly, especially Korea & Japan. But long trips, time zone changes, jet lag are all downsides.

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  15. I agree with you regarding Scotland, but playing Brazil could be helpful. Some of the stronger teams we will play at later stages in qualifying (Mexico, as well as the best central American teams) also play technical, possession oriented soccer. Brazil is just a more technical, stronger and faster team than our biggest Concacaf opponents. Playing a team like this would expose some weaknesses and enable the coaches to do some last minute finetuning. Even if the USMNT does not do well in the friendly, it wouldn’t undermine their confidence, because it is Brazil and the USMNT is an underdog.

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  16. Everton are so cheap and yet they require a higher talent of striker. If I were Buddle i’d head to that Belgian team. He’d make good money for them, face higher opponents. The team is in the relegation zone but he’d be the first choice striker.

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  17. wait when did Kris Boyd sign with Portland? How much can they pay him? $200 K? Surely he could have got double that back in Scotland

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  18. Brazil is a great team but we lose every match we play them. How about friendlies against South Korea/Japan. Use it to donate the proceeds to our servicemen and their families. Plus it would be great to play in Asia.

    Same with Africa. Play matches against Nigeria or Ghana in Africa or on the East Coast. That’s money right there. No need to always play Denmark, Panama,etc.

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  19. On a side issue, what is up with Edson Buddle? Info is just in bits and pieces, but now seems he’s moved from his failed trial at Everton to not signing with Belgian Pro League team KVC Westerlo. What’s up? Too expensive, no good, too old ?

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  20. Wonder if he was negotiating with the Timbers before the Dynamo, whom he turned down.

    Can’t say I blame him though…from what I hear, Portland seems like a more exciting place than Houston (I say this as a Houstonian).

    Plus, Spencer’s a Scotsman and the weather up their probably reminds Boyd more of home. Houston summers would probably remind him of his bad experience in Turkije.

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  21. Nothing against Ghana, England or Australia, but we should not be complaining about friendlies with Brazil. There’s a limited number of elite teams and USSF should be given credit for scheduling numerous friendlies with Brazil, Argentina, Spain and Holland. As for the friendly with Scotland, I think it would be a good fixture, but I don’t like the timing because it is so close to Concacaf qualifying. Scotland’s style is very different from the teams that we will be facing in the qualifying and their hard tackling is a cause to be concerned about injuries on the eve of the qualification.

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  22. What? Don’t you know that Antigua plays exactly like Scotland and Barbados plays exactly like Brazil. Clearly Kinsy and the federation are getting us set for World Cup qualifying by playing such perfect mimics of our opponents.

    okay, I’m taking the piss here, it’s not like we really need to get ready for Antigua or Barbados.

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  23. Just read that. Good for Portland and good for MLS. Sure, he wasn’t getting a paycheck in Turkey, so the choice was probably easy, but I imagine he had other options with that resume.

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  24. who really knows. maybe because the states are a nice midway point between europe and south america? plus of course all the $$$$.

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  25. Must be for the jersey sales man. I would rather we try to establish rivalries with England, Ghana, Australia or so. Heck maybe even Costa Rica since theyre like the strongest team in Central America

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  26. I really don’t understand how we manage to play Brazil so often. I imagine virtually every team in the world is trying to schedule friendlies with them. Is Gulati that good? Or does the Brazilian federation see the US as a particularly good market for jersey sales?

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