US Soccer completed the 2014 schedule for the Men’s National Team by announcing that they will square off with Colombia on November 12th at Craven Cottage in London home of League Championship side Fulham FC. This match will be the first of two during the November International Window as the USMNT will then travel across the Irish Sea for a clash with Robbie Keane and the Republic of Ireland just six days later.
It is fitting that the match takes place at Craven Cottage as Fulham has been the home to many current and former United States international players. Current captain Clint Dempsey played for the club between 2007 and 2012 scoring 60 goals in 225 appearances across all competitions.
One of those goals could be the most famous in the history of the club, it came on March 18th, 2010 as Fulham had erased a 3-1 loss in the first leg of their Europa League Round of 16 tie with Juventus. The club scored three consecutive goals in the second leg after a David Trezeguet opener. Clint Dempsey scored on a long chip shot past goalkeeper Antonio Chimenti to lift the club in the quarterfinals of the competition. They would eventually lose in the final to Atletico Madrid.
Some of the other American internationals to call Fulham their home are Brian McBride, Eddie Lewis, Kasey Keller, Eddie Johnson, Carlos Bocanegra and Marcus Hahnemann. Current National Team player Emerson Hyndman earns his wages from Fulham having made seven appearances for the club this season.
As mentioned the opponent for this friendly will be Colombia. Originally, the two nations were going to play a friendly during the October window at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas but the contract negotiations fell through. The United States would eventually take on Honduras in Boca Raton, Florida.
Ironically, the same sort of deal happened in regards to this friendly. The Croatian Football Federation released a story a few days ago that they had an agreement with the United States Soccer Federation to play a match between the two nations at Craven Cottage. The deal fell through forcing both nations to find new opponents. Croatia will also play in London though it will be against Argentina at the Boleyn Ground, home of West Ham United.
Colombia comes into the match as the third-ranked nation in the world behind only the World Cup finalists Germany and Argentina. They are led by new Manchester United signing Radamel Falcao and new Real Madrid signing James Rodriguez. It is very likely that a strong squad will be called in considering that 19 of the 25 players calling in for the October friendlies are European-based.