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U.S. men to open 2009 schedule against Sweden

Fri 21st, November 2008

Chicago, IL (Sports Network) - The United States men's national team will kick off a busy 2009 schedule when they face Sweden on Jan. 24.

The game, at The Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif., follows a training camp that begins the first week of January as the U.S. team prepares for CONCACAF Final Round qualifying for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, the 2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup, and the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup.

The U.S. will begin CONCACAF Final Round World Cup qualifying on Feb. 11, and along with Costa Rica, El Salvador, Honduras, Mexico and Trinidad & Tobago will be vying for three automatic spots in the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa. The fourth-place finisher will enter a home-and-away series with the fifth- place team from South America.

Sweden is also in the midst of FIFA World Cup qualifying, and after three games is in fifth place in Group 1 in Europe despite an unbeaten record that includes a win and two ties. The Scandinavians have competed in 11 World Cup finals.

The USA and Sweden have met six times previously. The U.S. evened the series at 3-3-0 with a 2-0 victory last January in a game that saw Landon Donovan set the all-time U.S. scoring record.

The remainder of the U.S. schedule for 2009 will be determined on Saturday when the draw to determine the placement of teams in the CONCACAF final round group for 2010 World Cup qualifying takes place in Johannesburg, South Africa.

The final CONCACAF qualifying round starts on Feb. 11. The U.S. also has games on March 28, April 1, June 3 and 6, Aug. 12, Sept. 5 and 9, Oct. 10 and 14.

Following the announcement of the CONCACAF Final Round draw, FIFA will conduct the draw for the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup that will be held from June 14-28 in South Africa. The United States will participate along with hosts South Africa, Brazil, Egypt, Iraq, Italy, New Zealand and Spain.