Sports Mole previews Saturday’s friendly clash between USA and Slovenia, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.
In their final warm-up match before the CONCACAF Nations League semi-finals, the USA will battle Slovenia in a friendly at Toyota Field in San Antonio on Saturday.
The Yanks lost their final encounter of 2023, 2-1 versus Trinidad and Tobago, while the Slovenians ended last year with a 2-1 victory over Kazakhstan, booking their place at Euro 2024 in Germany.
Match preview
© Reuters
Saturday is the beginning of a busy 2024 for Gregg Berhalter‘s men, with the US aiming to defend their Nations League crown while also hosting the Copa America.
They ended 2023 on a sour note, losing their second-leg quarter-final fixture to Trinidad and Tobago (2-1) but still advanced from that tie, 4-2 on aggregate.
This upcoming friendly will allow many newcomers to prove they belong on the Nations League or Copa America squad later this year, with Berhalter selecting 17 uncapped players for this friendly.
Since losing on penalties versus Panama (5-4) at the 2023 Gold Cup, the US have won four of their last five matches played on American soil, failing to concede in any of those triumphs, with the one blemish coming against Germany in Hartford (3-1).
The United States head into this match on a five-match winless run versus European opposition, with their last victory against that continent coming in December 2018 (1-0 over Bosnia-Herzegovina).
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