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As the U.S. national team prepares for its final match of 2010 against South Africa in Cape Town, U.S. Soccer announced the opening game of 2011 -- a Jan. 22 showdown with Chile in Southern California.The game will anchor the traditional January camp that coach Bob Bradley conducts at the Home Depot Center outside Los Angeles. The players he calls in for the camp tend to play for either MLS teams or clubs in Scandinavia that compete on a similar calendar.
Players based in Europe (especially those who get playing time) and those who may spend the winter out on loan (like Landon Donovan did last January), won't play a part.
Chile is a more compelling January opponent than U.S. Soccer has attracted in the recent past (El Salvador and Honduras this year; Sweden, Denmark and Canada in years past). The Chileans were one of the stories of the World Cup, qualifying for the first time since 1998 and giving Spain all they could handle in the group stage (photo) before bowing out to Brazil in the round-of 16.
(FanHouse was at both games. See the Chile-Spain recap here and the Chile-Brazil story here.)
"We're excited to play a team of Chile's caliber to start the year," Bradley said. "We are focused on getting ready for the CONCACAF Gold Cup next summer, and this game provides a good start for our preparations as we assess the pool for 2011 and beyond."
The U.S. played its first game at Home Depot Center in January 2004 and is 8-1-1 at the facility (including two Gold Cup matches and one World Cup qualifier.)
The U.S. currently is ranked 25th in the world by FIFA, while Chile is 14th.
The U.S. is 3-4-1 all-time against Chile, and has won the past three. Here are the results:
July 2, 1950 -- Chile 5, USA 2 at Recife, Brazil (FIFA World Cup)
June 1, 1988 -- USA 1, Chile 1 at Stockton, Calif.
June 3, 1988 -- Chile 3, USA 1 at San Diego
June 5, 1988 -- Chile 3, USA 0 at Fresno, Calif.
April 30, 1994 -- Chile 2, USA 0 at Albuquerque, N.M.
July 8, 1995 -- USA 2, Chile 1 at Paysandu, Uruguay (Copa America)
Feb. 21, 1999 -- USA 2, Chile 1 at Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
Jan. 29, 2000 -- USA 2, Chile 1 at Coquimbo, Chile
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