By FRANCO PANIZO
NEW YORK — The U.S. Under-20 Men’s National Team will gear up for the World Cup with a pair of friendlies down under.
U.S. U-20 head coach Tab Ramos revealed Thursday that matches against Australia and fellow World Cup participant Serbia have been scheduled for May 19 and 24, respectively. The two games will serve as the Americans’ final tuneups before the start of their World Cup campaign on May 30, and will give Ramos a chance to get a better look at his starting lineup.
“The way it worked out was maybe the Serbia game will be the first time that the eleven guys will be on the field together,” Ramos said during a roundtable interview in Manhattan.
The U.S. roster for the World Cup in New Zealand was unveiled on Thursday morning. Players will begin reporting to camp in Carson, California, on May 14 before the group takes off for Australia on May 16 to finalize preparations for the tournament.
The Americans opens Group A play against Myanmar. They then take on hosts New Zealand on June 2 before closing out the group stage on June 5 with a meeting vs. Ukraine.
What do you think of the U.S. scheduling friendlies against Australia and Serbia? Should Ramos use the matches to fine-tune his lineup or try different things? How do you see the Americans doing?
Share your thoughts below.
Who is the dude committing a near-red-card studs-up cleating of his own player?
As a coach, I would frown on that.
If you MUST show your studs, don’t pull a Zlatan-gets-grumpy-with-Gooch and get your own guy. Etiquette, you know?