Playing Away At Home, In NYC Area

At least two-thirds of the fans at Sports Illustrated Stadium for the USMNT-Korea Republic game were clad in red of the visiting team on Sept. 6. (Photo by Michael Lewis)

Michael Lewis photo

The U.S. Men’s National Team righted itself after an underachieving performance against the Korea Republic in Harrison, N.J. by registering a solid 2-0 triumph over Japan in Columbus, Ohio.

Whether that will put the team in the right direction as it prepares to be one of the three hosts sides for the 2026 World Cup, it remains to be seen.

But there are a couple of issues that won’t go away any time soon.

Given the diverse population of the United States, the men have found themselves as the visiting side at many stadiums. When the Americans have to play Mexico, whether it is in a friendly, Concacaf Gold Cup or World Cup qualifier, the crowd has been known to be partisan to El Tri (outside of Ohio). Many Mexican fans don’t get opportunities to watch their heroes play live and when the team comes to town, whether it is Los Angeles, Chicago or Charlotte, N.C., the fans will show up in droves.

In contrast to the rest of the world, the USMNT doesn’t play in only one or two venues. For many teams, the preferred city is their nation’s capital.

Then again, many countries are not as spread out as the USA is.

So, both national teams visit various venues to showcase the team whether it is in the Pacific Northwest, Middle America, the Southeast or Northeast.

Given their success and popularity, the U.S. women many times will play in front of pro-American audiences, many, if not most are sellouts.

The men?

Not so much.

Dos a cero in Columbus, Cincinnati

The Midwest might be the best place for USMNT teams; specially Ohio as the U.S. has notched five historic dos a cero wins over Mexico in World Cup qualifying over the last generation. That includes victories in 2001, 2005, 2009 and 2013 in Columbus, and another one in 2021 in Cincinnati.

As for other cities and venues, modern transportation has allowed fans to get from here to there in a decent amount of time.

Like it or not, playing in front of non-partisan crowds at home will be with for the team to contend with for the foreseeable future. It has been for decades.

If there is an upside in playing in front of “enemy” spectators at home, it could toughen up the players.

The second issue is playing in the metropolitan New York/New Jersey area.

Less than perfect in New York/New Jersey

Starting with a 1-0 loss to Canada in Newark, N.J. on Nov. 28, 1885, a U.S. men’s nation side has played 30 times in the region and has recorded a 9-12-9 mark.

Pretty mediocre.

But let’s put the current results under a microscope.

The Americans are 1-7-3 in their last 11 matches there, including that 2-0 defeat at Sports Illustrated Stadium.

The U.S. has been shut out in eight of those matches, scoring only three times. The Americans own a 488-minute scoreless streak in Jersey, dating back to a World Cup warm-up match, a 2-1 triumph over Turkey on June 1, 2014. Clint Dempsey is the last American to find the net for the team in New Jersey, scoring in the 52nd minute.

That 11-game run also includes a devastating 2-0 defeat to Costa Rica in a vital World Cup qualifier on Sept. 1, 2017, that helped seal the Americans’ fate of missing the 2018 tournament in Russia.

We don’t know if U.S. Soccer will ever bring a qualifier back to the area, but they are certainly good reasons not to.

Friendlies, however, are another matter.

57 years ago …

An interesting note: The last time the USMNT played in New York City proper was a 3-3 draw in an international friendly before 10,108 spectators at Yankee Stadium on Sept. 15, 1968. Tuesday will be the 57th anniversary of that encounter.

Not much is known about this game, but some of the names might be familiar: defender Bob Gansler, who coached the U.S. national team at the 1990 World Cup, Willy Roy, a scoring terror in the early days of modern U.S. professional soccer, who scored a goal at Yankee Stadium. Both men are in the National Soccer Hall of fame.

Here is a link to a story that this writer wrote about the history of the USMNT in the New York/New Jersey area:

NEW YORK, NEW JERSEY: How the USMNT has fared in the metro area – Front Row Soccer

Wait ’til 2027

Incredible as it may sound, there are no stadiums east of the Hudson River in New York that are natural venues for soccer.

Yes, New York City FC plays most of its games at Yankee Stadium and at Citi Field, when the Yankees are at home. But they are baseball parks and need to be reconfigured for soccer. And fans necessarily get the optimum view of a soccer game.

And in this day and age, with so many soccer-specific stadiums in Major League Soccer and in lower division leagues, placing a national team in a baseball stadium would not be a good idea.

But there is a solution just over the horizon.

In 2027, NYCFC is planning to unveil its new stadium in Willets Point, Queens, adjacent to Citi Field (barring building delays that New York City is well known for). It will be a state-of-the-art facility. Moreover, it will be a soccer-specific stadium, and fit for a national team, the USMNT, in the city.

Hopefully, U.S. Soccer will schedule a friendly at the new venue to play the beautiful game in the most cosmopolitan city in the world.

It certainly would be an appropriate place to host an international soccer game.

After almost six decades, it is about time.

Michael Lewis can be followed at Soccerwriter at X (formerly Twitter) and Bluesky.