The United States’ agenda in the last six months has been dominated by CONCACAF opponents due to the Gold Cup and the 2014 World Cup qualifiers. The idea of playing European sides is to prepare for a higher level of football ahead of next year’s tournament.
Jurgen Klinsmann is yet to finalize his 2014 World Cup squad so friendly matches appear as a good opportunity for players to justify their inclusion. Friday’s friendly encounter against the Scots will go on without Clarence Goodson, Edgar Castillo and Landon Donovan.
These three players, along with goalkeeper Brad Guzan, are sidelined with injuries. The USMNT has however been boosted by the return of Michael Bradley. The AS Roma midfielder had to miss last month’s World Cup qualifier against Mexico.
Like USA, Scotland will also have to deal with a number of absences. These include James Morrison and Chris Burke.
The first time USA and Scotland clashed was way back in 1949. The latter possess the upper hand in terms of head-to-head record with three wins and two draws in seven matches. This game promises to be very different from the last meeting between both sides, in May last year, which ended in a whopping 5-1 win for the hosts in Jacksonville, Florida.
Scotland had to swallow the disappointment of missing out on Brazil 2014. They ended their campaign with 11 points from a possible 30 as group leaders Belgium and runners-up Croatia marched on. The Scots have their minds fixed on the future. The qualifiers for the 2016 European Championship begin in September 2014 so the time to build momentum and stability ahead of this challenge is now.
Where to watch the match – live stream, start time, TV channels, live scores
Watch Scotland vs USA live at 15:00 ET / 20:00 BST on Friday, November 15, 2013 in:
| United Kingdom | NOW TV powered by Sky, Sky Go UK, Sky Sports 2/HD |
| United States | UniMás, ESPN Deportes Radio, SiriusXM FC, Watch ESPN, ESPN2 |
There will be live scores of Scotland-USA on the match page.
