By Raymond Rolak
Semi-Finals at Meadowlands June 18, other matches at Chicago’s Soldier Field June 12,
Wearing their red jersey for the third international friendly in a row, the U.S. had much less possession time and could not penetrate Spain’s defense. There was a lack of quality scoring chances for the home team.
Grass turf is being installed at Ford Field for the international match here. The U.S. will be eying its fifth CONCACAF Gold Cup title. They are in group ‘C’ with Canada, Guadeloupe and Panama. Guadeloupe will take on Panama at 6:00 PM and the Canada versus USA at 8:00 PM on Tuesday in Detroit. This marks the first U.S. National Team appearance in the area since 1994. A World Cup game was played at the Pontiac Silverdome then.
The Gold Cup winner will represent CONCACAF in the 2013 Confederations Cup in Brazil. The championship game will be at The Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif., on June 25. A quarter-finals doubleheader will take place Saturday June 18, at the Meadowlands.
In other CONCACAF action, on June 12, at Chicago’s Soldier Field, El Salvador vs. Cuba and Mexico vs. Costa Rica, will take place in group ‘A’ matches.
Canada, which has been training in Thornhill, Ontario, last played in a 2-2 tie with Ecuador. Veteran Mike Klukowski (MKE Ankanagucu) of Oshawa will be making his 31st cap for Canada.
Chris Wondolowski (San Jose Earthquakes) and Eric Lichaj (Leeds, England) are expected to start for the U.S. They both got quality playing time in the international match against Spain. Landon Donovan (Los Angeles Galaxy) leads all U.S. scorers with 45 career international goals.
Wondolowski, who went to Chico State University, was the 2010 MLS Golden Boot winner. Currently, he ranks third on the MLS scoring charts with six goals in eleven matches. That’s two behind league leader Donovan.
‘Wondo’ is an all around athlete as he was the starting second baseman for the Danville Rockies (California) baseball team. They went on to capture the 1997 PONY League (13-14 yr. old) World Series Championship. His brother, Stephen Wondolowski also plays professional soccer.
Lichaj, a Chicago native son who also has a Polish passport has been on loan to Leeds from Aston Villa in the English Premiere League.
Alejandro Bedoya has replaced Benny Feilhaber on the U.S. roster due to injury. The U.S. will be attempting to earn its fifth confederation championship title. The U.S. has a 12-8-9 record against Canada in internationals that dates to 1925.
Planning Time is Now, for EURO 2012
The sales of tickets for the UEFA European Football Championship taking place in Poland and Ukraine next summer is now closed. There was an impressive 12 million ticket requests. Applications came from 206 countries.
Polish and Ukrainian citizens have shown the largest interest in purchasing tickets. Over 80% of the requests came from the host countries. The tremendous success of the ticket sales demonstrates the great interest of soccer supporters towards EURO 2012. The next hurdles will be stadium completion, road improvements and addressing the ‘hooliganism’ issue. This global event is a great opportunity to show off the region and develop a sustained tourism industry. It will be a three-week festive celebration of the best European soccer and entertainment events that will show off Poland. It will be a summer to remember, the summer of EURO 2012.
Courtesy of www.mypolishtimes.com