Los Angeles unlikely to land a World Cup qualifier

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The chance of Los Angeles soccer fans being able to see the U.S. play in a World Cup qualifying match in person this year were reduced by another 20% today when U.S. Soccer announced that the American team’s second home game, against Trinidad and Tobago, would be played in Nashville.

The U.S. team has 10 qualifying games this year, five on the road and five at home. Its first home match is Feb. 11 against Mexico in Columbus, Ohio.

With the Trinidad and Tobago game now set for LP Field in Nashville on April 1, that leaves only three opportunities for, say, the Home Depot Center to land a game. The U.S. opponents make that unlikely, however, because Honduras (June 6), El Salvador (Sept. 5) and Costa Rica (Oct. 14) would attract a sizable contingent of opposing fans and thus reduce home field advantage for the U.S.

Cities that are more likely to stage those three matches include Salt Lake City, Seattle and Washington, D.C.

The only other time the U.S. men’s team has played in Nashville was on May 23, 2006, when it lost, 1-0, to Morocco in a friendly shortly before leaving for the World Cup in Germany.

-- Grahame L. Jones