USA-Mexico to kick off 2009 World Cup qualifying

Those of you who can't wait for the U.S. national team to face off against Mexico in World Cup qualifying next year won't have to wait too long. The CONCACAF super powers will square off in the opening match of 2009 qualifying in the United States.

The draw for the Hexagonal round of qualifying took place earlier this morning and the first of two USA-Mexico tilts was drawn first and is set for Feb. 11.

Here is the full USA schedule:

Feb. 11	Mexico	Home
March 28	El Salvador	Away
April 1	Trinidad & Tobago	Home
June 3	Costa Rica	Away
June 6	Honduras	Home
Aug. 12	Mexico	Away
Sep. 5	El Salvador	Home
Sep. 9	Trinidad & Tobago	Away
Oct. 10	Honduras	Away
Oct. 14	Costa Rica	Home

The United States will benefit from starting out at home and facing the weakest team in the Hexagonal (El Salvador) in the first road game. Things get much tougher in the summer, with road trips to Costa Rica and Mexico.

What do you think of the schedule? Excited to get Mexico first? Is there any doubt the USA-Mexico game will be in Columbus on Feb. 11? What other cities do you see hosting one of the five USA home games?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

[Ja]

why would they always schedule usa mexico on the same day as duke unc, two straight years of this

[BlueWhiteLion]

it's definitely going to set the tone. pumped up for it! Mexico has more pressure on it than the US right now. Any idea what stadium it will be in? Columbus???

CR, Honduras, US, Mexico are the top four. Do we still have the fourth playoff spot? (with Asia or somebody?)

I don't think this blog entry is headlined on the front page

[BlueWhiteLion]

never mind.

[KungFuSoccer]

Looks like we have a friendly v. Sweden on 1/24/09 at the Home Depot Center (Carson). Los angeles could fill the HDC with enough fans from each of the the countries in the hex except for T&T to make it an away game for the US. Alas Sweden is all we will get.

[ANM]

Absolutely brilliant. Torrado and Vela will both be missing for the opener, which will undoubtedly be somewhere appropriately frigid.

Just what BB wanted, I suspect.

[Toby]

E. Hartford, CT has to host...Rentschler Field, great soccer field that seats 40,000.

[Mighty]

Yeeeeaaaaaaaa!!!! USA..... I wonder where the game going to be!

[Brett]

They will put it in Crew Stadium and pack it full with 20,000. Could they draw more in another venue? Absolutely, but the energy will be out of this world when the tri colores come in and meet up with the Nordeke full of USA fans! I can't wait for this one!!

[Caldwell]

Are there requirements in place (either by FIFA or CONCACAF) that these games be played on grass? Because I would selfishly LOVE to see US-Mexico at Qwest! That or Safeco Field (which hosted a qualifier a few years ago vs. Honduras I think).

[northzax]

Columbus does sound likely for El Tri, but I think it might make sense to look at a place like RFK or Toyota Park in the cold of February.

[Danny]

I can see the T&T match in D.C. I think we could see the Honduras match in Colorado or Chicago. El Salvador could be at the HDC. Costa Rica might be in "New England." That is where I would put them if I was in charge.

[Brian]

Hopefully we have 9 points after the first 3 games...that will set us up pretty nice the rest of the way. Hopefully we can also get a draw in Costa Rica for once. If the Mex. game is in Columbus I will be there, I will never forget Feb 28th 2001 my first qualifyer!!

[Ethan]

Torrado and Vela will be missing for Mexico. Will anyone else be missing because of yellow card accumulation for them? We will be missing Pablo, but I'll take that trade.

[Otis Campbell]

Ching is trying to give Marquez the shocker. This is why Cooper or Altidore should be starting instead.

[Kevin]

Mexico- I like the return to Ohio, but put it in a big stadium like in Cleveland or Cincy.
T + T- Seattle. Let them show off right as MLS kicks off.
Honduras- New England. I live 30 minutes from Gillette Stadium. Enough said.
El Salvador- Give it to Salt Lake. They have a beautiful stadium, and the support's gotta be better than in Colorado on Wednesday.
Costa Rica- Where but RFK?

As much as I was encouraged by New York fans after the Argentina game, I'd just rather see all these other places first. Maybe New York, Shitcago, and LA can be stops on the "farewell" tour in 2010.

