Reports: USA vs. England at Wembley on May 28

According to reports circulating out of England, the U.S. national team is being lined up to face England at Wembley Stadium on May 28.

Currently ranked No. 12 in the world by FIFA, England qualifies as the Top 20 opponent U.S. Soccer president Sunil Gulati stated the U.S. team was in talks to play prior to its friendly against Spain. The United States will face Spain on June 4 at a site in Europe yet to be determined.

At a press conference prior to Wednesday night's match against Mexico, Gulati said there was a 50/50 chance, at best, of the friendly before the Spain match happening. Gulati would not reveal the potential opponent, saying only that it was a Top 20 team.

If England and the United States do meet it will mark their first meeting since England posted a 2-1 victory at Soldier Field in Chicago on May 28, 2005.

For those keeping track, this could mean the United States is lining up a trio of games including England, Spain and Argentina (Yes, Argentina appears to be the front-runner for the proposed game in the United States around June 8th in the Northeast United States) before its first World Cup qualifier in June. That isn't quite as imposing as Morrocco, Venezuela and Latvia but still pretty impressive (yes, i'm kidding).

What do you think of this development? Does that list of games leave you extremely excited? Share your thoughts below.

Comments

[JPS]

I think it would great if the USA played England at Wembley. Have they ever played there before??? Maybe Becks will get his 100th cap for England that day.

[Johnny]

I'll be taking a "personal day" off from work if this is true. I had a feeling we would play them again! I am extremely excitied b/c I think we have a chance to beat them.

[James]

This is great news for the MNT. There is no bigger stage than Wembley and this should energize our players. Playing England, Spain, and Argentina should wake up the many critics of the USAMNT that we are serious about stepping up our game.

[Peter]

ah, that'd be amazing. i'll probably be working at wembley for the game (i do catering there to help pay for school)! and i agree, there is definitely a chance that we could beat them.

[Tim]

Well, to have a chance to defeat England at Wembley, we'd pretty much have to bring the "A" team on their "A" game. If the U.S. wants to win, then that's NOT the game to give the Drew Moor's and Ricardo Clark's of the MNT player pool "a good experience." Sometimes I think you just have to want to show your best, and perform your best, regardless of the fact that it would be a meaningless friendly. I'd personally love to see us come out of there with a W.

[josh]

exciting!

[Nick]

You would never hear the end of OMG Beckham's new country vs. old country. Outside of that, it would be a great game and a spectacular way to prepare for qualifying.

[Joe_in_ND]

Booooooo!

Play it over here. It's on my birthday.

[Barry U]

WOW! Win or lose playing Argentina, England and Spain will be a hell of a way to get ready for WCQ. I really like this approach by the USSF. I just hope that we have all of our players available for these games. Beasley is all ready out so I hope that is it.

[Carlos]

I thinks its great, its a huge leap in terms of level of competition.

Btw, if we play England, Spain and Argentina. We go 0-3.

But hey, you got to play with the big boys some time.

[Kosh71]

I LOVE IT!! Playing these type of top quality opponents is what we need to take that next step in our program's development. I would love for us to get a result from these matches, but if we don't I still love where Bob is taking us - getting more guys caps, cutting the young guys teeth in big time games, and playing heavyweights away from home.

Ives, do you think Bob is seriously contending for the Confed Cup in '09, or is this just his way of getting the best possible set of teams (A and B, perhaps C) for WCQ?

[cbr]

with these intense friendlies and the confederations cup our young guys wont be startled one bit come 2010....i love it

Just imagine Romero Corrales gracing the right side of Wembly...i cant wait!

[Amit]

England doesn't look so hot lately. Maybe an upset is in order.

[Soccer Chick]

Can anyone tell me what team has light pink and navy blue stripped jerseys? I saw a clip on Fox Soccer Channel yesterday but am not sure of the team. Thank you!

[Udi]

Argentina?? When/where? Thanks!

[Nick]

@Soccer Chick, you are probably thinking of Marseille, they have the most hideous jerseys on the planet.

[Jamie Z.]

A good performance in these matches could see several of our players getting a better look in Spain and England. Jozy Altidore and Michael Bradley will be in the shop window, for sure.
But I'm also quite leery of an England team under Capello, which will give no quarter. England players will be fighting for their spots and with no Euro2008 ahead of them, the match will receive their full attention.
But win, lose, or draw, this is a great move for US Soccer. If you want to be world class, you've got to play world class teams.

