The U.S. Men’s National Team has successfully qualified for the FIFA World Cup for the seventh consecutive time, and plans are underway for next year’s trips to Brazil.
Not only will the team head south of the equator for World Cup 2014, which will be held June 12-July 13, but Jurgen Klinsmann is planning to split the traditional January training camp between a site in the U.S. and Sao Paulo, Brazil.
Klinsmann’s team, with tickets in pocket with two games remaining in the final round of qualifying, finished strong, beating Jamaica in Kansas City and Panama on the road in Panama City.[show_to]
That gave the U.S. first place in the Hexagonal standings, and put an exclamation point on the #13 spot held in the most recent FIFA World Rankings.
Next up is a pair of European friendlies in Scotland and Austria, and the all-important World Cup draw, Dec 6 at Costa do Sauipe Resort, Mata de Sao Joao, in the Brazilian state of Bahia. World Cup 2014 will be the 20th FIFA World Cup, and it be the second time Brazil has hosted. The pre- vious being in 1950. Four other nations, Mexico, Italy, France and Germany, have also hosted twice. This is also the first time two consecutive World Cups have been staged outside Europe.
Meanwhile, the U.S. women have completed their first professional season with the National Women’s Soccer League, and will finish the year on home soil with international friendlies with New Zealand and Brazil.
The transition from Pia Sundhaga to Tom Sermanni as WNT coach has been seamless, and going into a pair of friendlies against the Foot- ball Ferns, the U.S. women have not lost in 2013, while posting a 11-0-2 mark.
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