[Toby]

E. Hartford, CT has to host...Rentschler Field, great soccer field that seats 40,000.

[Sean Monaghan]

Im almost more than sureit will be at Columbus,does anyone know when they announce what cities the matches will take place?cant wait for the columbus and mexico trip!!!

[Bob]

Glad we play mexico first, We should play them in Green bay and freeze them out.

[WeatherManNX01]

My match sites: (in no particular order)
Crew Stadium
Gillette
RFK
Qwest
HDC
Toyota Park

I think Rio Tinto would be a nice stadium to have a match in, but given it isn't in one of the bigger cities, it's probably a bit further down the list.

[Cameron]

As much as I would love to see the Mexico game at Toyota Park, being from Chicago, it wouldn't make any sense. The place would be packed with a capacity crowd of Mexico fans.

[Erik Abarca]

Ed Dog, can u please email me at MetroLambda1975@yahoo.com...I have a question for you, thanks!

[brian]

wow I really hope they come back to columbus for the Mexico match.

[Blake]

Salt Lake should be given a game. I flew in for the Costa Rica qualifier in 2005 and they sold the place out (45,000) with 40,000 being pro U.S.A. Nowhere else can that happen. With Rio Tinto being open now, US Soccer would be crazy not to go there.

[Isaac]

If USA beats Mexico we'll be very well set the rest of the way.

[Brant]

WeatherMan - one advantage to playing any of these teams in SLC is that you'll likely get a pro-US crowd, since Utah is still behind many other places in immigration from south of the border.

And to anyone who wants US-Mexico moved from Columbus to somewhere 'colder' in FEB. Unless you're playing on ice skates, you'll be freezing your ass off - and your neighbor's ass, your kid's ass, and any other ass in the same zip code - in Columbus in February.

[Matt Mathai]

@northzax: If you want cold weather in Feb (which I do) Columbus is the place to go. The DC area is typically just not that cold. Chicago would be cold, but as someone else pointed out, there'd be a lot of Mexico fans there.

[Brant]

Bad phrasing.... should've said:

"And to anyone who wants US-Mexico moved from Columbus to somewhere 'colder' in FEB. Unless you're *wanting to play* on ice skates, you'll be freezing your ass off - and your neighbor's ass, your kid's ass, and any other ass in the same zip code - in Columbus in February."

[Johnny]

One thing is for sure, if the USMNT is up by more than one goal late in the game get ready for lots of Mexican cheap shots. Now that I think of it get ready for lots of Mexican cheapshots throughout no matter what. They are by far the dirtiest playing international side in the world!

[ccb1212]

Brant- You are wrong about SLC and immigration from south of the border. We have a very large Mexican community here. You would get a very pro-USA crowd for any of the other games though.

[lassidawg]

Until Mexico wins a qualifier in Columbus that game should always be there. Easier for US soccer to control the ticket sales.

FIFA has said qualifers can be played on turf, see Costa Rica. If a game were given to Seattle the stadium has comitted to bring grass in.
No more games in Colorado, that attendence Wednesday was a joke.

[Rafael]

No question the Mexico game will be in Columbus. T&T should be at RFK. I do like the idea of sending Costa Rica to Utah.

Still, I like the chances for the USMNT to qualify in the top 2 again.

[Henrik Larsson=Ghod]

I think Utah should be game,how many latinos live in utah?a good point.

[jmac]

Fantastic that Vela will be missing the match due to suspension. No reason not to put it in Columbus. That is where we beat them, in the cold, in WC 2002 qualifying.

[Real-ity]

How can you deny the newest, most incredible soccer stadium in the US a game? Like said before, they packed in 45,000 for the Costa-Rica match in 05 at Rice Eccles. The atmosphere at Rio Tinto would be incredible, as it was for the Western Conference Finals!

[kebzach]

No more games in Colorado, that attendence Wednesday was a joke.

Posted by: lassidawg |

_________________________________________________

USA soccer "fans" that don't have a clue about how the semi-final rounds traditionally draw are a joke.

[james]

when do they announce locations? qwest field should definately get a game pre-mls season to get the excitment going for the sounders...but i'm also from the nw so im obviously bias

[Jason]

The US is 2-0 in qualifiers vs. Mexico at Crew Stadium. Why would you want to move it. Nothing was more priceless than Mexico not even coming out for warms up.