[jjf3]

Glad to see this recent committment to playing quality sides, both here and on their turf. It indicates to me that Bradley (regardless of what anyone thinks of him), is dead set on doing what is best to prep the MNT for WC2010, whether it best serves his job interests or not. Which is refreshing...and overdue...

And while I'd like to see wins, blooding some MLS players in matches like these lets you know what to expect from them when the games get a little more serious, and rise above MLS-quality.

[Igor]

YES! We can totally beat them!

[Soccer Chick]

I just looked - it is not Marseilles. The color on the tv could have been off....maybe it was pink and black stripes. But there was certainly pink in it. Any ideas? Thanks.

[Sandro]

I think this great for US soccer. In order for us to grow we have to play against the best of the best. Also our players need to have more experience playing in europe and away homes. This is great, I am excited to see the US getting more opportunities.

[shaj]

thats awesome.

hopefully bradley gets his team selection right so this wont be a waste..(ie playing landon donovan at forward)

[Jey]

Amazing. I would fly to England to catch this one no doubt. Very impressive schedule so far from US soccer.

[Garrett]

Pink is Palermo from Serie A. I'm not sure of any other pinks clubs in Europe.

[Dannyc58]

Soccer chick, could be Palermo...

[TenMattC]

Beckham may have his 100th before then but it would be cool to see him play against Landon. We should have a good shot at beating them and it will be a great shopping window for anyone (Jozy, Bradley, Mr. Demerit, Gooch?) who wants a big transfer move.

Capello hasn't ruled out recalling Beckham and why should he? The English press ( who will eat this game up) loves to take extreme postions on every issue. Capello won't rule out any possibility if it will help England win and, if he stays in shape, Beckham will always be a consideration. "Fighting mentality" as they love to say, is a very big part of playing for Capello. Beckham has that and Capello knows him better than any other English player.

[kpugs]

Having driven to Chicago and back in 36 hours with a 12 hours layover to see the last USA vs. England, I feel obligated to fly in for 2 days and fly back to meet my work obligations. See you all there!

[jaded]

Yeah! Now we can show them what it's like to play an experimental team of the U.S.A.!

Pencil in Corrales and Moor!

We can't really lose no matter what. If we lose we just do what we always do. Say "Don't worry, it's just an experimental lineup, and by continuing to play like crap with experimental lineups we will really be ready for the world cup in 2010!"

This will give us another chance to start a healthy losing streak! Top 40 here we come!

Morocco, Venezuela, and Latvia? That was the last three games before the 2006 World Cup, the only matches available to us right before a World Cup. You think it's great to get these matches two years before the World Cup even starts? Ives are you ripping Bruce Arena now that he's gone from the Red Bulls?

Bob Bradley couldn't lead Italy or Brazil to the second round of the world cup. He wasn't even that good of an MLS coach! Sucked with the Metrostars, sucked with Chivas (not to mention worst trade decision ever) but for some reason got credit for the team not finishing last when they had an unfair pipeline to Mexican players. He should have done better with what he had. The only real success he had that gave him his "good coach" label, was with Chicago, and that was not his success. Any coach with those players would have done well. The real reason for Chicago doing well was Peter Nowak. That's why Bob has him as his assistant. He knows the only real success he had was when Nowak was running the team on the field. Nowak is a much better coach.
Nice guy and good talent scout does not a good coach make! In a couple of years people will be wanting to hire back "mean", "jerky", "obnoxious", "arrogant" "his whole best ever record was done with mirrors" Arena!

(Endless laughter) Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha.....................

[Soccer Chick]

Thank you - my husband thought Palermo. However, when I looked on the website, I only saw the solid pink jerseys. Do you think they have a 3rd kit with the pink/blue horizontal stripes? Thanks1

[YankatOxford]

Another excellent scheduling decision. USSF has conclusively woken up on this front.

Was planning to be in London in May anyway, I will have to check ticket prices, but as usual they will border on ridiculous...
Haven't seen in England play in person since the spring of 2006, partially because of prices for decent seats at Euro qualifiers.

That said, I have not been to the New Wembley, so that could be a treat.

[Bob]

Frankly, England does not scare me much. Mexico has far more young talent.

