Filed under: U.S. Men's National Team
The U.S. Soccer Federation has announced the cancellation of the national team's Feb. 9 friendly against Egypt in Cairo, a city that has been wracked by political demonstrations and violence over the past several days.The federation said it "explor(ed) other options" for a game that day, but no replacement venue or opponent was arranged.
"We were excited about the opportunity to play against Egypt, but due to the current situation all parties agreed it was best to cancel the match. We appreciate the efforts of the Egyptian Football Association and the U.S. State Department as we worked through this situation," U.S. Soccer president Sunil Gulati said.
The match against the seven-time African champions was scheduled on a FIFA international match day and was going to be coach Bob Bradley's first opportunity to call in his full team in since early October. Now he'll have to wait until March, when the U.S. is scheduled to face Argentina (March 26 at the New Meadowlands in New Jersey) and Paraguay (March 29 at LP Field in Nashville).
U.S. defeated Egypt, 3-0, at the 1999 FIFA Confederations Cup in South Africa in a wild match that catapulted the Americans to their now legendary semifinal against Spain. Since then, the Egyptians have won a third consecutive African Nations Cup title but suffered a fifth straight failure to qualify for the World Cup.
The senior U.S. national team has not visited the Arab world since November, 1999, when it lost to Morocco, 2-1, in Marrakech (Eric Wynalda scored the goal that day).
Considering the positive public relations impact that the U.S. national team seems to have when it travels, the decision represents a significant lost opportunity for American soccer and, perhaps, the country as a whole. But canceling the Cairo friendly was the only option as the chaos in Egypt continues.
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