The Australian football team is set to play U.S. in a warm-up game eight days from their first World Cup game against Germany, on June 13 in the opening round of the World Cup in South Africa, national squad coach Pim Verbeek said on Tuesday.
The June 5 match will be played at the Socceroos’ Johannesburg training venue, Ruimsig Stadium in Roodepoort.
“The USA are a very strong team and of course will be participating at the World Cup,” Verbeek said. “They narrowly lost to the Netherlands recently, which shows their qualities, so this match will be very good preparation for us.” The Socceroos drew against the U.S. when they last met in 1998.
Australia are 23rd in the FIFA Rankings with the U.S. in 18th position.
If both Australia and the U.S. progress to the second round they could be drawn against each other.
Before leaving for their training camp in South Africa, the Socceroos will play New Zealand, who have also qualified for the World Cup finals.
A second friendly game in South Africa is being arranged, with Denmark a possible opponent for a match on June 1.
