The house of Inter Miami will open its doors early in 2025 for the return of the U.S. national team. USAwho scheduled a friendly match with his counterpart Venezuela at Chase Stadium on January 18.
The Americans, who are now led by Argentine Mauricio Pochettino, will face the Red wine starting at 3:00 pm local time, in what will be the first challenge for the United States team in South Florida since December 9, 2020, in which it ended with a 6-0 win over El Salvador.
Overall, the United States has an undefeated record of 4-0-1 in Fort Lauderdale since 1980.
For their part, Fernando Batista’s boys are no strangers to playing at Chase Stadium either. Their most recent clash at the venue was against Italy earlier this year and against Colombia in December 2023.
Venezuela maintains its focus on qualifying for the first World Cup in its history and will use this matchup to provide consistent playing time to its players in front of the large number of Venezuelan fans residing in South Florida.
A year of ups and downs
Salomón Rondón, Jon Aramburu and company enjoyed a solid tournament in the Copa América that was played in the middle of the year in the United States, reaching the quarterfinals, where they succumbed to Canada on penalties.
However, after a good start in the World Cup qualifiers, the Venezuelans have had difficulties in scoring points in recent days and compromised their aspirations to be present in the next World Cup. Before this Tuesday’s duel against Chile, Vinotinto was in seventh position in the qualifiers, a place that would give them the opportunity to play the playoff match.
The United States has an advantage over Venezuela in the particular series since 1993, with a balance of 3-1-2.
