Tomorrow, the games will start to count. Tomorrow, the USMNT will launch its campaign to qualify for the 2014 World Cup, with a home match against Antigua and Barbuda. It will be the first of many matches ahead of Jürgen Klinsmann and his men to reach the finals in Brasil.
The USMNT have been
grouped with Antigua and Barbuda, Guatemala, and Jamaica in Group A. For those who are unfamiliar with how these
rounds work, the top two in each group will move forward to the next
round. In this case, it will be a
six-nation final round, which will then be campaigned as a double round robin
in 2013. At the end of the stage, the
top three teams will move forward and qualify for the 2014 World Cup, with the
fourth-place team entering a playoff with Oceania's top team.
Group A's schedule is as
follows, stadiums, time, and network information forthcoming:
Friday, June 8th – USMNT v. Antigua and Barbuda [Jamaica v. Guatemala]Tuesday, June 12th – Guatemala v. USMNT [Antigua and Barbuda v. Jamaica]Friday, September 7th – Jamaica v. USMNT [Guatemala v. Antigua and Barbuda]Tuesday, September 11th – USMNT v. Jamaica [Antigua and Barbuda v. Guatemala]Friday, October 12th – Antigua and Barbuda v. USMNT [Guatemala v. Jamaica]Tuesday, October 16th – USMNT v. Guatemala [Jamaica v. Antigua and Barbuda]
In terms of tomorrow's
match against Antigua and Barbuda, it certainly could be anyone's game. The USMNT started off its International
Friendly campaign with a 5-1 win over Scotland.
However, the rest of the campaign was rather lackluster with a loss to
Brasil and a draw against Canada. This
will be Klinsmann's first competitive match as head coach of the US, putting
more pressure on the man's shoulders. Only
time will tell, but I remain nothing but hopeful and confident for our men in
red, white, and blue.
written by Gail Hidalgo
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