Kenya Brown of Yanks Abroad says the U.S. national team’s dominance of the CONCACAF region is getting a little tiresome. Notwithstanding the team’s respectable 3-0-1 record in international friendlies this year, these meaningless games are made all the more so by the fact that each of them has been played at home. In fact, the U.S. seldom leaves home to play its international friendlies.
And so what we get, Brown says, are matches against the likes Ecuador, Mexico, and Guatemala. Fine opponents, perhaps, but certainly not top tier. In short, the U.S. is not going to get better unless it travels to Europe to compete against the very best the world has to offer. Brown says the national team should consider establishing a training base somewhere in Europe (Kaiserslautern anyone?), or at the very least, scheduling a few away matches a year against the likes of England, the Netherlands or even Sweden or the Ukraine if it’s too difficult to get matches with Europe’s powerhouses. (A match at Sweden is scheduled for Aug. 22.)