The 2014 World Cup participants Mexico and USA start their preparations for the tournament finals with friendly matches against Korea Republic, one of the first sides from Asia to have secured their place at the tournament in Brazil.
Mexico vs. South Korea at Alamodome, San Antonio, Jan 29, 2014.
El Tri will play the first of five warm-up matches against Taegeuk Warriors on January 29 at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas, making their first appearance at the venue since 2004, when they ran out 2-0 winners against Guatemala. Tickets to the high-profile friendly can be purchased here:
Following a somewhat disappointing qualifying campaign, Mexico clinched the World Cup berth by defeating New Zealand 9-3 on aggregate in the play-offs and have subsequently been drawn in Group A, alongside hosts Brazil, Cameroon and Croatia.
After he successfully guided El Tri in the World Cup qualifying play-offs, coach Miguel Herrera has been confirmed as the man to lead Mexico at the tournament finals, thus becoming the third boss since the start of the qualifying campaign.
USA vs. South Korea at StubHub Center, Carson, Feb 01, 2014.
Just three days later, on February 1, United States will host Korea Republic at the StubHub Center in Carson, California, in what will be their first warm-up match for the tournament finals. Tickets to the big game are available here:
The match against Korea Republic will mark the end of the January training camp that boss Jurgen Klinsmann will use to mostly test the players from the MLS and Scandinavian leagues.
The training camp will start on January 6 at the StubHub Center in Carson and on January 12 the players and staff will fly to Sao Paulo for a two-week camp at the base the national team will use during the 2014 World Cup.
United States haven t had the luck of the draw, having been placed in Group G, one of the strongest at the competition, with Jurgen Klinsmann s team facing European powerhouses Germany and Portugal as well as African giants Ghana.
The national soccer team largely impressed in the World Cup qualifiers, topping the CONCACAF Zone with 22 points from 10 matches, but they clearly face an uphill task in an attempt to progress from the group stage at the tournament finals.