England is #12 in the world based purely on reputation. The EPL isn't a great league because of its English players, that is for sure.

[Dominghosa]

Great news. I'm a little selfish so just wished one of these matches were on U.S. soil so I could make the trip.
Alas, those are all great away matches against quality opponents. It will either crush the USMNT's confidence or heighten it. I would think the latter.
And the Argentina match has yet to be announced but Ives has the scoop on it.

[jpc]

I love it. England is constantly one of the most overrated teams in the world, and the type of team that not only could our 1st team beat w/ a top notch performance... If I may let my mind wander for a moment, a win against England would be a huge building block towards not only the next WC, but also US soccer in general. And to do it on their home soil would be hilarious, I wouldn't be surprised if Capello was fired on the field. But I'm getting ahead of myself, win or lose it would be great.

[Jim]

We can beat England, a little tougher now that they have a coach who knows what he's doing it will be little tougher but of all the big names in soccer they are the worst. We would beat them in the US, or on netrual ground, Wembley will be toughter.

[Serie A]

The mystery pink jersey could have been Juventus...

http://www.vendierre.com/images_jersey_thumbnail/Italy/JABP002_sml.jpg

[Simona]

Heck YES!!! Exciting is the word.

[gospurs]

soccer chick - its espanyol's away jersey. trust me.

[Modibo]

jaded, you say Bradley couldn't lead Brazil past the 2nd round of the WC, then you say he only succeeded at Chicago because of his players.

And you criticize the inclusion of Corrales and Moor, at the same time that you praise Bradley as a talent scout.

So... can he scout talent but not put them in the first team for some reason? Is he not sufficiently incompetent to undermine a club side with good players, but incompetent enough to f*** up a national team?

Or maybe every team should just be Chelsea 2006/7.

Be a little more specific in terms of the choices that Bradley made under the conditions. Sounds like someone who's willing to take chances to me. We'll see what happens vs. Spain, Argentina, and England, but give him credit for having the cojones to line up matches against them instead of a bunch of minnows.

[GalPalPowerrrrrrrr...LA's a joke]

this could establish us as a true power, if we get good results. i would certainly love to beat england, and shut up all the english fans on youtube who waste their days commenting on highlights from games they aren't even involved in

[Dave]

good for Gulati and USA soccer. They have actually been scheduling good matches for us to play. He has comethrough this past year.

[Alex]

SoccerChick- I definitely think that jersey is Espanyol away.

This game is great, whether we win or lose. I would rather lose these 3 tough games we have coming up and gain some respect in the process than beat the crap out of Latvia.

[Dan]

if it is in the northeast, does that mean Giants stadium, Gillette Stadium, or RFK stadium...I hope giants stadium!!!

[Eugene]

Nice. This is definitely getting more serious and playing up. Let's hope Bob Bradley and our boys are up to the challenge.

On another note, I would love to see the US MNT play one of the top four teams from the African Cup of Nations -- Egypt, Cameroon, Ghana and the Ivory Coast. Egypt in particular is quite the enigma considering most of their players don't play in Europe. Nigeria and Mali would also make great opponents.

[smacking]

Let's be realistic, none of these matches are going to prepare us for qualifying. The games will be fun to watch, but I don't think we will have the same feel or style on the pitch as playing any of our potential qualifying opponents. I'm stoked about the match ups, but lets not loose sight of the most important tasks awaiting us this summer.

[hincha tim]

Great to be playing quality opponents in contrast to Arena's stupidity of only scheduling patsy teams. This is the best way for us to grow and be competitive in the world.

[mexicanbluefish]

great chance for the players to really get up for a game. just the venue and possiblity of who's watching are enough to cause anyone projectile vomiting. good luck boys.

[rocky]

this is great news for the us, it gives them a chance to play seious competition. the real question is can they compete. its still positive so lets see

[CACuzcatlan]

We'll give England another dose of the medicine we gave them in 1950!

[Fire_Juve10]

It's good to see we have a coach who has the wrinklies to schedule very competitive away friendlies instead of weakened out-of-season European teams at home. If you want to be the best, you have to beat the best.

[Mark]

Hope this all pans out. Great experience for the team that will undoubtedly help them going into qualifying. Hopefully we can get a couple results which would be icing on the cake.