While I will admit that the crowd was weak in Colorado on Wed night(i was there and saw first hand). It was no worse than the crowd at the US/Jamaica match in Nov 2004 in Columbus. It was the same last game of the semifinal round, it was cold, and the game was meaningless for the US just like this past week. This hasn't stopped US Soccer from scheduling more games in Columbus. Give Colorado a meaningful game and the support would be there. However I think the sites will be:
Columbus (Mexico)
RFK (El Salvador)
Rochester (Honduras)
Seattle, only if grass brought in (Costa Rica)
Chicago (T&T again)

US Soccer traditionally does not release all the sites at one time. Normally they announce about 2-3 months before the matchday. I would imagine we will hear Columbus announced in the next week, so that Mexico can fret about for as long as possible.

[biologic]

qwest field should NOT get a game there. all you sounder/us fans that want a match, talk to qwest ownership about getting a real pitch instead of shag carpet. seriously, mls matches... fine, there's sometims no other option, but NOT a WC qualifier.

cmon!

[DavidJ]

I'm hoping Red Bull Arena is open by Oct 14.

[james]

biologic-qwest always puts in grass for international games. for mls i'm sure they will use the turf, but they replace it in big games.

[Tim F.]

I hope one of the home matches is played at Rentschler Field

[SC]

Red Bull Arena needs to get a game in if it's completed

[eric]

I wish we were opening at Azteca, just to add a degree of difficulty! We got a favor we didn't need by opening and closing at home, if we still needed a result in the last game. That's a little lame, Home/Away/Home/etc was fine.

I'm most looking forward to games 4-6, Costa (A), Hon (H), Mex (A) to really learn about our team, and am hoping for a DC game since that would be closest.

[casey]

If the Mexico game isn't at Crew Stadium, the soccer gods will frown of the USMNT.

[Don]

USA vs Costa Rica in Portland, OR. Last world cup qualification played in Portland was a USA win with an absolutely electric atmosphere.

[Jay]

Wow, I like this draw, couldn't have asked for much better. We get a reeling and short-handed Mexico coming to us in February, then our first road match is the only place I think you can expect 3 points for the U.S. followed by a T&T team we have already beaten handily at home.

It gives us a very good chance to start with 9 points from 3 matches. Of course if we were to stumble early the pressure would really be on.

[kcb]

3 Wednesday Home Matches!?! Really!?! Crappiness.

[Cabrito]

Chicago and Colorado drew poor crowds for their last round of qualifiers. Screw them! SLC was a great city for the Coast Rica Qualifier in 2005. They should get another one. San Jose should get one too.

[Dominghosa]

Too bad Phoenix is only a good spot for an international game if it involved "Mexico" and "friendly." Oh well.
Awesome stuff that the Hex run starts with El Tri.

[bottlcaps]

As someone pointed out before: Why are the Mexico U.S. matches for this round of qualifying identical as before? The U.S. gets it's home game in the winter "the cold war" as the Mexican press call's it, AND the U.S. get its Azteca match in the
summertime hell that is Mexico City; smoggy, hot and at altitude. Hopefully the U.S should have over a dozen points by this time and won't have to play Mexico if it comes down to need to qualify in it's last three games! All a bit anti-climactic and its as if the draw had been worked out before hand (as if this ever happened in a FIFA draw :-) )

[Al17]

Another Chicagoan lobbies for Columbus for this match. We have something special their against Mexico -- COLD!!!

Seriously, I hope this match takes place there.

Chicago deserves Honduras which should be a good match.

[lassidawg]

There is no excuse for not being able to draw at least 15K for a friendly no matter who or when they are playing, ok I take that back. For all games except the first round of qualifing at least 15K should be expected.

For every international match that has been at Qwest they have brought in grass and at least 15K in fans.

Games should be in no particular order

Columbus, Seattle, RFK, Salt Lake City.

[pate]

Trinidad & Tobago at the Riot in SLC on April 1st would be great. It should still be cold, and at decent altitude too boot.

[jesse]

DOES ANYONE KNOW WHEN THE LOCATIONS FOR THE GAMES WILL BE ANNOUNCED OFFICIALLY? i did caps so i could get noticed...

