The U.S. Men’s National Team added another friendly match in an already busy 2021 year, which serve as a tune-up ahead of the rescheduled Concacaf Nations League Final Four.
Gregg Berhalter’s side will travel to St. Gallen this May for a friendly against No. 16th ranked Switzerland on the 30th, U.S. Soccer announced Friday. It will be the third friendly match in Europe for the Americans this Spring after March friendlies against Jamaica (in Austria) and Northern Ireland.
“One of our priorities is to challenge ourselves against top level competition, so we’re thrilled to have the opportunity to play a quality European opponent,” Berhalter said. “Both teams will be gearing up for big tournaments, so it will be great preparation for our group as we head into the summer.”
The USMNT will take on a current Top 20 opponent for the sixth time since Berhalter took over in December 2018. It will be the ninth all-time meeting between the Americans and Swiss, and the first since a 1-1 draw in 2015 which saw Brek Shea score.
Switzerland will use the friendly as preparation for the rescheduled European Championship Tournament. Led by Arsenal’s Granit Xhaka and Liverpool’s Xherdan Shaqiri, the Swiss will take part in the EURO’s after being paired with four-time World Cup champion Italy, Turkey and Wales in Group A.
The USMNT’s busy schedule also features the CNL Final Four in June, the Concacaf Gold Cup in July, and World Cup Qualifying slated to start in September.
Weah, Adams, Giaocchini out because of Covid travel restrictions, Cappis and Siebatcheu are in. All that complaining for nothing.
Maybe we could get Booth around that time.
He is hurt right now abductor I think. Not sure he would have been called for this window.
I get the idea from how he has discussed NL and scheduling a warmup game for a 2 game tournament, plus quali being pushed back to September, that we will see a relatively first choice team for NL, playing to win. Personally I’d say rest people but even if we didn’t I am not sure about the wisdom of preparing for a home hosted tournament with a European road fixture. If we’re playing experimentals, send them to Switzerland, bounce them around, test them. If we’re trying to win play someone here. Honduras and CR/Mexico will be sufficient tests. We’ve gotten weird.
I will be curious how the GC gets handled in August if the first team does NL and then largely rests, and the Olympics go forward. Personally I’ve said a 100 times put the best remaining players regardless of age on GC — as a test of their quality and readiness for this cycle — but i have a feeling we send as many age groupers as possible to the Olympics.
But you have to assume most of the guys called in for this game will already be in Europe. Less travel and fatigue to get them together and knock out a game before coming back Statesside to play the tournament.
But IV is only allowed to post negative comments so he really had no choice but to complain.
“Have to assume?” Setting aside the Cuban anticlimax, when GB last ran out a first choice team for the 4-1 Canada game we had 7 MLS starters and 8 MLS bench (15), and 4 Euro starters and 4 Euro bench (8). Even if some players moved to Europe and we identified new people your assumption is dubious. The people making guesses based on the last year seem to forget many of those picks may have been U23 oriented or dictated by site in pandemic times. The reality will be “in between” at which point why am I taking half my team on two plane trips for a road friendly before a home tournament rather than the other half on 1 trip for a home game before a home tournament? Particularly when cross-pond flights are exhausting. Johnny can make fun of it but are we going to hold pre-tournament friendlies in Europe right before 2026? Are we going to play at Japan before Gold Cup? Don’t talk nonsense. This is only common sense.
I would also say that in this era of pandemic restrictions and quarantine it makes far more sense to get your players to here ASAP for practice and friendly then competition — given that we have been politically loose — than to be flying back and forth to more restrictive Europe and risk having games or flights canceled.
You’re also ignoring that the MLS players will be mid-season which means you are cutting into your window to travel instead of being able to gather the day after the weekend.
Anyhow, only an idiot has his team racking up plane miles before playing a home tournament.
But then these are the same deep thinkers who were going to schedule a Qatar game in January to acclimate but then send the B team that won’t make the world cup roster. He’s pretending they are brighter than they are.
FWIW Johnny depicted my “call Aaronson anyway” gambit as childish and yet that’s exactly what we did. He’s just jelly.
I mean, this is not cheaper — it will triple the flight cost and add incremental cost for hotels abroad. You have to do the whole passports thing for everyone flying back and forth. This is more exhausting for the MLS players who will be midseason and have to make two extra flights. It is only more convenient for the Euro based, but in letting them practice in country moves everyone’s flight to the US closer to when those NL games will be held. How does this make more sense than scheduling a home friendly that costs 1/3 the travel, puts fewer flight miles on the team, and gets the players here a week earlier for jet lag? What, because we get to play a European team? That’s not who we need to be preparing for, for the next year plus.
This does actually seem a little strange.
IV your “gambit” was to try to force Salzburg to release him for the U23s which they didn’t do. Your “gambit” was predicated on they’d let him go to Guadalajara for the Mexico match and then return after the semi because it would be over sooner, which it wouldn’t be because they’re on the same day and N Ireland is 10 hours closer to Austria than Mexico is.