By IVES GALARCEP
After waiting so long to find out the home venue for the first CONCACAF Hexagonal Round qualifying home match, U.S. fans look like they might not be waiting so long to find out the identities of the remaining venues.
Less than a week after U.S. Soccer president Sunil Gulati revealed that the remaining four home qualifiers will be played at MLS venues, Sports Illustrated’s Grant Wahl tweeted out a list of venues he is hearing will be chosen (and no, there are no surprises):
Source: USSF aiming for home WCQ venues June 11 (PAN) Seattle; June 18 (HON) Salt Lake; Sept 10 (MEX) Columbus; Oct 11 (JAM) Kansas City.
— Grant Wahl (@GrantWahl) February 11, 2013
Columbus was always considered a lock to host the Mexico home qualifier, while the Oct. 11th match against Jamaica always made sense for Kansas City because it should provide a strong home crowd for what could be a crucial match. Seattle and Salt Lake are the big winners, as neither was considered a lock as recently as late in 2012.
If there is a surprise it is that the U.S. might travel from Jamaica to Seattle for matches four days apart. The June 18th qualifier vs. Honduras would seem to make more sense logistically for a Seattle trip but Klinsmann may be trying to play Honduras at altitude in Utah. That said, it wouldn’t be all that surprising if U.S. Soccer decided to play Panama at Rio Tinto Stadium on June 11th and then Honduras on June 18th in Seattle.
What do you think of the list? Which selection would you be happiest with? What market are you disappointed to not see make the cut? Surprised to see no qualifiers on the East Coast?
Share your thoughts below.