The U.S. national team will look to rebound from Tuesday's 1-0 loss to Morocco in the second game of its Send-Off Series on Friday, this time facing Venezuela at Cleveland Browns Stadium in Ohio. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. ET and the match can be seen live on ESPN2 and tape-delayed in Spanish on Telemundo.
Head coach Bruce Arena is expected to make several changes to the lineup that took the field Tuesday in Nashville, Tenn., in his World Cup-bound side's first warmup match. One player who certainly will not take part vs. Venezuela is midfielder and captain Claudio Reyna, who has been ruled out due to a right hamstring strain. However, an MRI has revealed no serious damage.
The rest of the squad, which features 11 current MLS players and eight others with past experience in the league, is healthy and available for selection. Chivas USA midfielder John O'Brien could see more action after playing the first 45 minutes against Morocco. D.C. United's Ben Olsen could also see time in the midfield, having sat out the full 90 on Tuesday. The same can be said for Los Angeles Galaxy defender Chris Albright.
Strikers Brian Ching (Houston Dynamo) and Eddie Johnson (Kansas City Wizards) and midfielder Clint Dempsey (New England Revolution) all took part in Tuesday's game as second-half substitutes, so each could see additional time against the South Americans. Johnson's strike partner with the Wizards, Josh Wolff, will look to continue his streak of games with the U.S. team. He is the only U.S. player to have appeared in all eight of the team's matches in 2006.
The U.S. has an undefeated record, with a win and a draw in two meetings all-time against Venezuela, the only nation from South America never to have qualified for a FIFA World Cup. The Red, White and Blue last faced the South Americans in 2003 in Seattle, Wash., the USA coming away with a 2-0 victory. Ten players on the current U.S. roster took part in that matchup.
Ohio has been good to the U.S. national team, as they are undefeated in the Buckeye State with a 4-0-3 record. However, Friday's game is the first full international to be held outside of Columbus, with all seven previous internationals taking place at Columbus Crew Stadium. A U.S. side has played once previously in Cleveland, playing host to Bayern Munich of Germany prior to the 1994 World Cup.
Following Friday's game, the U.S. will head east to host Latvia in the final match of the Send-Off Series on Sunday at Rentschler Field in East Hartford, Conn. That game can also be seen live on ESPN2 and tape-delayed in Spanish on Telemundo. After three days off, Arena's side will then depart for Germany, where they will face the Czech Republic (June 12), Italy (June 17) and Ghana (June 22).
Jonathan Nierman is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
