CHICAGO (May 30, 2007) – The U.S. Under-20 Men’s National Team will take on Chile in the opening match of a doubleheader with the U.S. Women’s National team on June 23 in Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J. The Under-20 game, which will serve as part of final preparations for the FIFA Under-20 World Cup, kicks off at 2 p.m. ET and will be shown live on ussoccer.com’s MatchACCESS.
The live streaming of the match will provide fans with a final look at head coach Thomas Rongen’s U-20 World Cup roster, as the game is just one week before the U.S. opens their World Cup campaign in Montreal, Canada, where they will face South Korea on June 30.
Tickets for the double header
are already on sale at ussoccer.com, at all area
Ticketmaster outlets (including Ritmo Latino, Coconuts Music & Movies, and fye), at the Continental Airlines Arena Box Office (Monday – Saturday, 11 a.m. – 6 p.m. ET) and by phone at 201-507-8900 or 609-520-8383. Groups of 15 or more can purchase tickets by calling (312) 528-1290 or visiting ussoccer.com.
The 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup will be held from June 30-July 22 in Canada. The U.S. was drawn into Group D with Korea Republic, Poland and Brazil. After their opener against the Korea Republic, the U.S. faces Poland on July 3 and concludes group play on July 6 against four-time U-20 world champions Brazil. The U.S. will play Korea Republic and Poland at The Olympic Stadium in Montreal, before heading to Ottawa to face Brazil at Frank Clair Stadium.
"Facing a team like Chile, which also qualified for the U-20 World Cup, will provide us with a great opportunity to play a competitive match that will help us prepare for our group in Canada," said Rongen. "There should be a good atmosphere at the game in Giants Stadium, and we will definitely benefit from playing on artificial turf as the players continue to get acclimated to the surface they'll see during the World Cup."
Chile was drawn into Group A of the World Cup, and will play in the tournament’s opening game against host Canada on July 1 in the brand new National Soccer Stadium in Toronto. Chile will also play Congo on July 5 in Edmonton and Austria on July 8 back in Toronto.
The United States previously faced Chile during the group stage of the 2001 FIFA World Youth Championship in Argentina, winning 4-1 behind two DaMarcus Beasley goals.
The U.S. is coming off of a 1-0 loss to defending Under-20 World Cup Champion Argentina in Rochester, N.Y., and will head to Montreal from May 30 to July 7 to train in World Cup venues in Montreal and Ottawa. The match against Chile will be part of a pre-World Cup training camp in New Jersey, from which the team will leave for Montreal.
Every U.S. match at the U-20 World Cup can be followed live via ussoccer.com’s MatchTracker. The 24-team field is divided into six groups of four, with the top two teams from each group and the top four (of six) third-place teams advancing to the Round of 16. The 52-match tournament will take place at six venues in Canada with games in Burnaby, Edmonton, Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto and Victoria.
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