USMNT to kick off 2017 with friendly vs. Serbia in San Diego

CHICAGO (Via U.S. Soccer) – The U.S. Men’s National Team will begin the 2017 campaign with a friendly against Serbia on Jan. 29 at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego, California. Kickoff for Bruce Arena’s first match back in charge of the U.S. MNT is set for 1 p.m. PT, and will be broadcast live on ESPN2 and Univision Networks.

The meeting against Serbia will come at the end of the annual January camp and will serve as the first of two friendlies the MNT will utilize to get ready for the next set of Final Round qualifiers for the 2018 FIFA World Cup against Honduras (March 24) and away to Panama (March 28).

Serbia currently sits in second place in Group D of UEFA Qualifying for the 2018 World Cup with an unbeaten 2-0-2 record.

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Serbia is recognized by FIFA and UEFA as the successor to the Yugoslavia National Team. The U.S. has never faced Serbia exclusively, but previously played Yugoslavia twice. The first meeting came in a 9-1 defeat on Nov. 28, 1956, in the quarterfinals of that year’s Summer Olympics in Melbourne, Australia. The more recent encounter came on June 25, 1998 in Nantes, France where Yugoslavia collected a 1-0 win in the teams’ final group stage match of the 1998 FIFA World Cup.

The match will mark the U.S. MNT’s sixth game at San Diego’s Qualcomm Stadium. In the team’s last visit, the U.S. earned a 6-0 win against Guatemala on July 5, 2013, setting the stage for the run to the 2013 Gold Cup championship.