The Rose Bowl in Pasadena will host the CONCACAF Gold Cup playoff between Mexico and the United States to determine which team will travel to Russia for the Confederations Cup in 2017. USA manager Jurgen Klinsmann will look to erase the memory of his team’s failure over the summer at the Gold Cup while remaining undefeated against Mexico.
Klinsmann has selected an experienced squad and has elected Michael Bradley has his captain. Look for Tim Howard to start as keeper as he returns from a self-imposed year break from the national squad.
Mexico enters the match on unsteady legs. El Tri will be managed by Ricardo Ferretti for this game before “Tuca” steps to the side for newly hired Juan Carlos Osorio.
On the pitch, Mexico will have to do without Giovani Dos Santos but could have captain Andres Guardado and defensive stalwart Rafa Marquez available as both were named to the 23-man match squad.
Guardado and Marquez had been doubtful due to injury but could be ready for the Americans. One face that will be missing is goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa, Mexico’s best player at last years World Cup. “Memo” remains shelved at Malaga in La Liga and it seems that Ferretti believes the keeper would be too rusty so he named three keepers from Liga MX: Moises Munoz from Club America, Alfredo Talavera from Toluca and Jonathan Orozco from Monterrey. Munoz is the odds-on favorite to get the nod.
All of the action from a sold-out Rose Bowl can be seen on Saturday night at 9:30 p.m. EDT on Fox Sports 1.
Euro 2016 Qualifying
With the final two matches of the group stage set to take place over the international break, Austria, the Czech Republic, England and Iceland have done enough in their groups to have already qualified for the Euro championship along with host France.
Fifteen more nations will qualify and be joined by eight other teams that will face off in playoffs to determine the final four qualifiers.
American viewers will be able to see most of the drama via cable outlets and streaming. The highlights of each day are:
On Saturday, the Netherlands look to stave off elimination as they travel to Kazakhstan at 12:00 p.m. EDT on Fox Sports 2. The Dutch road through to the championship could be even more difficult if Turkey can get a positive result when they travel to the Czech Republic at 2:45 p.m. EDT on Fox Deportes.
Sunday could be judgment day for several countries as Northern Ireland looks to qualify for their first European Championship when they travel to Finland at 12:00 p.m. EDT on Fox Sports 1. At 2:45 p.m. EDT, Group D will close out as Germany hosts Georgia on Fox Sports 1, Scotland travels to winless Gibraltar on Fox Sports 2 and Poland and Ireland faceoff from Warsaw on ESPN.
Monday is action-packed as Russia welcomes Montenegro to Moscow at 12:00 p.m. EDT on ESPN2. Zlatan and Sweden look to secure a place in the playoff, at least, when they face Moldova at the same time on Fox Sports 2. England heads to Lithuania at 2:45 p.m. EDT on Fox Sports 2 while Spain faces Ukraine at the same time on ESPN2.
Finally, the group stages wrap up on Tuesday at 2:45 p.m. EDT as Belgium take on Israel in Brussels on Fox Sports 2. Italy welcomes a Norwegian team that has risen 35 spots in the world rankings since this summer on Fox Sports 1, while the Dutch look for some magic against the Czech Republic on ESPN2.
South American World Cup Qualifying
The greats of South American football are focused on the 2018 World Cup as qualifying play begins for the ten teams that will play out for the four guaranteed spots.
However, many of the greatest players will be watching from the sidelines as the injury bug has ravaged several teams. The first day sees Colombia, without James Rodriguez face Peru at 4:30 p.m. EDT on beIN Sports Espanol. Brazil, without Neymar due to suspension, will look to MLS man Kaka to replace injured Philippe Coutinho.
On Tuesday, Ecuador and Bolivia play at 5:00 p.m. EST, Uruguay and Colombia at 7:00 EST, Paraguay and Argentina at 8:00 EST, Brazil and Venezuela at 9:00 EST and Peru and Chile at 10:15 EST.
