USMNT to Face Jamaica at D.C. United's Audi Field Before Gold Cup
The U.S. men's national team's pre-Gold Cup slate is set, with U.S. Soccer announcing a June 5 friendly vs. Jamaica at D.C. United's Audi Field.
The match will take place four days before a second pre-competition friendly in Cincinnati vs. Venezuela and will be the first U.S. match played at the new stadium after the men's national team was a relative regular at RFK Stadium in the nation's capital.
"As we prepare for the start of the Gold Cup, this is the perfect opportunity in terms of opponent and venue," U.S. manager Gregg Berhalter said in a statement. "Playing against Jamaica we get exposure to another different style of play, and one that we may see later in the tournament. For us, there's always something special about playing in the nation's capital. There have been so many memorable games for the national team in Washington, D.C., and now we look forward to beginning another chapter in the new stadium."
The friendly will be a rematch of the 2017 final, which the USA won 2-1 on a late goal by Jordan Morris. Jamaica also famously knocked the U.S. out of the 2015 Gold Cup in the semifinal round before falling to Mexico in that final.
While playing at Audi Field is unlikely to draw the ire of the U.S. players, the subsequent friendly in Cincinnati, where a layer of sod is set to be placed over the artificial turf at Nippert Stadium, has become the focus of some controversy. U.S. players wrote a letter to U.S. Soccer president Carlos Cordeiro vehemently opposing the location selection, which U.S. Soccer defended, maintaining that the field would be a "first-class surface."
The U.S. will face Guyana, Trinidad & Tobago and Panama in its group in an effort to repeat as champions and tie Mexico for the region's most titles.
