Coming off of surprising Round of 16 appearances in the 2014 World Cup, the United States men’s national team will renew its rivalry with Mexico this April, according to an announcement today by the US Soccer Federation. The match will take place Wednesday, April 15 at 8:30 PM ET and will be broadcast on Fox Sports 1 and UniMas.
The friendly will take place in San Antonio’s Alamadome and will be the first match played by the men’s team in San Antonio (although the tea has played in the state of Texas 19 times according to USSF). The location almost guarantees at best a split crowd but more likely a pro-Mexico stadium.
The match also caps off a particularly aggressive schedule by Jurgen Klinsmann in a year without major tournaments. In two weeks the U.S. plays World Cup sensation Chile in Rancagua before hosting troublesome Panama in California. Then, during the next international break, the USMNT travels to Europe to play Denmark and Switzerland, both very solid UEFA clubs, before flying home for this match. Despite the March international break being in the middle of the end of the European league seasons (and meaning players will be both tired and focused on league standings), I would expect the Klinsmann to use a few European club-based national team players in these matches. The roster may shift, however, for the Mexico match as the MLS season will just be beginning and the travel distance would be less.
The match will come almost a year-to-date from their last meeting, which was a 2-2 draw in Glendale, Arizona. Since then, the fortunes of both teams have taken an upturn. The U.S.’s surprising advancement from the “group of death” and influx of young talent has Klinsmann able to call on more options than ever to find the next squad for the next round of World Cup qualifying. Mexico, meanwhile, has seen a renaissance under the charismatic head coach Miguel Herrera as well as some talented internationals return to the national team mix. Undoubtedly, El Tri will be looking to use this match to right expectations against their rivals to the north, who have had the upper hand in recent matches between the two.
