The United States national team will be keeping busy after its decisive CONCACAF Cup match against Mexico on October 10, announcing on Saturday that it will face Costa Rica in a friendly at Red Bull Arena in Harrison, New Jersey on Tuesday, October 13.
The match will kick off at 6:30 pm ET, and can be seen on ESPN and Watch ESPN, as well as UniMás and Univision Deportes Network (UDN).
The friendly against Costa Rica will be the first time the teams face off since meeting for a trio of games in 2013. The US won two of those three matchups, outlasting Costa Rica in the home-leg of the final round of 2014 World Cup qualifying with a 1-0 win in the snow at Dick's Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City, Colorado, and following up with another 1-0 victory in East Hartford, Connecticut, on its way to the 2013 Gold Cup title. The US holds a 13-4-4 against Costa Rica on home soil. In the most recent matchup, a World Cup Qualifying matchup held in Central America, Costa Rica won 3-1 in San Jose.
Costa Rica feature a number of MLS-based players on their roster, including D.C. United forward Alvaro Saborio, Montreal Impact midfielder Johan Venegas and Columbus Crew SC outside back Waylon Francis on their most recent squad. New York Red Bulls defender Roy Miller, Vancouver Whitecaps duo Kendall Waston and Jordan Smith, and Portland Timbers winger Rodney Wallace have also all featured for the Ticos recently.
This will be the 33rd meeting between the United States and Costa Rica, with the lifetime series evenly split at 13-13-6. The MNT has played 16 matches in the state of New Jersey, and this will be its third at Red Bull Arena. The last time the team played at the venue was in 2014 before of a sold-out crowd of 26,762, when Tim Howard became the MNT's all-time winningest goalkeeper with his 54th victory, leading the U.S. to a 2-1 win against Turkey.
The match against Costa Rica will take place just three days after USMNT's CONCACAF Cup clash against Mexico on Oct. 10, a game that will determine which CONCACAF team will play in the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup. The game against Costa Rica will also serve as a part of the USA's continued preparations for 2018 FIFA World Cup Qualifying, which begins on Nov. 13 when the team plays the winner of St. Vincent & The Grenadines and Aruba at Busch Stadium in St. Louis in its opening qualifying game.
