US national team to host Serbia in January friendly in San Diego

Bruce Arena’s second stint as head coach of the US men’s national team will begin with a friendly against Serbia on Jan. 29 at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego, US Soccer announced on Wednesday.


The match will kickoff at 4 pm ET and will be broadcast live on ESPN2 and Univision Networks.


The meeting with Serbia will come at the end of the USMNT’s annual January camp and will be one of two friendlies that the team will use as preparation for their March World Cup qualifiers against Honduras and at Panama at the end of March. The US lost their first two games of the Hexagonal round of CONCACAF World Cup qualifying, falling 2-1 to Mexico and 4-0 at Costa Rica in Jurgen Klinsmann’s final two matches in charge.


Serbia is currently in second place in Group D of UEFA World Cup qualifying with a 2-0-2 record. The US and Serbia have never before played, though the US did face off with Yugoslavia – which is recognized by FIFA and UEFA as the predecessor to the Serbian national team – twice, including at the 1998 World Cup.