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The U.S. national team's Oct. 12 friendly against Colombia will be at PPL Park, the Philadelphia Union's brand new 18,500-seat stadium just south of the city in Chester. The facility opened in late June.The U.S. played its last World Cup tuneup (a 2-1 win over Turkey) at Lincoln Financial Field, the NFL Stadium a few miles north on I-95. It'll return to the area for its final match of an eventful 2010 three days after facing Poland in Chicago.
The Americans are 3-9-3 all-time against Colombia. They last met at the 2007 Copa America in Venezuela, where the South Americans won, 1-0. The U.S. defeated Colombia, 2-1, at the 1994 World Cup.
The October friendlies correspond to international dates on the FIFA calendar, meaning Bob Bradley or whomever else is coaching the team will have access to the entire player pool. Europe will be staging qualifiers for the 2012 European Championship at the same time. Of course, Bradley's situation needs to be resolved before there can be much speculation about who's going to be called in. A new coach might want to see new players, for example.
The Poland and Colombia games are important. Yes, there are four years before the next World Cup, but there isn't as much down time as one might think. There won't be a lot of opportunity for Bradley or his replacement to prepare a team for next summer's CONCACAF Gold Cup, which is an important competition. There can be little doubt that the trip to South Africa for last year's Confederations Cup was a benefit for the U.S. this summer. The 2011 Gold Cup is the qualifier for the 2013 Confederations Cup in Brazil, and there are only two international windows prior to the Gold Cup next year.
The games in Chicago and Philadelphia will be an important first step toward shaping the Gold Cup team, which, in turn, may echo all the way to 2014.
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