[Ryan]

us mexico at lambeau field. that would have to give us an advantage

[RSLinIDAHO]

Rio Tinto should host!

I like the Green Bay idea too.

[Toby]

Feb. 11 Mexico- Columbus, OH, Crew Stadium

April 1 Trinidad & Tobago-Washington DC, RFK

June 6 Honduras-E.Hartford, CT, Rentschler Field

Sep. 5 El Salvador- Salt Lake City, Utah

Oct. 14 Costa Rica- Seattle, WA

[thomas]

So how many points will the US finish with? Predictions?

In 2006 the US and Mexico both got 22 points, CR got 16 and TnT got 13 to earn the half slot. It is basically the same six except little tougher this time except replacing Guatemala with Honduras (tougher) and replacing Panama with The Salvador (even). However TnT probably isn't as good as in 2006.
I expect the US take all 12 from TnT/The Salvador. So out of the other six games I think the US could go 2-2-2 for a total of 20 points.
It would be nice to have at least 17 points wrapped up before the final two games so we can be relatively assured of qualifying like in the group stage and be in a position to play some "bubble boys" that may or may not be sitting next to Donovan and Howard on the flight to Johannesburg.

[wishful thinker]

Does Alaska have any stadiums? I would love to see U.S. play Mexico up there lol. Would be frekin hilarious to see the mex's shivering and not being able to do their Bull Sh** fouls do to the extreme cold weather. Just a thought ...

[Biskethead]

My 2 cents.
Finally the Hexagonal is here. The US get to play the top competition in CONCACAF ...away. These will be great games to watch. I will only comment on the first 3 games and where they will be played. Bradley already stated he wanted a cold place. Can we all agree Chicago, with their huge Mexican population will be ruled out. After only 5k showing up for New England (usually strong fan support) Rev playoff game, Gillette ruled itself out. NY Giants stadium would be cold but have to many Mex fans..Giants stadium is out. DC---good fans support bul will it be cold enough....to questionable so they are out.
What is left. Seattle, Utah, Colorado and Columbus. The soccer specific stadiums give a good advantage with the fans for any home team so I am ruling Seattle out. Colorado, Utah and Columbus fit the bill. Colorado just had a poor showing for a semi final and the US likes to move to create interest so they are Very possible but unlikely. Here is a quote from a RSL fan"Like I said before, they packed in 45,000 for the Costa-Rica match in 05 at Rice Eccles. The atmosphere at Rio Tinto would be incredible, as it was for the Western Conference Finals!" Very possible. Will the US chance the fans support in UTAH for Mexico? I think they will go with Columbus. Cold weather..check,soccer specific stadium to bring fans close to action...check, great fans support that will be USA...check. They were fun to watch during playoffs, they were into it and most deffinatly be pro US...check. So Columbus is my #1 pick.
game 2 is in El Salvador so they would be practicing at Home depot center the week of MArch 28, 2009 ( they day the play El Sal) then have a game 4 days later. I think this game against T&T will be at Home Depot Center since the nats would have been practicing the previous week there. They will be use to the location and field and T&T has the least amount of national fans that any of the Final 6 teams. The yanks have to play at least one game in their national stadium so I am guessing it will be this one.
I am thinking Bradley's boys will be 3-0, anything less would be a surprise.

[Eric]

Selfishly, I want Birmingham to host again. A good game and a good crowd last time around.

[tiffany]

why not the toyota center in Houston.

[rslfutbolfan]

lol...soccer outside in February in Utah? Thats crazy. It will be 25 degrees and 3 feet of snow on the ground. While I LOVE our new stadium, I would not love it in the middle of February! And as far as us being behind on immigration, you guys are way wrong! When we play Chicago the stadium fills up with Mexican fans. Dont think we are any different than anywhere else. I would have to vote for somewhere warm for the February game. HDC or Dallas works for me... Id love to get out of the cold that time of year anyways! Give Rio Tinto a spring or summer game!

[rick]

I am glad we are playing them soon because their form has been crap in the last three games (two losses and a tie).

[Carlos]

For all of you that are so happy that Vela,Torrado and Arce are out. Their is plenny of forwards and mids. So dont expect it to be so easy.