Without the World Cup, the U.S. national soccer team has precious few opportunities to play high-end opponents. And by failing to qualify for the World Cup, it has become harder to arrange friendlies with Russian-bound teams.
The next FIFA window is March 19-27. So far, the U.S. Soccer Federation has not announced anything. The fed’s aim was to schedule two games: either both in Europe; one in Europe and one on the U.S. East Coast; or just a single match somewhere. At this late stage, it seems likely the Americans will settle for one game.
Through a process of elimination, U.