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U.S. to play Cup qualifiers Slovakia in November

 

Goalie Tim Howard, Steve Cherundolo (6) and Carlos Bocanegra, left, of the U.S. national soccer team celebrate a 2-2 draw with Costa Rica in stoppage time during a 2010 World Cup qualifying soccer match Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2009, in Washington.
Goalie Tim Howard, Steve Cherundolo (6) and Carlos Bocanegra, left, of the U.S. national soccer team celebrate a 2-2 draw with Costa Rica in stoppage time during a 2010 World Cup qualifying soccer match Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2009, in Washington.
MANUEL BALCE CENETA/AP PHOTO

The Sports Network

The U.S. will play fellow 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifiers Slovakia on Nov.14 in Bratislava, the team announced Monday.

Combined with the match at Denmark on Nov. 18 in Aarhus, the U.S. will play 12 games on foreign soil in 2009, including five matches in the run to the final of the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup.

Additionally, the U.S. is one of only six teams - including Denmark, Germany, Korea Republic, Netherlands and Paraguay - that will have face two 2010 World Cup finalists on the last two international fixture dates of the year.

"We are very pleased about the opportunity to face another quality opponent on European soil," U.S. coach Bob Bradley said. "Slovakia finished on top of a very competitive group in UEFA qualifying and has demonstrated their (ability) throughout the process.

"With so few available dates for international matches between now and the World Cup, having the chance to play two fellow World Cup finalists is a big plus in terms of our preparations."

Slovakia reached the World Cup for the first time since beginning competitive international football as an independent nation in 1993, after the division of the former Czechoslovakia into two independent states - Czech Republic and Slovakia.

Despite their relative youth on the world stage, the Slovaks ousted the Czech Republic and Poland to secure first place in Group 3 of UEFA Qualifying.

This is the first international meeting between the U.S. and Slovakia. The United States faced the former Czechoslovakia in its opening group match of the 1990 FIFA World Cup in Italy, falling 5-1.

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