U.S. Soccer reveals World Cup send-off plans

Wednesday, 17 February 10, 12:00 PM · Comments (0)

The plans for U.S. Soccer's quadrennial send-off series -- a last hurrah before the team heads to the World Cup -- feature two European opponents as they near finalization. Turkey and Czech Republic are slated as the opposition.

May 25 and 29 will be the last two home matches played prior to the 2010 World Cup. There's no doubting the level of the opposition, despite the fact that both nations won't be playing in South Africa. But does that even matter at this point?

Obviously, the answer is yes -- Bob Bradly will use his full team squad at that point as they prepare to make the 16-hour flight from the East Coast of the States to Johannesburg. However, at the same time, getting through the two games with no injuries will be more important than winning two friendlies.

Turkey and the Czechs represent a difficult challenge no matter how you look at it -- put considering that these will be two friendlies, worrying about opposition quality shouldn't be the biggest problem.

Instead, it'll be worth looking at Bradley's approach. While he should be loathe to reveal tactics prior to the June 12 kickoff, it'd be a change to see the U.S. playing with some kind of evident tactical plan and organization.

Here's a complete look at U.S. Soccer's pre-World Cup plans:

2/24 - Honduras, Tampa, Fla

3/3 - Netherlands, Amsterdam, Netherlands

5/25 - Czech Republic, TBD

5/29 - Turkey, Philadelphia, PA

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U.S. Soccer reveals World Cup send-off plans

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