NASHVILLE, Tenn (WTVF) — The United States Men’s National team will return to Nashville this summer to face Switzerland June 10th at Geodis Park in their final tune-up match for the Gold Cup.
The team unveiled its new “heartbeat” kit last week, and national team Vice President of Sporting Oguchi Onyewu visited Newschannel 5’s Sunday Sports Central to show off the team’s new look.
“I’m actually jealous I never got to wear something like this,” Onyewu told Steve Layman. “It’s going to be amazing. Obviously, we’re excited to be able to highlight it in Nashville. The kit is called the ‘heartbeat kit’, which shows and exemplifies the heartbeat of the team, which is our fans. So we wanted to wear this here in Nashville and show how happy and proud we are to have such wonderful fans.
The match against Switzerland should be a competitive test for the Stars and Stripes before they look to reclaim the Gold Cup for the first time since 2021. CONCACAF’s biggest competition begins June 15th and runs into July. It’s the final major international tournament competition before the United States hosts the FIFA World Cup in 2026.
It’s also the first major international tournament for new manager Mauricio Pochettino. The Italian has significant experience in European club soccer and will now try to make his imprint on U.S. soccer in time for the world’s biggest sporting event.
“Mauricio has brought a lot of experience,” Onyewu said. “He’s played at a lot of big clubs, but he’s also coached and managed at a lot of big clubs. His belief in our club’s ability to compete and get results has (really rubbed off on) the players, and we’re really looking forward to having a good result in this Gold Cup.”
The Men’s National Team has traditionally been well supported in its appearances in Nashville, and organizers are pushing to fill the 30,000-seat Geodis Park for the send-off match. U.S. Soccer will host several activations around the match.
The activations will include a Jim Beam-sponsored fan engagement event that will be family-friendly. They are also donating 1,000 tickets to VetTix to support military members in the area who want to see the match, as they look to give back to their fans and create a great environment for the match between two top 20 teams in FIFA’s World Rankings.
“Switzerland is a really competitive squad, extremely difficult to play against,” Onyewu said. “So it’s going to be a very important game in front of a very important summer.”
Besides the Gold Cup, the U.S. is also hosting FIFA’s Club World Cup this summer, which includes three matches in mid-June at Geodis Park. Then comes the World Cup in 2026 and the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028. The U.S. is expected to win the bid to host the FIFA Women’s World Cup in 2031, as well.
Those high-profile events give U.S. Soccer the hope that their sport will get an even bigger stage domestically over the next several years as they look to continue to grow the sport at the grassroots level and increase America’s success on the global stage.
“The World Cup hosted here next year is going to be unbelievable,” Onyewu said. “I don’t know if words can really explain. I remember myself as a young boy (for the 1994 World Cup hosted in the U.S.) and the result of that, and the boom of soccer that happened. This is going to be such an exceptional moment in America for soccer, and I’m really anticipating for the sport to boom and really grow across the country.”
Tickets are still available for the U.S. match against Switzerland and can be purchased online.
If you have more information about this story, please email me at Steve.Layman@newschannel5.com.
