News broke Monday that Minnesota United’s incoming stadium Allianz Field will have the honor of hosting the United States men’s national team on June 18, 2019.
That date is almost exactly one month and one year from Monday. The match will be the USMNT’s opening match in the Concacaf Gold Cup, thus meaning it will be the national team’s first competitive game since October when the U.S. infamously fell to Trinidad and Tobago, eliminating them from qualification for the 2018 World Cup.
In April, Zone Coverage reported that Allianz Field could be the host site for major international events after Major League Soccer commissioner Don Garber spoke at a Minnesota United training session.
The really enticing news from a Minnesota soccer fan perspective is that Allianz Field could, in theory, become a regular site for U.S. national teams as it would provide a guaranteed pro-U.S. crowd and a cold-weather location, according to Sports Illustrated. The latter is an advantage U.S. soccer likes to possess when facing warm-weather opponents, primarily ones they play regularly in Concacaf such as Mexico, Costa Rica, etc.
Allianz Field becoming a home base for the U.S. is possible as old standby Mapfre Stadium in Columbus, Ohio is becoming outdated. Not to mention its future is in doubt as its MLS franchise — the Columbus Crew — may be relocating soon. Mapfre’s capacity is 19,968 while Allianz’s will be 19,400.
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