Gregg Berhalter’s first full strength U.S. Men’s National Team side is setting up friendly matches against a pair of solid South American sides.
Yahoo! Sports’ Doug McIntyre reported that the USMNT is set to face Ecuador in Orlando on March 21 or 22 followed by a match against Chile on March 26 in Houston. Chile currently holds the No. 13 spot in FIFA’s latest world rankings, while Ecuador sits at 57.
Hearing that the #USMNT will play Ecuador in Orlando March 21 or 22 before facing Chile in Houston March 26. If games are finalized, that’s two good tests for the first full-strength U.S. squad under new coach Gregg Berhalter.
— Doug McIntyre (@ByDougMcIntyre) January 7, 2019
The March FIFA dates are the first chance that Berhalter will have to call in a full USMNT squad, with likely call-ups to Christian Pulisic, Weston McKennie and Tyler Adams, among others. It will be those players first chance to play in Berhalter’s system, learning his tactical ideas and overall philosophy.
Due to the UEFA Nations League and the near start of 2020 European Championship qualifying, its become much tougher for nations in CONCACAF and CONMEBOL to schedule friendlies with European opposition, as most of their dates are packed with qualifying games.
If the friendly match with Ecuador is accurate, it will be the first of two friendlies in three months the teams will have, with Ecuador scheduled for a pre-Gold Cup friendly.