USA Men’s National Team finally returns to Charlotte

PHOTO | TROY HULL

For the first time, Charlotte will host the U.S. Men's National Team at the Concacaf Gold Cup instead of consistently strong draw Mexico.

It’s all rather patriotic and oddly appropriate that the day before the USL League One-leading Charlotte Independence hit the pitch at home against Union Omaha that Concacaf trumpeted the U.S. Men’s National Team will be one of the four sides playing in a group stage doubleheader at Bank of America Stadium.

The U.S. will face Nicaragua at 7 p.m. on July 2 with Honduras taking on Haiti at 9 p.m. Tickets will be made available to the public starting on April 25 at 10 a.m. via GoldCup.org. Charlotte FC is offering a pre-sale sign-up at charlottefootballclub.com/tickets/gold-cup-presale.

The Bank has been a safe and interest-bearing site for Gold Cup matches in 2011, 2015 and 2019 entertaining 161,118 fans, much due to the investment of having Mexico in all three matchdays. El Tri, nicknamed for the green, white and red national colors, have always been a strong draw in the Queen City since their first match here in 2010 when they played Iceland in the buildup for the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa. With essentially a B-team roster for Mexico, a then-stadium record soccer crowd of 63,227 showed up for the match.

The first Gold Cup matches in June 2011 featured a 5-0 Mexico win over Cuba and a 1-1 draw between Costa Rica and El Salvador before a throng of 46,012.

In 2015, Cuba beat Guatemala 1-0 and Mexico drawing Trinidad & Tobago 4-4 in front of 55,823 fans.

A crowd of 59,283 at the third Gold Cup doubleheader in June 2019 saw Canada beat Cuba 7-0, and Mexico top Martinique 3-2.

USA! USA! USA!

This time it will be the value of the American side that will be measured by attendance. While this will be the first time that the USMNT will play in Charlotte proper, it’s not the first time they’ve played in the area. Thursday will mark the 29th anniversary of the last time the U.S. Men’s National Soccer Team played in the Charlotte area.

Leading up to April 20, 1994, local fans were frantically searching encyclopedias and globes to figure out where Moldova, the opposition for the U.S. in a pre-World Cup tune-up, was located.

Frank Klopas, Mike Lapper, and Claudio Reyna scored for the Americans in a 3-0 win before 4,790 face-painted and flag-waving supporters at Davidson College’s Richardson Stadium. That team also included former University of Maryland and Major Indoor Soccer League star Desmond Armstrong, who last played for the Charlotte Eagles in 1996. He also coached youth teams in the area before taking on head coaching duties at Montreat College from 1999 to 2006.

The USMNT hasn’t been a stranger to North Carolina. The team has often trained and played training games or friendlies in Cary. So comfortable there, the Raleigh suburb is considered to be in contention as a potential new home for U.S. Soccer’s national headquarters should it move from Chicago.

The U.S. Women’s National Team has been in Charlotte or the area far more often. The last time was in October 2019, when they topped Korea 2-0 in front of 30,071 at the Bank as part of a Victory Tour after winning the FIFA Women’s World Cup that summer.

They played before 10,119 in 1999, crushing a then much-weaker Japanese team 9-0 in the buildup to the World Cup held in the U.S., which they won on Brandi Chastain’s famous penalty kick.

Almost half of the U.S. players at Bank of America Stadium that night - Tracy Ducar, Carla Overbeck (Lorrie Fair), Joy Fawcett, Kate Sobrero, Brandi Chastain, Michelle Akers (Sara Whalen), Julie Foudy (Aly Wagner), Kristine Lilly (Tisha Venturini), Cindy Parlow (Danielle Fotopoulos), Tiffeny Milbrett, Mia Hamm – were North Carolina alumni.
The American women also played in Davidson, beating Germany 2-0 in 1996 and Finland 6-0 in 1995, drawing more than 3,200 fans both times.

Independence (Wednes)day

It will be the first of three midweek games for the Jacks over the course of the season as they return to action against Union Omaha at American Legion Memorial Stadium Wednesday night with a 7 p.m. start.

Led by USL One’s Coach of the Month for March, Mike Jeffries, the Jacks will look to continue the connected and coordinated play that has them undefeated (2-0-2) and top of the table through five games. This includes a win and draw against 2022 Players’ Shield (regular season) winners Richmond a win away over 2022 League One champions South Georgia Tormenta, who will play here against Charlotte FC in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup next Tuesday.

Also in the next round, the Jacks will go to the Charleston Battery that evening. Two wins for the Queen City clubs could bring the first intra-Charlotte derby match since 2017 when the Jacks defeated the Charlotte Eagles USL League Two side.

“While I am appreciative of the award and pleased with the start to our season, credit goes to the players who came into preseason fit and with a good mentality,” Jeffries said of the honor. “We benefited from keeping a core group of players together in the offseason – their familiarity with our system and style aided our preparation greatly.”

Jeffries also credited the staff, especially assistant coaches Dave Carton and Brad Johnson, for keeping him organized and on task, along with their work with players.

"As I look around League One this season,” he added, “the quality of teams has increased dramatically and the new franchises are strong. While we are happy with the solid start to the season, we know maintaining a consistent, high level throughout the year will be the challenge."

The Independence have scored a league leading six goals so far and those have come from six different players. Three are from defenders – Clay Dimick, Shalom Dutey, and Nicholas Spielman. Forwards Dane Kelly and Khori Bennett have one each as does midfielder Brad Dunwell. That diversity and the fact that Tresor Mbuyu, who tied Bennett with a team-best 11 goals last season, has yet to bend the net though he’s taken seven shots, one more than Kelly and Gabriel Obertan, bodes well for how dangerous the Jacks can be. Charlotte leads USL One with 59 shots, nine more than No. 2 North Carolina FC. They have conceded three goals.

The Independence will also be at home this Saturday against Central Valley Fuego FC comes to town on April 22 at 2 p.m. With Charlotte FC at home that night against Columbus, the Jacks have also organized a Pub Crawl to take fans from Memorial Stadium to the Bank for a full day of football in the Queen City.  

www.charlotteindependence.com/news/2023/04/11/charlotte-independence-release-schedule-for-summer-theme-nights

Your QCFC footy schedule

April 18: Charlotte Independence v Union Omaha, 7 p.m.

April 22: Charlotte Independence v Central Valley Fuego, 2 p.m.; Charlotte FC v Columbus Crew 7:30 p.m.

April 23: Crown Legacy v Columbus Crew 2, 2 p.m.

All CLTFC home games at Bank of America Stadium; Independence at American Legion Memorial Stadium; Crown Legacy at Matthews Sportsplex unless otherwise noted. Away games will provide broadcast/radio information.

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