FanNation - The Republic of Sport

Ok, title pretty much sums it up, but let me elaborate a bit. If you were in charge of making the decision of where to play each of the 5 home matches for US qualifiers, where would you put them and why? Columbus was just announced for the Mexico clash in February, but incude your thought of where you want this game to be even if it is at the same location. Here are my picks and why:

USA vs. Mexico - February 9, 2009

Lincoln Financial Field- Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. No better way to get the area ready for some soccer like a USA-Mexico game. Philly is getting a MLS team in 2010 and I believe this would be a great buy in to get even more soccer hungry fans in an already well supported soccer community. Plus you would have the advantage of the extreme weather that we are looking for, a natural grass field and a chance to have a loud and rowdy pro-US crowd. Could you imagine 65k+ fans cheering and jeering? That would be an awesome atmosphere for a game of this caliber.

USA vs. Trinidad & Tobago - April 1, 2009

Rio Tinto Stadium- Sandy, Utah. I believe Salt Lake got hosed out of the USA-Mexico game due to outrage from "Columbusites" when the rumor was it was going to be hosted here. They have a brand new state-of-the-art, soccer-specific-stadium capable of seating 20k. Again a natural grass field, which I feel is a must for any national team game. Now Utah would have the chance to show off how well they would represent the national team.

USA vs. Honduras - June 6, 2009

Pizza Hut Park- Frisco, Texas. Trying to be fair by moving the qualifying games around the states, this would give fans in the South-Central an opportunity to make it out and support their "home" team. Matches that have been played here in the past have had some pretty good turn outs.

USA vs. El Salvador - September 5, 2009

Home Depot Center- Carson, California. The Galaxy, in my opinion, has one of the top 3 soccer-specific-stadiums in the US, if not the best. Throw in a high Latin American population and this could turn out to be a great environment for the US to play in while trying to qualify for the World Cup. Not to mention it is considered one of the many "homes" of the national team.

USA vs. Costa Rica - October 14, 2009

Lockhart Stadium- Fort Lauderdale, Florida. In case you didn't hear, Barcelona FC is attempting to partner up with a Miami associate to bring an MLS team back to Miami. Fans in Miami have been asking for another shot since the Fusion stopped playing in 2001. Hosting a game in this area might give Don Garber (the MLS commisioner) a good gauge as to what kind of soccer supporters are now in the area. Plus the location of the game might give some Costa Ricans a chance to make the trip North.

If you didn't notice, I picked a lot of soccer-specific-stadiums. I have my reasons. One being the only game I think having a chance to sell out in a non-soccer stadium would be USA-Mexico. The rest need to be in venues with smaller capacities, that way the chances for high attendances and sell outs are optimized. Plus, like I stated earlier, I don't think any national team should be playing ANY games on a surface other than natural grass. Also, I don't think it is fair to stay restricted to one region of the US for games. The East side of the US has hosted plenty of games over the past 5-10 years; I think it is time to start spreading it out now that there are the venues and fan bases to do so.

Your turn, if you have nothing else better to do make your own list of locations and reasons why you want the games there. Otherwise, chime in with your thoughts as they are always welcomed.