By John Haydon: The U.S. men’s soccer team is returning to play at RFK Stadium in Washington D.C., with Germany as it opponent on June 2. The nation’s capital may have not drawn a World Cup qualifying game this time around like Denver, Salt Lake City, Seattle, Columbus (Ohio) and Kansas City (Kan.), but an exhibition against three-time world champion Germany is nothing to sneeze at, and is sure draw a huge crowd to the 62-year-old venue.
The game against Germany is part of U.S. Soccer’s centennial celebration and is being dubbed as the “Centennial Celebration Match”. The game will see U.S. team coach Jurgen Klinsmann go up against the team he helped win a World Cup in 1990 as a player and coached to the third-place at the World Cup in 2006.
The U.S. team 13-3-4 all-time at RFK and has won the past seven games there (6-0-1). The team last played at RFK against Jamaica, earning a 2-0 victory on June 19, 2011, to advance to the semifinals of the CONCACAF Gold Cup. The announcement about the game at RFK by U.S. Soccer on Thursday also came with the confirmation of the home venues for the U.S. team’s four remaining 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifying games.
The American team, which kicks off its home stand in the final round of World Cup qualifying tomorrow night against Costa Rica at sold-out Dick’s Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City, Colo., will host the other four opponents in the following venues: June 11 against Panama at CenturyLink Field (Seattle, Wash.); June 18 against Honduras at Rio Tinto Stadium (Sandy, Utah); Sept. 10 against Mexico at Columbus Crew Stadium (Columbus, Ohio); and on Oct. 11, against Jamaica at Sporting Park (Kansas City, Kan.).
The June 11 match against Panama at CenturyLink Park will be only the second World Cup qualifying game in Seattle. Grass will be laid over the artificial turf at the venue for the game. Rio Tinto, the home of Real Salt Lake, has hosted only one previous U.S. game the team’s 2-1 victory against El Salvador on Sept. 5, 2009, in World Cup qualifying.
The U.S. team is 6-0-3 all-time and 5-0-2 in World Cup qualifying at the home of Columbus Crew where the team will face arch rivals Mexico. The U.S. has played Mexico in a total of three World Cup qualifiers in Columbus, winning each one of them to 2-0. The American team, seeking a place at the World Cup in Brazil next year, caps off the home portion of World Cup qualifying on Oct. 11 against Jamaica at Sporting Park in Kansas City, Kan. The U.S. team most recently rallied for a 3-1 victory against Guatemala on Oct. 16, 2012, to advance to the Final Round of 2014 World Cup qualifying.
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Tickets for the said match are available for purchase at the nearest outlets specially at the RFK Stadium or you may be able to order USA Soccer Tickets online. We are suggesting to fans to buy your tickets now to secure exclusive seats for yourself and colleagues.
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